by Allie Martineau and Brianna McCormick
At the unofficial Northampton dog park on Burts Pit Road, tiny rocks trickle down the steep walking trail, followed by dogs of all sizes panting their way into the forest. As the trail levels out, the maple-colored canopy gives way to an open sky. Here, you’ll find a piece of Northampton history that unites every community member.
To your right, a field of orange jewelweed and purple loosestrife glows warm and dry; humming with insects and nesting birds. To your left, a sign reads: “This hillside is the final resting place of an estimated 181 former patients of the Northampton State Hospital … ‘Cemetery Hill,’ as this hay field was known, was used to bury the unclaimed bodies of patients who died at the hospital. The last burial took place in 1920. Please be respectful and walk around this field.”
by Lee Halasz and Kari Blood
Two centuries ago, the rhythmic creak of wooden waterwheels was likely a familiar sound along rivers and streams in the Connecticut River Valley. Mills powered by the energy of flowing water were hubs of early European colonial communities that provided the necessities of everyday life. There were sawmills for cutting wood, gristmills for grinding grain, and textile mills for making cloth, among other types of goods. These mills also had a significant influence on the environment because they required damming of the streams that provided their power.
by Joshua Rose
The cliff swallow is actually a relatively recent arrival to Massachusetts; the species was unknown here before approximately 1800. It increased rapidly from there, mostly due to agricultural changes to our landscape, and is thought to have peaked around 1870. Cliff swallows’ nests are hollow globes of dried mud which the birds stick to vertical surfaces; these globes adhered nicely to not only natural cliffs, but also to many widely used 19th-century building materials. As we entered the 20th century, however, we began using different materials, and coatings of paint, to which the swallows’ nests could not adhere.
by David Spector
Naturalists are often asked “W” questions: What is this organism? Where is it found? When am I likely to see it? And, most interesting and most difficult to answer, why? Why-questions provoke answers that address natural processes, often multiple, complicated, and incompletely understood processes. Full answers to why-questions include acknowledgment of uncertainty.
by Christine Hatch
If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, it most certainly can! Local luthier, inventor, and teacher John Fabel has been making instruments out of the finest fallen trees for years now, giving new meaning to “made local”. I spent 16 months apprenticing with John as part of a community instrument-making endeavor, during which time I produced possibly the first ever ukulele to be made of Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). I also learned a lot about John’s reverence for trees, community, and structural biomaterials throughout the process and the interview I conducted for this article.
by Nancy Pick
Asparagus, strawberries and sunflowers are, to my mind, three of the best reasons to live in western Massachusetts. It won’t be long now before the first asparagus spears, those fertility symbols that usher in our dazzling farm produce season, poke out of the ground. To pose a riddle, what cool characteristic do these three plants have in common, one you might not notice unless you look quite closely?
by Ted Watt
It was January, with two feet of cold crisp powder on the ground. The day was bright and sunny. The 5th and 6th grades at our small rural, hill-town school had been studying life sciences. Educators and students were focusing on animals and the many varied ways they are adapted, both physically and behaviorally, to living in their environment. We decided to take advantage of the perfect winter day and headed out to see what we could learn about how animals live in winter from the signs and tracks they left behind.
by Tom Litwin
During migration season this past fall researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, using NEXRAD weather radar, tracked approximately 4 billion birds migrating from Canada into the U.S. and 4.7 million birds leaving the U.S. for the tropics. Clearly one strategy for dealing with New England weather is to leave it behind. But other species’ strategies have traded the benefits and perils posed by thousands of miles of travel for the benefits and perils of northern winters.
by Joshua Rose
Once upon a time, it was called Bri-Mar Stables and described as “a quaint equestrian facility nestled in the heart of Hadley … providing a welcoming environment for those passionate about all things equine.” The property had a barn at the top of a hill on Moody Bridge Road and a track for riding out back near the Fort River. The farm eventually closed and was sold to a developer. The developer was allegedly caught illegally filling wetlands and offered a choice: Pay fines that would erode their profit margins or sell the land to the government. They chose the latter.
by Monya Relles
On July 14, 2024, I got on a train headed from Albany, NY to Charlottesville, VA. Then I endeavored to walk home. I followed the Appalachian trail for two months and approximately six-hundred and fifty miles. I carried around forty-five pounds of stuff, ate about a pound of ibuprofen, seriously considered quitting nearly seven times, and used up well over a foot of blister tape. The walk was challenging, ordinary, and devastatingly beautiful at turns and I enjoyed it very much.
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax