Upcoming Events
Join us for:
Forest Fires in Massachusetts:
Myths and Reality.
Saturday, Sept 12th, 2026
Montague, MA
For more info and full speaker bios, please visit:
https://www.savemassforests.com/
11:00 am to 1:00 pm — Presentations and panel discussion in person and on zoom. Please register to attend in person.
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm — Walking tour of the Montague Plains Wildlife Management Area
Meeting location:
The National Spiritual Alliance
2 Montague Avenue
Lake Pleasant, MA 01347
RSVP to attend in person:
RSVP for Zoom online: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/D17jSJF0RUa8zrsZVpbjCg
Subject and background:
Wildfires in the Western United States and Canada are more and more prominent in the news.
There is also growing interest in the role of wildfires and intentional fires (“prescribed” burning) in New England.
In Massachusetts, public agencies are increasingly using prescribed burning in state forests and wildlife management areas, such as the Montague Plains and Muddy Brook wildlife management areas, and Myles Standish State Forest.
Our speakers are experts on these issues and will discuss important questions:
• What is the goal of prescribed burning and where is it happening?
• Does prescribed burning help with wildlife habitat restoration?
• Does prescribed burning help to prevent or mitigate forest fires?
• What is the risk of wildfires in Massachusetts?
Presenters:
-
David Foster
-
Michael Kellett
-
Bill Stubblefield
-
George Wuerthner
Join us for a film screening and
virtual hearing on the future of
New England's National Forest
roadless areas!
For the full event lineup and to RSVP (free but required),
Join us for a hike to the Elder Grove in Mohawk Trail State Forest in Charlemont, MA
See some of the tallest trees in New England!
Saturday, October 3, 2026
11am to 1:30pm
Please join the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter, Wendell State Forest Alliance, and Standing Trees on a guided fall hike to the renowned Elder Grove in Mohawk Trail State Forest. This grove of old growth trees contains some of the tallest white pines in the Northeast, most exceeding 160 feet in height.
The hike will be on a trail that follows the Deerfield River and offers sublime views of the forest and river valley. The walk to the trailhead and the hike are approximately 1.5 miles round trip with a 150 - 200 foot elevation gain. We will share flora and fauna observations throughout the hike and discuss the area's unique history and geology. As an added bonus, the outing will be in the middle of foliage season where local color can be expected along the trail and surrounding forest.
Further information regarding the hike, including parking and exact trailhead location, will be provided to those who register.
-
Level: Easy
-
Cost: Free
-
Recommended Items: A list of items to bring will be provided to those who register.
-
Additional Directions: In the event of inclement weather on October 3rd, the rain date is October 4th.
Green Curtain Roadshow:
Celebrate and Protect New Hampshire Forests
Wednesday, July 8th, 5:30 pm
Ledge Brewing and Tacos
15 Town Hall Rd, Intervale, NH
Join Standing Trees and partners for music, food, and an evening celebrating mature and old-growth forests. We'll hear tunes from the magical Black Ram Guitar, a storied instrument crafted from illegally-felled old-growth timber in western Montana.
But wait, there's more!
Join us at 1:00 pm (also on the 8th) for a special hike into a threatened old growth forest!
Meet at Mt Chocorua Liberty Trailhead,
White Mountain National Forest
Meet us at 1pm at the Liberty Trailhead for a short, easy, and beautiful 1-mile hike into an old-growth forest that is threatened by timber sales in the Sandwich Vegetation Management Project, a major logging operation approved by the White Mountain National Forest and currently under litigation by Standing Trees. We'll share what's at stake and enjoy music from the Black Ram Guitar! Directions to trailhead: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dE6sH2TQRcUQ6AkP8.
Green Curtain Roadshow:
Celebrate and Protect
Vermont Forests
Thursday, July 9th
1:30 pm
Meet at Barstow Memorial School
Chittenden, VT
Join us this Thursday among forest giants that have been growing since the end of the Civil War! We're joining forces with the Green Curtain Roadshow to bring attention to this beautiful forest (and many others like it), approved for cutting in the Telephone Gap logging project in the Green Mountain National Forest. On Thursday, July 9th at 1:30pm, meet us at the Barstow Memorial School in Chittenden, VT and we'll guide you on a journey to this special place.
