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Middlesex Graduates for Estabrook

May 21, 2001

Dear Middlesex School Graduates:

Middlesex School, which has filed a motion to dismiss a wetlands appeal, could be on the verge of getting the final wetlands permits necessary to begin building in Estabrook Woods. Construction in the woods could begin as early as this fall. Even as we approach Middlesex School's Centennial, the Trustees are determined to go through with this project as soon as they receive the required permits despite objections from hundreds of Middlesex alumni, students and faculty members. We urgently need your help to convince the Trustees that the Estabrook Woods are one of the school's most important educational and recreational assets that should be retained in their natural state for future generations of students to study, use and enjoy.

In fact, it appears that former Headmaster Monk Terry, originally intended for the school to protect its portion of Estabrook Woods as a sanctuary. In the May, 1963 Middlesex School Alumni Bulletin (see attached), Monk Terry describes his vision for the Estabrook Woods:

"Of tremendous interest to biologists and laymen alike is the exciting proposal to establish the woodland on the other side of the pond as a wildlife sanctuary. Retired hut-builders and those of you who, in the sturdy early days of skiing, wandered through the winter woods to Punkatasset, will not be surprised to hear that the School land abuts the largest piece of uninhabited property within seventy-five miles of Cambridge. In it, out of sight of highways and split level ranch houses, living as they always have, are deer and fox, coon, otter, and muskrat, porcupine, weasel and woodchuck. The Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Town Conservation Commission of Concord are working with the School to try to make this dream come true, and in the studio at the top of Eliot we are preparing a contour map covering the whole 1,400 acres under consideration. In time we hope to see our older students helping college graduates with research projects centered on these woods. Surely the grandsons of boys now in School will rejoice to live beside this quiet, protected area."

Monk Terry's message to alumni highlights some of the educational benefits to the school of preserving the treasures hidden in Estabrook Woods. These treasures have been an important part of life for most Middlesex students during the school's first century. It is now up to the Middlesex alumni to reaffirm the importance of Monk Terry's vision.

The leader of Harvard's efforts to save Estabrook in the 1960s remembers the school's intentions too. In 1998, Dr. Ernst Mayr, former Director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology wrote,

"The news [of the school's proposed development]...is indeed most distressing. All of us who worked so hard for the preservation of the Estabrook Woods felt sure that this wonderful piece of nature was saved for all times. Monk Terry, at that time master of Middlesex School, was one of our most enthusiastic supporters. We did not have to buy this land because at that time Middlesex School was as passionately for the preservation of their piece of Estabrook Woods as we were. I am afraid there was no formal agreement on that point, but it was a 'gentleman's agreement.' I am sure Monk Terry would be horrified about the present plans."

For many generations the Estabrook Woods have been important to Middlesex students for studies and athletics, but the Woods are important ecologically as well. Five state-listed rare species inhabit the proposed construction area and this unnecessary project will put them at risk. It is highly likely that the earthmoving equipment required to build the three hundred foot long and thirty foot wide bridge through the wetlands and to construct roads nine hundred feet further into Estabrook Woods will damage this habitat and could lead to the local extinction of the blue spotted salamander and other species. As an Olmstead biographer wrote the school to protest this project, Middlesex could "have it all": the noble campus next to the wild forest, each giving its own, unique education.

To date, Middlesex has spent hundred of thousands of dollars on engineers and attorneys to try to get the approvals necessary to build in the Woods. The school will also have to spend millions more to construct the bridge and roads into the Woods and to grade the steep hillside for athletic fields once they receive the final approval. Once the expensive bridge and roads are built and sewer infrastructure is in place, there seems to be little doubt that further development will inevitably follow. Wouldn't this money be better spent buying buildings or land abutting the school? In the past few years, several parcels and houses have come up for sale adjacent to or directly across Lowell Road from the school. To date, however, the school hasn't acquired a single one of these properties. By using the money earmarked for construction in Estabrook Woods to acquire adjacent properties the school can add to the forty acres of land it already owns west of Lowell Road and the Trustees can meet future expansion requirements while also protecting Estabrook Woods. The alumni need to demonstrate to the Trustees why Monk Terry's vision for Estabrook Woods is even more important today than it was in 1963 and to show why it is in the school's best interest to maintain this unique natural resource which differentiates Middlesex from other schools. We are convinced that a solution can be found that would benefit all.

Over the past four years, more than 900 alumni and more than 1,400 local residents have written letters or signed petitions urging the Trustees to protect Estabrook Woods. In addition, a student survey conducted last year found that 76% of students opposed building athletic fields in Estabrook Woods. Now, we need to make one final push to show the Trustees just how important the Woods are to the former and present students of Middlesex School. Middlesex School can take pride in Estabrook Woods, for the school has helped to temporarily preserve the woods twice in the past century‹once when the school bought its portion of the woods in 1900, and once when the school joined with Harvard University in the 1960s to establish the Concord Field Station. At the start of the new century, it is time for the whole school community to finish the job by permanently protecting Middlesex's portion of Estabrook Woods. We urge you to do the following:

1. Sign the electronic petition at <www.EstabrookWoods.org>.
2. Write a letter to the Trustees and send it to us at <estabrook_woods@hotmail.com>. We will post your letter on our website and forward it to the Trustees.
3. Call or send a special copy of your letter with a note to your class agent or to any Trustee whom you know, or to the Trustee whose class is closest to your class year.
4. Pass this information on to your classmates, for we are not able to get in touch with all the alumni. You can get a copy of this letter from our website.
5. Please send us any suggestions you might have and the names and addresses of people we should know about.

Thank you for your support. We will have a table with more information at the Centennial Celebration and we invite you to join us for a walk in Estabrook Woods.

Sincerely yours,

Middlesex Graduates for Estabrook

Louis McCagg ’48, Ed Summersby ’50, Chuck Rusch ‘52,
Annie Faulkner ’81, Nathaniel Page Stites '94, David Mitchell ‘95

at <Estabrook_Woods@hotmail.com> and <http://www.estabrookwoods.org>