Long before this was a park, as children we used to walk quietly past Laurance Rockefeller’s country mansion, up the hill and through the woods to this small lake, ‘The Pogue’ (or ‘The Kiss’ in Gaelic), and swim out to cool off from the summer heat. While there are carriages, fine art, antique furniture, a pool a formal garden and farm animals to see in or near the mansion, the star of this place is the forest itself. Hike deep into the woods!

The whole state was deforested, mostly for ranching, to only 20% forest, resulting in erosion and floods. Marsh was an early environmentalist, inspired by Thoreau, and he sold the property to Billings, who after making his fortune through exploitation, had a change of heart and planted trees “scientifically” to regrow the forest. Billings’ granddaughter married Laurance Rockefeller of Grand Teton fame, and the ‘experimental forest’ continued to regrow. Vermont has now reached 80% forest due to dedicated efforts like the ones here. Now protected, the park is invaluable to foresters trying to figure out the nearly impossible task of reversing deforestation.

I’ve ranted on this subject before, so all I’ll ask is that you try to remember your favorite memories of nature and be inspired to do something to help save it.