Hope to see you there!
Past Events and Recordings
The Future of Our Wild Roadless Forests:
Public Townhall Meeting
Tuesday May 19, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
Church of Christ at Dartmouth College
40 College St, Hanover, NH
*Note: This meeting is in-person only. A zoom meeting will be scheduled at a later date!
Join local conservation groups to learn about the future of Roadless Areas in New England and testify on the Trump Administration's proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule protects 45 million acres of wild National Forest land nationwide, including 260,000 acres across the White and Green Mountain National Forests. The US Forest Service conducted the most extensive public engagement of any federal rule-making to-date — hosting more than 600 public meetings and collecting over 1.6 million public comments — when it promulgated the Rule in January 2001. In the years since, the Rule has proven to be one of the most important conservation measures in US history, protecting many of the wildest parts of the National Forest System from most logging, roadbuilding and resource extraction, helping restore intact ecosystems and saving taxpayers billions of dollars.
Now, the Trump Administration is attempting to rescind the Roadless Rule without a single public meeting, so grassroots groups across the country are organizing their own — join us to learn about roadless areas and make your voice heard!
Hosted by: Sierra Club VT and NH Chapters, National Parks Conservation Association, and Standing Trees
Monday March 30, 6-7:30pm
Ham Community Room, Conway Public Library
5 Greenwood Ave, Conway, NH
The National Forest Roadless Rule established in 2001 protects 45,000,000 acres of National Forest across the country, including 240,000 acres of the 800,000-acre White Mountain National Forest. The Forest Service is in the process of rescinding the Roadless Rule. When the Roadless Rule was initially established, there were 600 Public Meetings held across the country to get public input. In the process of rescinding the Roadless Rule there are no public meetings scheduled. This event will be a chance for interested members of the community to hear speakers discuss the impact of rescinding the Roadless Rule. There will be an opportunity for attendees to participate in the discussion and information will be provided for submitting comments to the Forest Service.
Free and open to all — no RSVP required!
Thursday, March 26, 2026, 6 - 8 pm
Main Street Landing Film House, 60 Lake St (3rd Floor), Burlington, VT
Hosted in partnership with Polar Productions
Watch a sneak preview of "Wild Foods," a brand-new, nationally-syndicated PBS TV show created and hosted by Kevin Chap of Stockbridge, Vermont. Afterwards, join Kevin Chap, Zack Porter of Standing Trees, and Rep. Amy Sheldon (D-Middlebury, Chair of the Vermont House Environment Committee) for a reception featuring locally-sourced appetizers and learn how you can help to change the way we eat and interact with the natural world, and take action for public lands protection and old forest recovery.
Event is free, but RSVPs are required. See you there!
Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 5 - 7pm
Axinn Center at Starr Library Room 229, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT, and on Zoom
Hosted in partnership with the Middlebury College Sunday Night Environmental Group
Join us for dinner, a holistic conversation to demystify Vermont wildlands conservation policy, and a chance to provide feedback at an official Act 59 Stakeholder-Led Listening Session.
There are multiple policy processes unfolding right now in Vermont that could have profound implications for public lands and wildlands conservation. This event will connect the dots between key policy opportunities like Act 59 and the Vermont Wildlands Act, and serve as an official "Stakeholder-Led Listening Session" for the Vermont Conservation Plan being generated under Act 59. Expect a succinct presentation, ample time for questions, and a chance to share you feedback in writing and in-person on the Act 59 Vermont Conservation Plan.
Event is free, but please RSVP to help estimate dinner needs, for the Zoom link, and to receive background information on Act 59.
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Noon - 1pm
Outside Senator Peter Welch’s office
199 Main, Burlington, VT [at the "Democracy" sculpture]
Join us for a short, upbeat rally to hold our elected officials accountable to protecting wild public lands and fulfilling the promises they make to constituents. Expect performances, speakers, detailed information, and a chance to raise your voice for wild, democratically-managed public lands.
Last fall, Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) broke a clear, written promise he made to hundreds of Vermonters by voting for the so-called "Fix our Forests" Act (FOFA), a dangerous bill that guts core environmental laws, cuts out community input, and hands public forests to private industry. Now, Welch and every New England member of Congress have a chance to do better, by voting NO on "Fix our Forests," and supporting Roadless Area protections and genuine community fire resilience. Join us to hold our congresspeople accountable and stand up for public lands!
