THE QUIET CORNER INITIATIVE
QUIET CORNER?
Viewed from space, the East Coast megalopolis is a continuous strip of nighttime lights that stretches from Washington
to Boston. Except for one last dark spot: the Quiet Corner. These 500,000 acres are one of the last vestiges of New
England’s dense forests. They provide clean water and air, climate amelioration, wildlife habitat, timber and non-timber
forest products, and recreation. But this area of great natural and public value is not a single piece; it is a mosaïc of small
owners who may not always perceive their land as part of a larger ecosystem and may lack the resources to manage their
forest. This in turn can lead to the loss of woodlands, farmlands, and the rural feel of the Quiet Corner.
So how can we maintain a living and working landscape when it is divided into a huge number of small fragments?
OUR VISION
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 promotes 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.
OUR GOALS
The QCI recognizes the links between biophysical, social and economic drivers of complex landscapes, and aims at
reinforcing them by:
• Providing an unprecedented living laboratory where high quality natural and social science research and our
students’ learned skills meet the challenges of real world situations;
• Strengthening local communities by promoting cooperation between owners and helping them get the best value
from their woods, in line with the School Forests’ 8 decades as an innovative and responsible land steward;
• Improving the health of our forests by connecting strategic natural areas: the Quiet Corner is part of a National
Heritage Corridor designated by U.S. Congress and its watersheds have been prioritized for conservation by both the
Nature Conservancy and the Connecticut DEEP “Green Plan”.
As the fragmentation of natural spaces continues to worsen across the country, we believe that solutions developed and
tested by community stakeholders in Connecticut’s Quiet Corner have the potential to be applied nationwide.
THE WAY WE WORK
The Quiet Corner Initiative was created in 2010 as a unique form of collaboration where the faculty, students, landowners,
the local forest products industry and conservation organizations work together as peers to improve the stewardship
of our natural resources. It centers around the 8,000 acres of the Yale-Myers Forest - a self-sufficient and certified
woodland among the oldest sustainably managed forests in the nation - and its four neighboring towns of Ashford,
Eastford, Union and Woodstock. It focuses on three main areas: sound forestland management, renewable energy, and
small-scale agriculture. One of the first programs enacted by the Initiative is the Woodland Partnership:
IN PRACTICE: THE WOODLAND PARTNERSHIP
• A network of landowners are working with each other and
the School Forests to provide education opportunities to our
students and improve forestland management
• Each year, we focus on key watersheds radiating from the
Yale-Myers Forest and connecting with protected lands
• Starting from the owners’ goals and hopes, students provide
a complete sequence of individual conservation analysis,
management planning, technical assistance and implementation
• The partnership continuously builds upon itself as we return
to each sub-watershed every ten years, allowing us to monitor
long-term ecological and social changes.
THE QUIET CORNER INITIATIVE
360 Prospect St, New Haven, CT-06511
From the start, 40 owners comprising 3,000
acres indicated interest in the project. Two
years later, 70 involved partners form a core
group of active land stewards.
Our rivers and brooks feed into the largest
public drinking water supply watershed in
Connecticut, the Natchaug Basin, contributing
to the safe and clean water supply of over
65,000 people.
To date, students have provided over $150,000
worth of clinical work and research for
landowners, managers and policymakers,
including management plans covering 1,045
acres of forestland.
Website: environment.yale.edu/forests/outreach
Coordinator: Shane Hetzler, shane.hetzler@yale.edu