Excerpts from "The Donated Forests of New England are Havens of Peace and Preservation",
by Nicholas Zook, Worcester Sunday Telegram, January 1, 1984

Memorial forests. They can be found in Shrewsbury, Lancaster, Boylston, Hardwick, Groton, Orange
and 46 other communities throughout New England.

All are sanctuaries, havens for birds and small animals, places of peace for nature lovers, and all will remain
so for the enjoyment of this and future generations.  They have been donated during the past four decades
to the New England Forestry Foundation, a non-profit organization, for maintenance. The donations in most cases
perpetuate the memory of an individual or family.

The forest is replete with wildlife, timber and history…Maintenance of these memorial forests is not the
primary function of the foundation, according to John T. Hemenway, foundation director. Its primary concern
is the proper management of forests by private landowners, and it was for the purpose of preventing destruction
of woodlands through good forestry practices that the foundation was organized. Well into the 20th century
lumbermen too often cut down entire stands of forest, taking tot only the best trees but anything that was
marketable, said Hemenway, who has an office it the foundation headquarters at 85 Newbury St., Boston.
There was little concern for selective cutting, for the encouragement of future growth, for the preservation of
what should be regarded as one of New England's finest resources

What the owners of small private forests needed, particularly since many were absentee owners, was
a service that would provide modern and personalized forest management…To this end, the New England
Forestry Foundation (was incorporated) in 1944. It was the first organization in the Untited States to offer a
complete management service from a timber survey to supervision of harvesting by contractors to preservation
of trees that should be left untouched for future growth.

Two years after its founding, the foundation was managing 20 properties for private owners. Today it
has more than 1,400 clients. It has set up 17 management centers, staffed by resident foresters, throughout
New England. In Massachusetts, there are centers in Deerfield, Quabbin, Orange, Sturbridge, and the Cape.

"When the foundation was organized," Hemenway said, "we had the memorial forest concept in mind. We made
it clear in our charter that this would be one of our purposes, to acquire land that would serve as examples of
good forestry and to maintain it forever.

"It is hard to say which of our properties we treasure most," said Hemenway. "Each one is different. Each
illustrates a different aspect of forestry.

Each memorial forest has its own personality.

The Falby Forest in Boylston and Northboro, donated by Miss Gertrude I. Falby of Northboro,
consists of 167 acres. It has brooks, a crystal clear pond and a 23-acre orchard, producing quality fruit.
It also has a "mill area" - where, archaeologists believe, Indians once ground grain.

The growth of the foundation has been rapid. But, Hemenway said, it isn't the aim of the foundation
to grow for the sake of growth.

"What we are more interested in is that our management centers, and our memorial forests,
remain examples of what can he achieved in the way of forest preservation by proper management," he said.