Saturday, December 20, 2025
11am at the Springfield, VT Town Library
Learn all about the H276, what it means and why it's important. In this presentation, Cheryl will talk about what a wildland is, what other states have wildlands, how the Act will impact uses of state lands, why old forests are important and why we would use state lands to recover old forests.
Cheryl Joy Lipton, from Chester, VT, is an Ecologist and Landscape Designer, with a BLA from SUNY, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in Syracuse, and MS from Penn State. Her work includes Ecological Management Plans, Landscape Design, and Ecosystem Restoration in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Central New York.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
7pm in the Farrell Room, St. Edmund's Hall, Saint Michael's College, Colchester, VT, and on Zoom.
Old forests are the original habitat for nearly all of Vermont's native terrestrial species, but they are now 'functionally absent' from the landscape. How can we put more forests on a path to growing old and wild?
Join professor Trevien Stanger, Dr. Susan Masino, Representative Amy Sheldon (D-Middlebury), and Zack Porter of Standing Trees for an evening discussion of rewilding and opportunities for public wildlands conservation in Vermont, with a particular focus on the visionary bill that would recover old forests across two-thirds of Vermont state land. Expect a 45-minute presentation and plenty of time for Q & A.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Meet at 10am at the Mt. Sunapee Resort Lower Parking Lot
Mt. Sunapee Rd, Newbury, NH 03255
The 1,185-acre Mount Sunapee Reservation contains majestic old forest that has been undisturbed for at least 350 years, but lacks any status that would protect it from ski area expansion and other threats. This relatively steep, 4-mile out and back hike will take us into some of this beautiful forest. Coordinated by the Hanover and Newbury Conservation Commissions and other local advocates. Meet by 10am at the first parking lot on the left as you drive up Mt. Sunapee Road — carpooling and more information available at the RSVP link.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
7-9pm at the Dartmouth College Church of Christ
40 College St, Hanover, NH 03755
Join acclaimed, 6-time Grammy-award-winning jazz musician Paul Winter, renowned cellist Eugene Friesen, and the voices of whale, wolf, and wood thrush, for a concert celebrating wild places and the people who protect them. Plus, enjoy photographs from Tracy Penfield and Anne Bergeron, two local artists whose work celebrates the deep, embodied connections we make with our forests. Get tickets in advance — they may sell out before the day of the show.
Saturday, November 8, 2025
4 - 6pm at the Dartmouth College Church of Christ
40 College St, Hanover, NH 03755
Join us for a free, catered meal and an excellent opportunity to connect with the whole Standing Trees community. The Standing Trees Board will lead us in a brief discussion of organizational business, give out this year's Walking Stick Award, and explore the past, present, and future of Standing Trees' advocacy. Plus, we'll take in a wonderful forest photo project by Vermont artists Anne Bergeron and Tracy Penfield. Please RSVP to help us estimate dinner needs.
Free Guided Hike up White Rocks in VT's Worcester Range
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Meet at 11:15am at the Hunger Mountain Trailhead
Sweet Road, Waterbury Ctr, VT, 05677
Join us for a stunning, moderately difficult hike to White Rocks, a beautiful Vermont peak in the heart of the Worcester Rage. As we hike, we'll take in the autumn forest and share the story of the Worcester Range, an essential corridor of intact forest connecting the central Green Mountains to the Northeastern Highlands. A recent 'management plan' for the range puts about half of its nearly 19,000 acres of public forest in the cross hairs for future logging. We'll discuss how decisions are made about state lands like the Worcester Range's CC Putnam State Forest, and share some exciting developments that have the potential to put the 'public' back in public lands.
5 miles and 2,200ft of elevation gain/loss. Weather date Sunday, October 26 at the same time.
