Mainstone Farm Anniversary Walking Route, Stop #4

Forests and Climate Change

The bridge in front of you was built to cross over a flowing stream. In most years, the stream is a prominent feature of the trail. But in years with severe droughts like the one we experienced this past summer, there may not be a stream here at all.

Climate scientists predict that summer droughts will occur more often and last longer as temperatures rise across New England. Droughts like this can limit our water supply, impact water quality, shorten the growing season, and damage wildlife habitat.

Protecting forests and wetlands like those at Mainstone Farm is a critical tool in the fight against climate change. The trees and other plants on this land take carbon out of the air and store it in their plant matter and the soil. Less carbon in the air means less global warming.

What happens when a tree dies? As a tree decomposes, all the carbon that was captured and stored during the tree’s life is released.

In a forest, this carbon is cycled through the next generation of trees and plants. Over time, all of this carbon builds up and a forest may store tons of carbon in its plant matter and soil. But if the forest is ever cleared and developed, all of that carbon will be released into the atmosphere.

To guard against this from ever happening, conservation groups take steps to protect land in perpetuity, or forever. Although Mainstone Farm is privately owned, it has been conserved with a conservation restriction (CR), which permanently protects the land from development. The owners can farm the land and the public can walk the beautiful trails forever, while all of the trees around you will continue to quietly absorb carbon and help fight climate change.