Deep forests, clear lakes and streams, wildlife like moose, bear, bobcat, and a cacophony of birds—true nature is a place of peace. Tranquility. Beauty. Delight. These are the qualities that make the Monadnock region so special. It isn’t by accident that nature in this neck of the woods hasn’t been lost forever to development or sprawl. There are people responsible for this gift that all of us who live or vacation here enjoy—that is, in fact, a gift to a planet that cries out for salvation. There are people who had vision and sought to protect this region way before the words “environmental education” or “land protection” were in the common vocabulary.
Eleanor Briggs, founder of the Harris Center, had such a vision as a young woman. She was determined to save her grandmother’s home and surrounding land in Hancock from a developer, setting in motion what would become a multi-faceted array of environmental efforts across the whole Monadnock region.
Eleanor had the vision to foresee that ultimately, the region would not be safe unless future generations were taught to value the natural world. So she assembled the building blocks needed to create an environmental education program, with the goal of getting school children outside, where they would not only learn about the natural world, but fall in love with it – because we protect what we love. Fifty years later, Harris Center teacher-naturalists go into 30 Monadnock schools to bring environmental education to the classroom, and most importantly, outside the classroom, where students explore nature outside their door.
Meade Cadot, the first director of the Harris Center, would take up the baton in 1975 and carry it for the next 40 years. Now the emeritus director, Meade is as much a part of the land as the trees! He’s rooted in acres and acres of land that have been protected under his leadership. The Harris Center’s SuperSanctuary now boasts more than 24,000 acres of protected land that will remain in its natural state. Land that will continue to allow forests to thrive and streams to run clear. Land that will continue to provide food and habitat for wildlife, and beauty to feed our souls.
And then there are the others—very many others, who have quietly done their part to ensure that this vision to protect our natural world remains vibrant. Francie Von Mertens, Peter and Bridget Hansel, Jean Rosenthal, the late Thelma Babbitt, Hunt and Sara Dowse, David Blair, Stephen Froling, Lee Baker, the late Elsie van Buren, and so many others have been part of keeping the dream alive of protecting nature, educating our future, and more recently, engaging in conservation research as well. You can read more about them and many others on the Harris Center’s website, under the tab “50 Faces of the Harris Center” in celebration of the organization’s 50 th Anniversary Year: harriscenter.org/50-Faces.
Every week a new “face” is added through October 2020, the close of our anniversary year.
Each person has their own story, their own reasons for loving nature and this particular corner of the world. With so much turmoil swirling around the globe these days, it is good to celebrate something positive. It is good to celebrate the people who have been part of making our Monadnock home a respite. A place where children learn about owls and earthworms, bees and bobcat, forests and fields; where they learn the value of all forms of life. A place where so many people work tirelessly to understand the natural world and to protect it for future generations.
In this particular moment in the unfolding story of our world, it is comforting to know that those continued efforts are something we can all bank on.