Black Gum Swamp Walk
Saturday, October 11, 2025, 12pm
J. Maynard Miller Town Forest
366 Basin Rd, Vernon, VT
Join us to explore an old growth Black Gum (Tupelo) Swamp. We'll visit one of the northern-most known occurrences of a Black Gum swamp, complete with the longest living species of broadleaf tree on the East Coast. We'll be led by knowledgeable local guides who have lots to share about the place's natural and cultural history, including why this patch of forest escaped the repeated cutting that nearly all of the surrounding forest has faced. Expect a relatively flat hike of about 1 mile with one up/downhill section.
National Public Lands Day Celebration
Saturday, September 27, 12pm - 4:30pm*
Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls, MA
Join advocates and organizations from across New England to celebrate National Public Lands Day! In a time when public lands are under unprecedented pressure to be logged, mined, drilled, roaded, and sold off entirely, we will gather to learn from each other about the value of wild, public lands, and what we can do to protect them here in New England. Schedule includes free lunch, teach-ins, a collaborative art project, music, action steps, and more.
Co-sponsors include: Standing Trees, Mass. Sierra Club, RESTORE: The North woods, Save Mass Forests, Wellspring Commons, Atowi Project, Winter Center for Indigenous Traditions, Climate Action Now Western Mass, and Ottauquechee Water Protectors Association.
*Plus: Join us from 10am - noon to help with the Source to Sea Connecticut River Cleanup on the grounds of the the Discovery Center. You can register for the clean up at this link.
Phonebank for Roadless Areas!
Thursday, September 11, 5 - 6:15pm, Waterfront Park, Burlington, VT
Join us at Burlington's Waterfront Park for free pizza and a chance to make calls to generate more comments in support of Roadless Areas. Trump is trying to gut protections for 45 million acres of Roadless Areas across the US in order to open these essential wildlands up to logging and road-building. We have until September 19 to stand up to this backwards plan, and make clear that our public forests, especially in Roadless Areas, are worth more standing!
Plus, join us across the street at Main Street Landing from 6:30-8pm for a free talk about catamount re-introduction in Vermont.
For any questions, to let us know dietary restrictions, or to get involved in phonebanking on your own time, email cgish@standingtrees.org.
The Global Struggle For Forests: From Chile to Vermont and Beyond
Sept. 22, 6:30pm, Kellogg-Hubbard Libary, Montpelier
Sept. 23, 6:30pm, Hardpressed Book Shop, W. Danville, VT
Sept. 24, 6:30pm, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT
Join documentary photographer Orin Langelle and Global Justice Ecology Project Executive Director Anne Petermann for an event featuring photographs, stories, and discussions about global and local struggles for forests, justice, and sovereignty. Highlights include:
-
Portraits of Struggle Photography Book: Spanning 5 decades and 6 continents, this collection documents movements for justice around the world.
-
The Fight to Keep Our Forests Wild and Free from GMO Trees: A genetically engineered American chestnut threatens the integrity of our native forests. Learn about the campaign to protect wild forests and the inspiring natural comeback of wild chestnut trees across New England.
-
The Mapuche People’s Struggle for Land in Chile: Facing intense repression from Chilean authorities, the Mapuche continue their fight to reclaim stolen ancestral lands. Hear how you can support their movement for autonomy and food sovereignty.
-
Special guests from Standing Trees will join to discuss their important work to protect Vermont’s old forests.
Saturday August 23 at 11am. Rain Date August 24.
Warren, NH. RSVP for exact location.
Lake Tarleton is one of the largest, cleanest, and least developed bodies of water in the White Mountains. We'll explore the lake on canoes, discuss the community-driven process that added this area to the White Mountain National Forest in the 1990s, and show how the Tarleton logging project threatens to undo the protection that the local community sought for this area. We'll also update you on litigation filed by Standing Trees against the Tarleton and Peabody West logging projects. Canoes and other equipment supplied courtesy of Kingswood Camp.
Saturday August 2 at 10am. Rain Date August 3.
Gorham, NH. RSVP for exact location.
The Great Gulf Trail is a stunning and high reward hike into White Mountain National Forest history, ecology, and current management issues. For the first mile, we'll follow the gently undulating trail across and along the West Branch of the Peabody River, enjoying the spectacular and rare old-growth forest along this wild-and-scenic eligible river. The next mile and a half climbs gradually, then steeply up to Prospect Rock and a gorgeous view of the Great Gulf and the Presidential Range. The total elevation gain is 933 ft, and the round trip distance is 5 miles. We will pause along the way to enjoy the scenery and to discuss the WMNF's planned timber harvest in this beautiful old forest, which Standing Trees litigated in March of this year.
