Reading the Forested Landscape with Tom Wessels in Westhampton

Landscape is much more than scenery to be observed or terrain to be traveled. Imprinted into the land is the history of how we and other species have inhabited it, the storms and fires that have shaped it, and its response to these and other changes.

Few people can “read” that imprint better than **Tom Wessels**, a terrestrial ecologist and Professor Emeritus at Antioch University New England where he founded the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology. This event is based on his acclaimed book, ***Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England***, which teaches us to read a landscape the way we might solve a mystery. No walk in the woods will ever be the same once you learn Tom’s techniques to see and interpret the evidence that exists in the forest: stonewalls, beaver ponds, scars on tree trunks, stump decay, forest floor topography. What does it all mean? Come find out!

We will explore the Greenberg Family Conservation Area nature retreat, 70 acres of magical forested land in Westhampton. Tom will lead the group on a walk through the varied terrain and habitats found here and show us in person how to read the forested landscape.

Tom Wessels has conducted workshops on ecology and sustainability throughout the country for over three decades. In addition to *Reading the Forested Landscape*, he is the author of *The Granite Landscape, The Myth of Progress, Forest Forensics,* and his latest publication, *New England’s Roadside Ecology: Explore 30 of the Region’s Unique Natural Areas.*

**Space is limited to 20 participants and registration is required.**