COLIN PERRY
Staff Writer
Many students know about the College Lodge, just a few miles away from campus, but most of them would never guess just how valuable the forest surrounding it is. This is what brought Joan Maloof to Fredonia last week to call for its preservation.
Maloof is a scientist, writer and founder of the Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN), a nonprofit organization with one mission: to preserve the oldest undisturbed forests so they may survive into the future. According to the group’s official website, old forests are the rarest in the United States, with the number dwindling every year since Europeans began settling on the continent.
“As a result old-growth forests have important ecological and cultural attributes that are not being fulfilled as they should be,” the website reads. “We need a clear vision and a strong resolve to reverse the decline.”
The end goal of the OGFN is to have recognized one forest in every county possible where the lands are open for public use and protected from logging.
Potentially among those forests is the one in Brocton, New York, where the College Lodge is located. According to Zach Beaudoin, senior English and international studies double major and president of the Sierra Club, it is the most pristine in all of Chautauqua County.
“I love the lodge personally because of my upbringing,” Beaudoin said via email. “I grew up camping at least once a month, I moved to a farm when I was younger and the lodge gives me a nice place to connect to nature.”
Maloof had previously been to Chautauqua County, giving lectures at the Chautauqua Institution and searching for a suitable forest to add to the network. She had been unsuccessful until the OGFN local county coordinator Chris Merchant brought the College Lodge forest to her attention.
In an email, Maloof listed off numerous qualities of the forest that attract her to it.
“I love so many things about the College Lodge forest!” Maloof wrote. “I love that it was originally purchased by the students so they would have a place to recreate in ‘the wild’ … The black cherry trees are fantastically huge — some of the best I have ever seen. The hemlocks are also large and healthy. I was very impressed by the forest.”
While here, Maloof participated in two events sponsored by the Sierra Club and Jon Titus of the biology department. One was a hike in woods at the College Lodge forest, where nearly 50 students, professors and community members toured the area, taking stops to appreciate its natural beauty.
Melissa Conklin, junior exercise science major, participated in the walk for extra credit for her Intro to Ecology and Evolution class. She said she enjoyed her time at the College Lodge forest, both for the hike itself and for Maloof’s conversation.
“I personally think the forest is so nice and I would definitely recommend friends going there,” Conklin said via email. “I also enjoyed [Maloof’s] enthusiasm as she discussed the different plants.”
Maloof also spoke at Jamestown Community College before the walk and at Fredonia later that day. But even when she leaves the area, the OGFN’s work is far from over.
The proposal to officially recognize the forest has been submitted to the Faculty Student Association, who will ultimately make a decision on it in the future. If it passes, the lands surrounding the Lodge would be maintained and protected from logging.
Whatever decision is reached, it will be one that affects Chautauqua County physically and symbolically.
“One of the main discussions that’s going on in our country right now is climate change, and how to preserve our natural resources that we have in our country,” Beaudoin said. “I think everything we can do to preserve these resources is very important.”
Maloof is hoping that the students will be on the OGFN’s side, not only for the sake of the forest or Fredonia, but for the world at large. She has had mixed experiences with campus activists in the past.
“Wherever I talk, college students seem to love the idea of preserving ancient forests,” Maloof wrote. “Unfortunately, very few of them seem to go beyond nodding yes and getting on our mailing list … I hope the students will learn, sooner rather than later, what fun it is to be active in a cause they believe in.”