I've taken core samples in this area. The oldest trees are about 75 years old. As we walk, he points out the foundations of a 19th-century barn reclaimed by what appears to be a forest primeval. Don't look now, but the trees have returned to New England. While we bicker over the future of Northwest forests, these woods tell an environmental success story.
Authorities say forests now cover more of New England than at any time since the Revolution.
With the trees come wildlife. Just a generation ago, wild tukeys were on the brink of extinction. Now their comeback is so dramatic that some folks consider them pests. Deer have become nuisances. Beaver dams block creeks and culverts, causing floods.