Description

An essay written and read by Sam Brown.

Sam Brown came to Maine in 1972 as a back-to-the-lander whose interest in logging eventually led to a Maine forester’s license and a deep concern about how all the pieces of a rural community fit together. He currently serves on the Piscataquis County Soil and Water Conservation District board, and, when the weather is nice, still logs on family land in Parkman and Cambridge.

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This piece is part of our series exploring ecological forestry featured in the Spring 2025 Issue of From the Ground Up.

Read all the submissions in our Ecological Forestry collection:

• Ecological Forestry and Slow Wood: Perspectives from Around the Region by Brian Donahue
• Ecological Forestry: Origins and Principles by Tony D’Amato
• Putting Forests First: Ecological Forestry and an Ethical Worldview by David Foster
• Relationships: The Essence of Low Impact Forestry by Sam F. Brown

• The Practice of Ecological Forestry: Seeking Diversity, Balance, and Adaptation in the Woods by Rick Morrill
• Worst-First and Femelschlag: Ecological Forestry with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests by Guy Dunkle and Annie Socci Maloney
• The Maine Woods Initiative: The Appalachian Mountain Club’s Approach to Ecological Forestry by Carolyn Ziegra
• Managing for Diversity: Insurance for the Future Forest by Ben Farina
• Exemplary Forestry: Integrating Climate Resilience, Biodiversity, and Wood Production by Robert T. Perschel