Comeback Kids

Great Mountain Forest’s 2012 Forest Lyceum series began on January 14 with, “The Life and Habits of the North American Beaver” lecture by Dr. Stephen DeStefano at the Norfolk Library.

“The first wave of beaver trapping started a decade after the Pilgrims landed, and beavers were almost wiped out to make hats later,” said DeStefano, a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At the end of the 20th century, beavers made a comeback and now we’re trying to decide if they are more pest or benefactor in building flood control projects, recycling wetlands and creating heron rookeries.

The Forest Lyceum series continues this month with Paul Barten’s talk, “The Shakers: Forest Conservation, Green Design, Sustainable Agriculture…200 years ago” at the Douglas Library on Saturday, February 11.