There’s a stand of oak trees in Marshfield that dates back 9 thousand years. Along the banks of many rivers, box elders dominate; yet they weren’t here several hundred years ago. The history of Vermont’s forests is a mixture of change and constancy.
Charlie Cogbill is a forest ecologist adjunct with Sterling College and Harvard Forest. He spoke with VPR’s Jane Lindholm about how our forests have changed in the more than two centuries since settlers began clearing the land, how different species of trees have flourished and others have declined, and what that might tell us about the future.