A poem written and read by Robert Perschel.

Robert (Bob) Perschel joined the New England Forestry Foundation in April 2012 and retired just this past year, in 2024, though he remains actively involved. In his 40 years as an environmental professional, he has worked on forestry, large landscape conservation, and wilderness issues. Bob worked for the forest industry before establishing his own forestry consulting business and founding the Land Ethic Institute. He then worked in leadership positions for The Wilderness Society and Forest Stewards Guild. Bob has a master’s degree in forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a psychology degree from Yale College.

See the full poem and accompanying photograph and find additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A poem written and read by Sean Prentiss.

Sean Prentiss is the author of Finding Abbey: The Search for Edward Abbey and His Hidden Desert Grave, which won the National Outdoor Book Award, Crosscut: Poems, and Majella: Poems from a Mountain Home. He co-wrote two textbooks, Environmental and Nature Writing and Advanced Creative Nonfiction, and he is the co-editor of The Science of Story: The Brain Behind Creative Nonfiction. He is a professor at Norwich University. He and his family live on a small lake in northern Vermont.

See the full poem and accompanying photographs and find additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A report written and read by Marissa Latshaw.

Marissa Latshaw works with mission-driven organizations to build empathetic and 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. Marissa resides in Connecticut where she’s always up for a walk in nature on her own or with her family.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by David Foster.

David Foster is an ecologist, Director Emeritus of the Harvard Forest, and President Emeritus of the Highstead Foundation. He co-founded the Wildlands and Woodlands Initiative in 2005 and was lead writer of Wildlands in New England: Past, Present, and Future in 2023.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A reader response from John Glowa. Read by David Foster.

John Glowa has a BS in economics and an MS in public administration. He worked for 30 years as an environmental specialist for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In 1994 he co-founded the Maine Wolf Coalition to support wolf recovery in Maine through research, education, and protection. He ran for the Maine legislature in 2016 and 2018 and for governor in 2022, and has championed the cause of allowing wolves to migrate into the United States.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

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You can read the three parts of our series discussing the presence (and absence) of wolves in the Winter 2025 issue:

• Wolves are Expanding in Agricultural Denmark, Why Not New England by David Foster
• A Wolf at the Door by Walter Medwid
• The Wolves are Here by Brian Donahue

Reflections on the future of forest conservation, written and read by Jamey Fidel.

Jamey Fidel is Forest and Wildlife Program Director and General Counsel with Vermont Natural Resources Council. Jamey has a BS in environmental studies with a minor in wildlife biology from University of Vermont’s School of Natural Resources, and a JD and Master of Environmental Law degree from Vermont Law School. He and his wife, Rachel, live in Waitsfield.

Read the full piece and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

A look at land-use, conservation, and related policy developments around New England, compiled and read by Alex Redfield.

Alex Redfield is the Co-Director of the Integrated Policy Program for Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities and Food Solutions New England. He lives in South Portland, Maine and welcomes feedback and your perspective on relevant policy discussions. He can be reached on LinkedIn and via email at alex@wildlandsandwoodlands.org.

Read the full piece with accompanying figures and explore additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

An essay written and read by David Marvin.

David Marvin is a sugarmaker and forester. He is founder of Butternut Mountain Farm, a family enterprise focused on production, processing, and marketing maple products from its own farm and hundreds of others. David currently serves as a board member of Shelburne Farms, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, and the Vermont Economic Development Authority. David and his wife, Lucy, reside in Hyde Park nearby to their two grown children, Emma and Ira, who are engaged in the family business.

Read the full essay and discover additional content in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.