Event
The Return of Old Growth Forests
Simsbury Public Library will host the Fall Old Forest Film Series in celebration of America’s 250th. The series explores the beauty and importance of New England’s old-growth forests and is presented in partnership with New England Forests, Real Art Ways, Simsbury Grange, Avon, Canton, Granby, Simsbury and Traprock Ridge Land Trusts, and other community partners.
Films will be shown one Thursday each month. Each evening begins with a reception at 6:00 p.m., followed by a one-hour film at 6:30 and a brief Q&A with Ray and Susan after the screening.
Register here to attend.
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Today there is great interest in ancient, “old-growth” forests. New England, surprisingly, still has some small fragments of such old forests, although they represent less than 1% of its original, pre-settlement forest.
A high percentage of central New England land is cloaked in second-growth forest recovering from the massive land clearing of the former agricultural era. A significant amount of such second-growth, which is at most 150 years old, should be set aside to eventually become old-growth again, allowing it to regain greater biodiversity, an improved gene pool, and, therefore, enhanced resilience and adaptability (not to mention natural beauty).
In this one-hour film, we will learn how to recognize some of the visual characteristics of our remnant, northeastern old-growth forests, with scenes from several of our most beautiful examples. Environmental scientist Margery Winters explains “morticulture”, the role that dead, hollow, and fallen trees play in forest ecology. Ed Faison, Senior Ecologist at Highstead, discusses Nature-managed vs actively-managed forests. And atmospheric physicist Anastassia Makarieva introduces us to the “Biotic Pump” theory, which describes how forests bring fresh water to themselves (and us!); it also accounts for the little-known but vastly significant role that old forests play in stabilizing the Earth’s climate by moderating temperatures, storms, and droughts.
