NEWS
from the
QUIET CORNER
ISSUE 7 - FALL 2015
A NOTE FROM THE
COORDINATOR
Good tidings from the Quiet
Corner!
It was a pleasure seeing so many
people come out for this year’s
Summer
Research
Seminar
Series and environmental film
screenings. We had record
turnout (over 80 people!) at the
“White Nose Syndrome and Bat
Conservation in New England”
seminar by Christine Kocer from
US Fish and Wildlife Service.
The QCI creates partnerships that expand the educational and research opportunities
for students and faculty at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, while
supporting the work of private landowners, natural resource managers, and forest industry
professionals in and around the Yale-Myers Forest. The QCI supports strengthened local
livelihoods, increased forest health, and rural economic development for the long-term
benefit of the land and those that live on it by providing knowledge, energy, and expertise
to our partnering landowners and organizations.
CULTIVATING YOUNG FARMERS IN
THE QUIET CORNER
Adam Houston, Yale College ‘18
The Forest Crew was in good
spirits all summer long. On top
of the perfect temperatures and
little rain, they were working in
the French Division, which has
almost no mountain laurel to fight
through.
This summer, Yale-Myers Camp
was also the home base for the
QCI’s first farm interns who
rotated between three different
farms in the Quiet Corner.
We got an early start to our
workshop line up by kicking off
with “Demystifying a Timber
Harvest” with Shane Hetzler
of Back Forty Forestry and
the Eastern CT Landowners
Association. The event allowed
participants to view a timber
harvest and speak with Shane
and local logger Tom Walker
of Ashford about sustainable
harvesting and best management
practice.
The Harvest Festival was a great
success in its second year running.
We had over 125 attendants and
somehow managed to feed them
all. If you haven’t made it yet, be
sure to come next year!
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Erika Marczak of Abington Grown teaches Kate Heller (MEM ‘16) how to use draft-power in the fields.
Photo by Adam Houston, Yale College ‘18.
The crisp air of fall reminds me of trips to
harvest festivals when I was a child. Back
then I didn’t comprehend the amount of
work that goes into farming. This summer
I finally got the opportunity to experience
the hot summer farm work that provides
bountiful autumn harvests.
The farms that I worked at represent a
cross section of agriculture in the Quiet
Corner, including a small market garden,
a large horse-powered vegetable and beef
farm, and a one-hundred acre orchard.
My first three weeks were spent at
Abington Grown, where Erika Marczak
and Sam Rich continue the century-old
farming tradition of the Rich family. They
use draft horses for many of their tasks:
cultivating, plowing, seeding, and even
logging.
When I drove the horses I experienced
why they choose to farm the old-fashioned
way—there is a sense of unity between
you, the horses, and the ground. You feel
as if you are all all mutually involved in
the most basic endeavor: producing food.
For the last six weeks I alternated back and
forth between two farms: Buell’s Orchard
and Cranberry Hill Farm.
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In October, we hosted 40
sixth graders from Ashford
Middle School for a morning of
environmental education.
Buell’s Orchard is a northeast Connecticut
institution. I spent my time there
planting strawberries, thinning apples,
picking peaches, and learning about
the complexities of growing fruit in the
Northeast.
I hope to see you at one of our
upcoming events!
Julius Paay
Forest Manager
At Cranberry Hill Farm, a small market
garden and poultry farm, I got a taste of
farm planning. There, I learned about
holistic management, a model that helps
to incorporate traditional profit-based
GET A MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR YOUR LAND
Thinking of stepping up your game in your woodlot? Curious to learn about
the ecology and history of your woods? Consider working with Yale F&ES
forestry students to have a management plan prepared for your property.
Getting a management plan is an opportunity to crystalize your land
management and conservation goals, and get free professional-grade advice on
ways to achieve them. It is also a chance for Yale F&ES foresters to put their
educations into practice. Interested, or have questions? Please contact the Yale
School Forests Manager, Julius Pasay, at julius.pasay@yale.edu.
models with personal moral beliefs and
land management.
