Wild Attention for Wildlands
Sugar Maple, 2015, Charcoal on vellum mounted on aluminum, 96" x 42". © Rick Shaefer
The May 2023 release of the report, Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future, has helped to catalyze a growing awareness of Wildlands and the important role they play in mitigating climate change, biodiversity loss, and threats to human health and safety. Today, there is a significant increase in support of Wildlands, evidenced by an increase in public policies and funding initiatives, as well as in private sector awareness and support. Below are some examples of public policy advancements and private conservation initiatives that specify Wildlands protection:
Vermont’s new Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Act, Act 59 (enacted in 2023), calls for protection of 30 percent of Vermont’s land and waters by 2030 and 50 percent of the state’s lands and waters by 2050. The law calls for designation of ecological reserve areas that are managed with as little human interference as possible, and biodiversity conservation areas that are managed to support a particular species or habitat. Learn more from Vermont State Representative Amy Sheldon.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has committed to the permanent conservation of 40 percent of the state in forests to help achieve the goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts by 2050. The Secretary of the Environment tasked a 12-person committee of individuals from four New England states to develop a set of forest management guidelines. Learn more about the committee’s recommendations in the Report of the Massachusetts Climate Forestry Committee.
The Northeast Wilderness Trust’s (NEWT) Wildlands Partnership aims to increase wildland conservation by uniting accredited land trusts with resources to conserve wild landscapes across the region. Thirteen properties totaling 8,987.6 acres have been protected through the Wildlands Partnership since 2021.
The recently released report, Beyond the ‘Illusion of Preservation’, supports an integrated approach to conservation that considers both passively managed Wildlands and actively managed Woodlands. The report outlines a path forward that includes conserving 20 percent of the region as Wildlands while still achieving wood production goals to support the region.
The Wildlands in New England report outlines the urgent need to proactively consider Wildlands protection as part of a balanced, integrated approach to conservation and land use that also includes actively managed woodlands, farmlands, and communities. As defined in the report,
“Wildlands are tracts of any size and current condition, permanently protected from development, in which management is explicitly intended to allow natural processes to prevail with “free will” and minimal human interference. Humans have been part of nature for millennia and can coexist within and with Wildlands without intentionally altering their structure, composition, or function.”
With the release of the report, we can see the actively growing inventory of Wildlands throughout the region and view them with the Wildlands in New England Interactive Webmap. This creates a baseline and a way to track progress over time.
Greater attention and appreciation for Wildlands means that more individuals and organizations are interested in supporting broad conservation efforts that include Wildlands.
This is good news, and there’s more work to be done. Since April 2022, the inventory has increased in acreage by 16,364 acres. The net total of Wildlands in the region now stands at 1,334,098 acres, which is an impressive number, yet is only slightly over three percent of this largely forested region. The Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative outlines a goal of at least 10 percent of the region permanently protected as Wildlands by 2060. There is great opportunity for increasing the amount of permanently protected Wildlands in the region. The urgency in doing so is heightened by the multi-faceted crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, land conversion, and ongoing risks to human health and safety.
Wildlands protection is now on the radar of more people and organizations than ever before, ranging from private donors and landowners to corporations, universities, local policymakers, and state legislators. As these groups and individuals think about advancing Wildlands initiatives through funding and policy decisions, more questions arise about what exactly makes a Wildland a Wildland, and what steps are required to ensure their permanent protection.
The Wildlands definition includes a full range of geography and size, from small, local reserves in urban and suburban areas to expansive landscapes in more remote places. All of these provide important functions and all are included in our database.
It is important to note that the current condition of a parcel of land is not a criterion. A land’s “wildness” derives not from its history but from its freedom to operate untrammeled, today and in the future.
A property must meet all three of the following criteria to be considered a Wildland in our database.
Wildland Intent – There must be a deliberate Wildland purpose or goal stated in the documents designating, enforcing, and guiding property management. Further, the controlling entity must have the authority and long-term capacity to enforce this intent.
Management for an Untrammeled Condition – The property is allowed to age freely under prevailing environmental conditions and natural processes with minimal human intervention. These processes may include climate change, natural disturbances, and the arrival of new species. Management is not motivated by any explicit outcome and does not seek to either guide ecosystem development or shape ecosystem structure, function, or composition. However, the Wildlands definition does allow for limited management to reduce invasive species or to benefit species of concern.
Permanent Protection – Wildland intent and management are in perpetuity or are open-ended but expected to persist. The strongest standard for Wildland protection is that which is in perpetuity, legally defensible, and enforced by a third party or legal mechanism. However, no mechanism is perfect, and not all Wildlands have this level of security. Because of this gradient in security, documented clear intent, agency policies, management plans, agreements, administrative decisions, mission statements, and/or a history of past actions that demonstrate indefinite protection may allow for a property to meet this criterion.
