Thanks to all who attended our annual meeting, to Joan Milam for her fascinating presentation on bees, and to Ruth, Carlos, Susan, and many others who contributed to the Cafe!
After the meeting, a smaller group visited Elizabeth’s Woods to unveil the memorial plaque and offer a toast to Joe, Cindy, and of course Elizabeth Riggs. Joan took us to the fen to continue the discussion of bee pollinators and the fen habitat. See photos.
Henry mentioned during the meeting that I prepared a new forest stewardship plan for the property. The plan addresses climate resilience for the forest, and some characteristics of Elizabeth’s Woods stand out. In particular, this forest hosts a great diversity of tree species that have adaptability to a warming climate. Furthermore, there are many large, vigorous trees that store a great deal of carbon. A conservative estimate is that this forest has over 3,000 tons of stored carbon. For perspective, this is equivalent to one year of emissions of about 2,200 cars. Add to that, since the 1970s, enough wood has been harvested here to build about 20 houses, storing additional carbon.
For these reasons and many more obvious ones, we are so fortunate to have this beautiful property.
— Peter Tucker
