Book Description
Before European settlers arrived in North America in the seventeenth century, 950 million acres of virgin forest blanketed the eastern United States. But as the colonists established their communities, they cleared vast tracts of forest for farms and cut trees for lumber, tanbark, charcoal, and paper. In just 200 years, the original forests were gone.

Or so it seemed.

In The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast, two of the nation's foremost experts on eastern old-growth forests reveal that an estimated 2 million acres of ancient forests still thrive throughout the eastern United States, with approximately 400,000 of those acres in the Northeast.

This is the first guide to these northeastern treasures. The 134 sites featured in the book showcase the most magnificent and inspiring forests across nine states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Taking travelers into the heart of each state, authors Bruce S. Kershner and Robert T. Leverett offer practical details on where to go, how to get there, and what to see--including recommendations for little-known trails that lead to some of the Northeast's oldest, tallest, and biggest trees.

This unique guide is guaranteed to inspire residents and visitors alike to protect the Northeast's primeval forests for generations to come.

About the Author
Bruce S. Kershner is an award-winning naturalist and an authority on America's old-growth forests. He is the author of ten previous books, including four on ancient forests. Cofounder of the New York Old Growth Association, he has discovered more than 150 ancient forest sites, including many of the tallest and oldest trees in the Northeast. He makes his home near Buffalo, New York. Robert T. Leverett is a specialist on eastern old-growth forests. He is the Cofounder of the Eastern Native Tree Society; Cofounder and Executive Director of Massachusetts' Friends of Mohawk Trail State Forest; and principal architect of the Ancient Eastern Forest Conference Series. Leverett is also the coauthor of several books and numerous articles on old-growth forests. He lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Before European settlers arrived in North America in the seventeenth century, 950 million acres of virgin forest blanketed the eastern United States. But as the colonists established their communities, they cleared vast tracts of forest for farms and cut trees for lumber, tanbark, charcoal, and paper. In just 200 years, the original forests were gone.

Or so it seemed.

In The Sierra Club Guide to the Ancient Forests of the Northeast, two of the nation's foremost experts on eastern old-growth forests reveal that an estimated 2 million acres of ancient forests still thrive throughout the eastern United States, with approximately 400,000 of those acres in the Northeast.

This is the first guide to these northeastern treasures. The 134 sites featured in the book showcase the most magnificent and inspiring forests across nine states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Taking travelers into the heart of each state, authors Bruce S. Kershner and Robert T. Leverett offer practical details on where to go, how to get there, and what to see--including recommendations for little-known trails that lead to some of the Northeast's oldest, tallest, and biggest trees.

This unique guide is guaranteed to inspire residents and visitors alike to protect the Northeast's primeval forests for generations to come.

SYNOPSIS