PREVIOUS WEATHER REPORTS
Great Mountain and Oregon Forests- Reflections Across Decades
A Talk with William G. “Bill” Robbins
Great Mountain Forest is pleased to welcome William G. “Bill” Robbins for a special talk exploring the connections between his early experiences at Great Mountain Forest, his decades of work in Oregon forests, and his distinguished career as an environmental historian.
Robbins’ relationship with Great Mountain Forest began in the summer of 1958, when, as a young man, he first worked in the forest. Those early experiences helped shape a lifelong interest in forests, forestry, and the people and institutions connected to them. He later moved west to Oregon, where he worked in the woods as a choker setter and as a foreman of fire crews while pursuing graduate studies.
His practical experience in the forest eventually became intertwined with an academic career focused on the history of the American West, the Pacific Northwest, forestry, and environmental change. Robbins joined the faculty of Oregon State University in 1971, where he taught Western American history, Pacific Northwest history, and environmental history until his retirement in 2002. He is now an emeritus distinguished professor of History.
During this talk, Robbins will reflect on the evolution of his work—from his first experiences at Great Mountain Forest to his years working in Oregon and his scholarly research into the complex relationships among forests, industry, politics, communities, and conservation.
He will also discuss several of his influential publications, including:
- Lumberjacks and Legislators: Political Economy of the U.S. Lumber Industry, 1890–1941
- American Forestry: A History of National, State and Private Forestry
- Hard Times in Paradise: Coos Bay, Oregon
- Landscapes of Promise: The Oregon Story, 1800–1940
- Landscapes of Conflict: The Oregon Story, 1940–2000
- A Place for Inquiry, A Place for Wonder: The Andrews Forest
At the heart of the presentation will be the connections across people, places, and generations—including Robbins’ family, Edward C. Childs, Great Mountain Forest, Oregon State University, and Starker Forests, Inc. These connections provide a unique lens through which to consider how forestry and forest stewardship have evolved over the past seven decades.
Robbins’ story is also a remarkable example of how hands-on experience in the woods can lead to a lifetime of inquiry, scholarship, and reflection. His perspective bridges the worlds of working forestry and environmental history, offering a rare opportunity to hear directly from someone whose own life has been deeply connected to both.
Adding another chapter to that history, Oregon State University is scheduled to publish T.J. Starker: A Forester’s Forester next year, further extending Robbins’ work examining the people and institutions that have shaped forestry in the Pacific Northwest.
Join us for an engaging look back across more than six decades of forestry, scholarship, and changing landscapes—and for a conversation about the enduring connections between Great Mountain Forest and the forests of Oregon.
Great Mountain and Oregon Forests: Reflections Across Decades
William G. “Bill” Robbins
[Date | Time | Location]
We hope you’ll join us for this special presentation.
Seeing the Forest for the Bees – Biologist Kass Urban-Mead
Pollinator Conservation Biologist & NRCS Partner Biologist
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
As a pollinator conservation specialist at Xerces, Kass Urban-Mead works with staff and research partners to develop technical guidelines and provide training on pollinator conservation practices. She directly assists with planning, designing, installing, and managing habitat in forested, agricultural, and urban areas. She completed an MSc at the Yale School of Forestry. Her PhD work in the Cornell Entomology Department characterized the wild bee communities active in early spring forests and forest canopies. She quantified the canopy pollen consumed by spring-active bees, and the movement of bees between forests and spillover into apple orchards. Kass grew up raising 4-H dairy goats in the lower Hudson Valley of NYS.
DATE: Saturday, January 17, 2026
TIME: 12:00 PM- 1:30 PM
LOCATION: The Norfolk Library
9 Greenwoods Road East
Norfolk, CT
GMF Mindful Forest Immersion Series
Step into the stillness and beauty of Great Mountain Forest with our three-part Mindful Forest Immersion Series. Guided by certified Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Leaders, each seasonal gathering invites you to slow down, breathe deeply, and connect with the forest—and yourself—through practices of mindfulness, creativity, and community.
Celebrate the turning of the seasons with contemplative outdoor experiences designed for all levels. Each session includes a gentle guided walk, sensory awareness practices, seasonal tea and snacks shared in circle, and a unique creative or reflective activity inspired by the rhythms of nature.
- 🍂 Fall Forest Immersion: Nature’s Ephemeral Art
Saturday, November 1, 2025 · 10:00am – 12:00pm - Location: 177 Canaan Mountain Road, Falls Village, CT
- Create a collaborative forest mandala while exploring themes of impermanence and beauty.
- ❄️ New Year Forest Immersion: The Art of Wintering
Sunday, January 4, 2025 · 12:00pm – 2:00pm - Location: 90 Golf Drive, Norfolk, CT
- Honor the wisdom of winter with a fire-gazing meditation and reflection on resilience and renewal.
- 🌱 Spring Equinox Forest Immersion: Emerging Light
Saturday, March 21, 2026 · 1:00pm – 3:00pm - Location: East Gate, 201 Windrow Road, Norfolk, CT
- Awaken your senses and welcome in Spring through guided mindful walking, simple movement, nature meditation, and community conversation and listening.
- This Spring Equinox offering includes an introduction to nature journaling and sketching — not as an art class, but as an awareness-building practice of wonder, curiosity, and creativity.
No art, hiking or meditation experience is needed.
Open to participants ages 14 and up. Tickets: $25 per person.
Join us in honoring the forest as teacher and companion—an invitation to pause, notice, and grow alongside the changing seasons.
Winter Lecture Series -The Engaging Landscape
Winter Lecture Series: Tom Blagden is an accomplished nature photographer and writer with over 40 years of experience. Tom’s photographs have graced the covers of renowned magazines, including Smithsonian, Audubon, Nature Conservancy, and Sierra.
“My goal in sharing these photographs of GMF is to immerse viewers in as full a sense of place as possible and as seen through fresh eyes. Nature photography has the power to instill an emotional connection to our landscape that then allows us to assign a higher sense of value.”
Winter Lecture Series -Conservation and Restoration of The Venezuelan Andean Cloud Forests
Carlos García Núñez is a professor at the Institute of Environmental and Ecological Sciences at the University of Los Andes in Merida, Venezuela. Visiting Scholar at Trinity College Center of Urban and Global Studies.
Dr. Garcia Nunez earned his PhD in Tropical Ecology from the University of Los Andes. He has an extensive record of teaching, research, and fellowships, including serving as a visiting scholar at Harvard University, Universidad de Alicante in Spain, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
His focus as a scientist is on understanding the structure and functioning of tropical terrestrial ecosystems and the requirements for their conservation and restoration. His research provides essential guidance for sustainable development and reforestation programs, while considering the impacts of global changes in land use and climate change.
Winter Lecture Series -Mycorrhizal Network
John Wheeler is a mycologist and founding member and president of the Berkshire Mycological Society. For 34 years John has hunted and identified wild mushrooms in Massachusetts. Former Prof. at Simon’s Rock college of Bard. John has encounter over 1,000 different species of mushrooms in the Berkshires alone.
John will talk about the underground network of fungus and the connections that benefit trees in the forest. Participants will also learn about how mushrooms can be used to booster health.