Saturday July 26 at 10am. Rain Date July 27.
Chittenden, VT. RSVP for exact location.
We'll meet at a trailhead near Chittenden Reservoir and visit some inspiring stands of old forest on our way to North Pond, a remote mountain pond near the spine of the Green Mountains. Along the way, we'll give you the latest on the massive Telephone Gap logging project that threatens much of the old and mature forest that make this area so special. Expect 5-6 miles of hiking with approximately 1200 ft elevation change.
Tuesday, July 1 at 5:30pm. Rain Date July 2.
Bolton, VT. RSVP for exact location.
We'll meet at the Honey Hollow trailhead and take an evening walk to this less-popular corner of Camel's Hump, visiting the beautiful cascades on Preston Brook and some of the many stands slated to be logged in this watershed over the next 11 years under the Camel's Hump State Park management plan. We'll get the chance to discuss timber harvest plans for Camel's Hump and other Vermont state lands, existing policy for state lands, and the expanded protection that is possible under the Vermont State Wildlands Act. Expect up to 3-4 miles of walking with approximately 500 ft of elevation change.
Saturday, June 21st at 10 am (weather date June 22).
Goshen, VT. RSVP for exact location.
This is a moderately strenuous hike around the beautiful Silver Lake, up to Chandler Ridge, and to the Dutton Brook area. We'll get a chance to discuss the Northern Escarpment burn project planned in that area (and our region's relationship to fire more generally), as well as the Dutton Brook tree cutting/herbicide application project. Expect a 3-4 hour outing with approx. 6-7 miles of hiking and 1000 ft of elevation gain/loss. Maybe we'll get a chance to see bald eagles and some of the other wildlife that frequent the area.
Thursday, April 24th, 12:45 - 2pm
Vermont Law and Graduate School Multicultural Center at 164 Chelsea Street, South Royalton, VT
Online via Zoom webinar and recording
Join conservation biologist Rick Enser, retired director of the Rhode Island Natural Heritage Program, to learn about the importance of biodiversity, unpack the ways that the term is co-opted and abused, and investigate how misleadingly-named state Wildlife Action Plans are designed to set “biodiversity” conservation priorities that focus on commodity-driven management actions like logging to increase populations of game animals.
Timber Industry Myths in the Era of "Log Baby Log"
Wednesday, March 26th, 2025, Zoom Webinar and recording
Join ecologists Bart Bouricius, Cheryl Joy Lipton and Bill Stubblefield for a deep dive into the effects of logging on forests, and discussion of pro-logging spin. We explore narratives coming from the timber industry, government agencies, and some academics that suggest our forests can only be made healthy by cutting them, and the myth that simply letting our forests develop naturally is irresponsible. We cover the science of the climate, biodiversity, and hydrological impacts of timber harvesting, compare natural disturbances to those caused by logging, and give you the backstory on how timber industry myths have developed over time
Vermont Wildlands Act: Everything You Need to Know
Thursday, March 20th, 2025, Zoom Webinar and recording
Listen in for an in-depth online discussion of the Vermont Climate Resilience and State Wildlands Act. We hear from Duxbury Selectboard member and wildlands advocate Jamie Ervin, and Standing Trees staff Zack Porter and Bob Galvin on how the Wildlands Act fits into the current policy landscape, why it makes sense to increase safeguards for state lands, and the profound benefits of old forests for flood protection, climate mitigation, clean water and biodiversity. We’ll also give you a run-down on how to contact your Vermont legislators to show your support for this bill.
Federal Public lands Round-Up: One Month of the Trump Administration in New England and Beyond
Wednesday, February 19th, 2025, Zoom Webinar and recording
We hear from Blaine Miller-McFeeley of Earthjustice and Zack Porter of Standing Trees to make sense of the Trump Administration's attacks on public lands, and what we can do to protect these invaluable public resources. We discuss the national situation, field your questions, and make connections to the Green and White Mountain National Forests, where Standing Trees and Earthjustice are actively working to stop destructive and unnecessary logging projects.