My summer in the Quiet Corner was full of
new experiences. I lived at the Yale-Myers
Forest among a welcoming community of
graduate student researchers and workers.
I did hard physical labor and loved it. I
learned how to drive both horses and
stick shift pickup trucks. I saw how hard
farming is, and how much joy the farmers
get from their labor and sharing their
harvest with others—which strengthened
my conviction to become a farmer.
Thank you to our wonderful
farm hosts—Abington Grown,
Buell’s Orchard and Cranberry
Hill Farm—and the Yale Summer
Environmental Fellowship for
making the first summer of the
Quiet Corner Farming Internship
Program possible! Interested in
becoming a future farm host? Please
contact Sarah Stevens at sarah.
stevens@yale.edu.
THE NATURE OF CONSERVATION
Rebecca Terry, Master of Forestry ‘17
In early October, the Forest Stewards
Guild regional conference drew a crowd
of practicing foresters, natural resource
professionals, and woodland owners. The
meeting centered on using sustainable
forestry practices to promote wildlife
conservation in the Northeast.
The conference began by looking at several
different approaches to conservation,
ranging from forestry to regional
partnerships. Representatives from CT
DEEP, CT Forest and Parks Association,
and a few local land trusts celebrated the
importance of protecting forestland to
achieve conservation goals. The Quiet
Corner Initiative was highlighted as an
example of how to engage landowners,
another main theme of the conference.
What makes the QCI unique from
other programs in this region is that it
pairs graduate students with landowners
who have similar interests, providing an
engaging and hands-on experience for
everyone involved.
The second day of the conference shifted
the focus to stewardship practices, with a
tour of the Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
in Monson, MA. We were able to observe
the sanctuary’s forestry practices, which
include maintaining early successional
habitat and structural variation to support
wildlife. Founded in 1939 by Arthur
Norcross, the sanctuary has grown to
8,000 acres of woodlands with the sole
purpose of wildlife habitat conservation.
This self-sustaining organization provides
educational programs to school groups
and the public, loans and grants to NGOs,
and miles of trails open to the public. I
encourage you to spend an afternoon
exploring Norcross if you haven’t already.
During the conference we were asked
what “conservation” and “stewardship”
mean to us. These themes were at the very
heart of the conference, and everyone had
a slightly different perspective.
The most traditional definition of
conservation centers on the idea of
managing land and resources sustainably
for future generations. I also believe that
stewardship involves educating others
so that they can become stewards of the
land, too. What do conservation and
stewardship mean to you?
Fall arrives at Yale-Myers Camp.
Photo by Sara Rose Tannenbaum, MEM ‘16
SAVE THE DATE!
SUMMER LIVING AT YALE-MYERS
Nick Olson, Master of Forestry ‘16
Stay tuned for more about our
winter and spring QCI workshops,
which are free and open to the
public:
Shiitake Mushroom Inoculation
Workshop
February 2016
Come learn how to grow Shiitake
mushrooms and leave with oak
logs inoculated with delicious
«Non-Timber Forest Products»!
Invasive Plant ID Workshop
May 2016
Learn how to recognize invasive
plants, like Oriental Bittersweet
and Japanese Barberry, and how to
control them.
If you know a great naturalist, have
a neighbor with a unique property
or operation, or would like to share
your own expertise, let us know!
We would love to see our lineup of
speakers and workshops reflect the
knowledge and talent in the Quiet
Corner. Please email Sara Rose at
sararose.tannenbaum@yale.edu.

Nick Olson (MF ‘16) canoes during the annual Forest Crew visit to White Mountain National Forest.
Photo by Akiva Fishman, MF ‘15
I have read many definitions of what is
a conservationist, and written not a few
myself, but I suspect that the best one
is written not with a pen, but with an
axe. It is a matter of what a man thinks
about while chopping, or while deciding
what to chop. A conservationist is one
who is humbly aware that with each
stroke he is writing his signature on the
face of his land.
—Aldo Leopold,
A Sand County Almanac
A favorite among woodsmen, Aldo
Leopold’s adage still strikes a cord today.
