Battle brews in Concord
By Robin Estrin, Associated Press Writer
Published in the Philadelpia Inquirer and other newspapers in northeastern United States, c. Feb. 1997.
CONCORD -- Henry David Thoreau called it a "wild and rich domaine," a "great tract of unimproved and unfrequented country." Estabrook Woods has been largely untouched since Thoreau roamed the 1,500 acres of birch, pine and swamp some 150 years ago. Though not as famous as his beloved Walden Woods across town, Estabrook was a favorite stomping ground of Thoreau and literary contemporaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. But now the same woods through which the Revolutionary Minutemen marched are witnessing a battle of a different sort: conservation versus development.
Members of a group trying to prevent Middlesex School from expanding in historic Estabrook Woods pause as they hike
Estabrook Road through the 1,500-acre forest. (Photo by AP.)
Just to the west of the forest is the Middlesex School, a private college prep school with rigorous academics, strong athletics, stunning grounds and a lengthy list of notable alums. Among them: Gov. William F. Weld, CIA director- designate Anthony Lake and actor William Hurt. The school, which owns approximately 200 acres of Estabrook, wants to build athletic fields and, perhaps eventually, tennis courts and faculty housing on some of the forest land. But it won't happen without a bitter fight.
"The problem is a ripple effect. If you cut down a chunk right in the middle of the forest, it has all kinds of ecological effects on wildlife," said Michael Kellett, a Concord resident and president of the Thoreau Country Conservation Alliance. Destroying even a tiny fraction of the woods sets a bad precedent and is offensive from literary, historic and ecological perspectives, opponents said. "It's a small portion, but the minute they put utilities and driveways in, it's going to have a big impact on all the neighboring land," said David Emerson, great-grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose family designated some of their Estabrook property for conservation use.
Sections of the forest -- woods, biologists said, is simply a quaint New England synonym -- were cleared for crops and pastures by some of the region's first settlers more than three centuries ago. A cellar from a 1680s farmhouse and remains of an old lime kiln are still on the property. The farms, however, didn't last long, and new generation forest eventually regrew.
Just 20 miles west of Boston, Estabrook Woods is one of the largest tracts of open space in the metropolitan area. It's home to beaver, deer, fox and coyote and a myriad number of birds and insects -- including a beetle on the endangered species list. Because schools are exempt from zoning regulations, Middlesex officials need only a permit to cross over wetlands in the woods. The town's conservation commission initially denied the permit in the fall of 1995. Middlesex appealed to the state, which is still considering the proposal.
Meanwhile, the town's conservation commission and the school have been working on a mediation agreement. In exchange for local approval, Middlesex would donate 100 acres of its total 200 Estabrook holdings to conservation. An additional 50 acres would be restricted from development for 20 years. The remaining 50 -- some of which are wetlands and unsuitable for building -- could be used for athletic playing fields, an access road and, eventually, faculty houses. The fact of the matter, said Middlesex business manager Jim Saltonstall, is that the school of about 320 students is willing to turn over at least one-third of its total 300 acres for conservation use. How many private land owners would agree to do that? Mr. Saltonstall asked.
"I think the school has been made into an environmental villain and I really think that's unfair," he said. Middlesex has said it will protect the wetlands, as well as any archaeological sites that are on school property. The school, he said, needs new facilities and should be able to build on the land it owns.
Campus opinion is divided. Hundreds of students and alumni -- including Mr. Hurt -- have signed petitions urging the trustees to leave the woods alone. Still, opposition only goes so far.
"The opponents have made a case of 'This is great land and we should save it,' but they haven't made the case of how to save it," said Rick Johnson, a member of the conservation commission and part of the mediation team. Marion Thornton, chairwoman of the Concord Land Conservation Trust, whose mission is preserving open land, said the Middlesex controversy has eclipsed the good news about the property: 1,000 acres of the forest have already been set aside as conservation land. Smack in the middle are 672 acres owned by Harvard University for field research. The towns of Concord and neighboring Carlisle and some private property owners have agreed to preserve more than 400 acres surrounding Harvard's land.
Thoreau, widely regarded as conservation's founder, would be pleased. In his essay "Walking," he wrote: "... what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the world." Ms. Thornton, however, said Thoreau's legacy isn't the most important part of the current Estabrook fight. "To me, it doesn't have to do with Henry David Thoreau," she said. "I feel he's used almost indiscriminately to save a number of things."