For the Love of Nature
Dear
Friends of Aton Forest,
2020 marks the 30th anniversary
of Aton Forest, Inc. On January 2, 1990. Dr. Frank Egler called the first
meeting to order at 11 am in the Royal Arcanum Building in Norfolk and
nominated the officers: Frank Egler, president, John Anderson, vice-president
and secretary, and Robert Pallone, treasurer. Also present at that meeting was
William Urban, who was instrumental in helping to set up the corporation and
would go on to be AF, Inc.’s longest serving board member (26 years). The
certificate of incorporation was accepted, the power to make by-laws granted to
the board of directors and additional board members were nominated and voted
in. A pretty dull meeting but an auspicious occasion for those of us in
attendance. We lifted a glass and toasted our new beginnings. The initial gift
from Dr. Egler was $21, 158 and a 5-acre building lot with a small log cabin
home. It would be another 11 years, five years after Dr. Egler’s death, that
AF, Inc. would receive his estate, which included his family’s home since 1926
and today the AF office and headquarters, from where I am writing you this
letter. The lands of AF at that time totaled about 1157 acres. Since then, we
have purchased five properties, two very critical inholdings, and all
threatened with future development or logging. Today, AF is about 1300 of
connected forest, wetland and old field.
We also hold conservation easements on another 1000 acres
in Norfolk, Colebrook and Winchester, each easement written by Dr. Egler. Land
preservation was Dr. Egler’s passion and part of his legacy and it remains
important to AF, Inc. today. I do want to note the recent death of our
long-time board member and my dear friend Bill Urban, he will be sorely missed.
Another of Dr. Egler’s passions and legacy was science. He
left us with his published record of over 400 papers, articles and books, as
well as numerous manuscripts, notes and research data. He believed land
preservation and scientific research on those lands should always go hand in
hand. We continue to do our part by supporting research and nature observations
here at Aton Forest. Through grants, donations and volunteer efforts, we have
collected important data on birds and this year completed our 18th
year of breeding bird surveys. My own work at AF include a study of changes in
first flowering dates for several species and comparing these to Dr. Egler’s flowering
phenology dataset from 1948 to 1978. Other researchers have come to AF over the
years, to study blackberries, slime molds, rare plants, vegetation, and
recently lichens, this last to compare contemporary surveys to those of
Smithsonian lichenologist Mason Hale, a Colebrook native, who studied them at
AF in 1949.
Two of the natural outcomes of scientific inquiry are
conservation and education. Science guides us in management of land and for us
much has been learned from the work at AF. We continue to manage the old fields
and remove invasive plants to maintain and increase biodiversity. Recently we
completed a project under a grant from the Natural Resource Conservation
Service which removed hundreds of invasive plants from many acres of land along
our streamsides. We practice techniques begun here by Dr. Egler in the1940’s.
Getting the word out about sound ecological management requires education, so
we hold workshops, lead field trips and give talks about what we and others
have learned from science. Our advanced workshops led by Bill Moorhead have
received great praise from participants, are unmatched in Connecticut. These
are now sponsored by the Connecticut Botanical Society.
There is more that I can say about Aton Forest and Dr.
Egler (for those who know me, well, you are either nodding or shaking your
heads!). His archives provide an insight into a great scientist and the
evolution of science and conservation in the 20th century. He knew
people like Rachel Carson and helped her when she was writing “Silent Spring.”
Opportunities for people to learn a deep appreciation of
nature abound here, so I offer to you:
our workshops and
nature walks;
a place to do
research or volunteer to help with our studies and management;
to experience and
appreciate nature and science close-up, personally, deeply.
Though Aton Forest is
not generally open to the public, it is accessible by permission. It is best to
email us for more information or to visit.
With all this said,
we need your help. To run our programs and maintain staff and facilities, we
require your generosity. We are at a crossroads today because we have not yet
reached our goals as a biological field station. We still need facility
improvements (the Kalmia Cottage is ready for use), we need more staff (I have
been the sole staff person for the last few years), we need to actively recruit
researchers and educators to come to far-out Norfolk, the icebox of
Connecticut, to study. Your donations can help us to reach these goals. We are
well on our way, but the efforts we still need to get us all the way there are
significant.
So please support AF
with your tax-deductible contribution. Without your financial support, we will
not be able to continue all the great programs and activities that AF has
become known for.
Please make the most
generous gift you can. You can donate at our website, www.atonforest.org, or mail us a check (better because there are no PayPal
fees) at PO Box 509, Norfolk Ct 06058.
You can follow us on
Facebook (search for “Aton Forest Inc”). Or you can go to our website,
www.atonforest.org, for educational programs and volunteer projects in the
upcoming year.
Thank you again
for your continued support and friendship.
Enjoy a healthy and happy holiday
season!
John Anderson,
Executive Director