The sentiment guides many of us to the
woods and not a few of us to the halls
of F&ES. Yet like conservation, the
education of a forester is not with pen and
paper alone, but with boots on the ground
and a Biltmore stick in hand.
The Yale Apprentice Forester Program, or
Crew, offers such an opportunity. Situated
on the 7,860-acre Yale-Myers Forest, the
apprenticeship is a 12-week intensive
program in forest management.
The Harvest Fest feast! Prepared by chefs Andrew
Wu and Danny Macri and the many potluck
contributors. Photo by Chendan Yan, MEM ‘17.
The Yale Forest Manager, Julius Pasay, and
Director, Professor Mark Ashton, provide
space and guidance for students to learn,
make (a lot of ) mistakes, and eventually
excel in their capacity as professional
land managers. The first ten weeks cover
forest chainsaw safety, road maintenance,
boundary
surveying,
biophysical
inventory, silvicultural prescriptions,
and—a crew favorite—timber marking.
Environmental film screenings, bimonthly seminars, and field trips also
punctuate the summer. This past summer
included a trip to the Providence Water
Authority, a seminar on bats, bird ecology
and call identification, alpine ecology
in Maine, and numerous interactions
with local landowners. Each highlighted
the importance of ecosystem diversity,
resilience, and rural livelihoods. Each
clarified our role as foresters to promote
them.
At the conclusion of ten weeks, the
apprenticeship puts the crew to the test.
Relocating to one of Yale’s northern forests,
the crew is tasked to replicate and execute
everything they learned during the prior
10 weeks—this time on their own. And by
the end, Professor Ashton gleefully notes,
“The crew graduates from their nappies”
and into realm of professional foresters.
Yet, the summer’s greatest reward is not
the program’s completion. Instead, it is the
opportunity to be a part of the Yale School
Forests narrative. It is the knowledge that
past crews shaped the landscape of today,
and the present crew helped paint it’s
future. In this sense, the crew actively lives
Leopold’s quote, only with paint guns to
mark timber in place of an axe.
GOOD COMPANY, GOOD CHEER & GOOD
CONSERVATION Josh Morse, Master of Environmental Management ‘17
On an early autumn evening the sounds of
live bluegrass and lively conversation, and
the smells of roasting venison and freshpressed apple cider, wafted through the
eastern Connecticut woods. The occasion
was the Quiet Corner Initiative’s second
annual Harvest Festival, a gathering that
brings together F&ES students, faculty,
and local landowners at the Yale-Myers
Camp for an evening of good cheer.
This year’s Harvest Festival was a
tremendous success, and would not have
been possible without the generosity of our
neighbors. People brought delicious food
and potluck contributions of all varieties.
A spectacular antique cider press was
loaned for the occasion by local landowner
Richard Deszo, and churned out gallons
tangy cider over the course of the evening.
The camp classroom was converted into
a bee-keeping demonstration, where
everyone enjoyed honey processed on site
from a local honeybee colony.
From overheard conversations about local
bear sightings to the chance to sweat side
by side at the cider press and the crosscut
saw competition, the festivities proved
more than memorable. For the hundred or
so F&ES students in attendance—hailing
from as near as Massachusetts and as far
as India—the evening was a highlight of
the fall season.
At its core, the Harvest Festival is a
chance to celebrate the human side of
conservation.
Along with its games and activities,
Harvest Fest is living testament to the fact
that a shared meal and the good will it
fosters can be as powerful as a well-crafted
cutting plan or a carefully executed species
survey. It is among the most important of
the lessons that students at Yale F&ES will
learn, and one which could not be taught
without our friends and neighbors in the
Quiet Corner.
Chendan Yan (MEM ‘17) takes a turn at the
cider press. Photo by Sara Rose Tannenbaum.
Issue 7 / Fall 2015
The QCI Newsletter is brought to you by the Yale School Forests / 360 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511
Words by Adam Houston, Rebecca Terry, Joshua Morse and Nick Olson / Layout by Sara Rose Tannenbaum and Joshua Morse
YALE SCHOOL FORESTS
360 PROSPECT STREET
NEW HAVEN CT-06511