The Wildlands Checklist provides a set of yes/no questions to help landowners and land stewards evaluate whether a property satisfies the criteria to be considered a Wildland.
The checklist questions serve as a guideline because there is wide variation among conservation properties and the mechanism securing them precludes easy categorization, requiring that each property be examined individually by researchers and revisited over time. Visit the Wildlands in New England Interactive Webmap to see existing individual Wildlands properties in the database.
You can help conservation efforts by submitting properties that you think meet these criteria, for consideration to be included in the database. If you see a property in the webmap that you believe does not belong there, you may submit that too. The upkeep of this New England database of Wildlands relies on the participation of many individuals and groups. This inventory is essential for establishing baselines, measuring progress, and creating much-needed urgency for Wildlands protection at the local, state, and regional levels.
Examples of Recently Protected Wildlands
Perham Stream Ecological Reserve
Perham Stream Ecological Reserve. © Mark Berry, The Nature Conservancy
Last May, a conservation effort led by The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land enabled the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands (BPL) to acquire 6,578 acres as an addition to the Mount Abraham Public Reserved Lands in the High Peaks region of Western Maine, and to designate 4,800 acres as the Perham Stream Ecological Reserve. The larger conservation project also includes a 7,062-acre conservation at Quill Hill, and in total protected 13,640 acres with over 8,500 acres of forestland open to harvesting. In an unusual partnership, the Perham Stream property was purchased by Maine BPL with a conservation easement held by the US Navy to protect the wild character of their nearby survival, evasion, and escape training facility. Both properties are important for wildlife of a variety of species. Of particular interest is denning habitat for Canada lynx, a federally threatened species and a species of special concern in Maine. The Ecological Reserve includes much of the watershed of Perham Stream itself, a cold-water stream critical for brook trout and also the federally endangered Atlantic salmon. This property also enlarges a contiguous Wildland block to over 25,000 acres including the Mount Abraham Ecological Reserve, the Lone Mountain Wilderness Preserve, and the Crocker Eco-Reserve, via a connection from the National Park Service’s Appalachian Trail. There are also important recreation benefits since the reserve is adjacent to the Appalachian Trail and will be open to the public for hiking, fishing, nature study, and hunting. Funding for the project included private philanthropy, the USFS Forest Legacy Program, and the US Navy’s REPI Program.
Salisbury Association
Forests and wetlands in the Salisbury Association’s for-ever wild easements. © Harry White.
In early 2023, Northeast Wilderness Trust worked together with the Salisbury Association in northwest Connecticut to permanently protect 682 acres of forestland through a forever-wild conservation easement. This portion of the state is known for its rugged hills and large intact forests that are highly climate resilient, according to The Nature Conservancy’s climate resiliency analyses. The properties are home to many rare plant species as well as black bear, moose, mink, otter, and the state-endangered timber rattlesnake. Climate models suggest that this part of the state may be a final refuge for some of Connecticut’s species that need cooler habitats. These properties, and many others, were protected through Northeast Wilderness Trust’s Wildlands Partnership, which helps local land trusts permanently protect their land as Wildlands.
White Cap Mountain
Looking north at Katahdin from the summit of White Cap Mountain. Photo courtesy of Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust
The Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust’s (MATLT) White Cap Mountain property (1,574 acres) covers the southern flank of the highest peak in the Hundred Mile Wilderness (3,654'). The property lies in the K-I Jo Mary Multiple Use Forest located between Moosehead Lake, Monson, and Katahdin. The land is used for forest products but is also managed for outdoor recreation, with White Cap as a core wilderness area nestled within Appalachian Mountain Club’s 130,000 conserved acres. The area is home to rare natural communities, has documented Bicknell’s thrush habitat, and features alpine terrain at the higher elevations. The summit can be reached via the White Brook Trail, an official Appalachian Trail side trail and the historic route of the Appalachian Trail in the area. From the summit, there are views in all directions of the relatively impacted and undeveloped forest which stretches all the way to Katahdin and beyond. White Cap was the highest conservation priority for MATLT due to the multiple values for public benefit: recreation access, habitat protection, climate change mitigation, and carbon sequestration potential. It was conserved in 2017 in partnership with the Forest Society of Maine and the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.
Marissa Latshaw is an organizational empathy consultant, working with mission-driven organizations to build inclusive communication strategies that inspire action. She serves as publisher of From the Ground Up and co-coordinator of the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities initiative, working with partners throughout New England to help bring a more holistic, integrated approach to land conservation.
Brian Hall works at the Harvard Forest and as a consultant where he analyzes data, makes maps, and communicates scientific information to land conservationists across New England. His work combines his interests in nature, art, and the scientific truth to help society protect the lands that are most important for plants, animals, and people.