Gary, Several years ago Bob Leverett and you suggested creating a "Peace Park" within Mohawk Trail State Forest http://www.nativetreesociety.org/native/perspective_mtsf.htm (October 2003)
VIII. Peace Park Concept Over the last several years, a number of small indigenous groups have held quiet events at Mohawk Trail State Forest. While these indigenous groups arguably have made the greatest use of Mohawk Trail State Forest for ceremonial purposes, other groups have found the ambience of Mohawk conducive to prayer and meditation. Over the years Robert Leverett has guided scores of religious groups around the upper and lower meadows of Mohawk. On his visit in November 2001, Chief Arvol Lookinghorse voiced the opinion that Mohawk would be an ideal setting for simple ceremonies that honor world leaders of peace. This has led to the concept of designating a small area of Mohawk as a peace park, an international peace park. While there is no doubt that pros and cons exist for this idea, pursued on a modest level, initially the pros appeared to outweigh the cons. Many people with whom we have spoken like the idea of small accessible areas of Mohawk Trail State Forest being used to honor international leaders of peace in a non-denominational way. The dedication of individual or small areas of white pines in the named areas for the purpose recognizing international figures of peace could be a bold statement of Mohawk. It could also lead to unintended consequences. Recently, Friends intensified its efforts to explore the idea of recognizing international leaders of peace through symbolic dedications of white pines in the accessible area of Mohawk. Viewed from one perspective, the white pines offer us living symbols to use and are especially appealing to earth-conscious movements. Please bear in mind, that use of a small part of Mohawk is just a concept, but a superficially appealing one if pursued on a modest scale for several reasons. One reason stands out in particular. The greatest appeal of the peace park concept is that it represents a non-destructive use of a spectacular resource and could be combined with the non-destructive science objectives to the benefit of many. This is the appeal that propelled us to further investigate the concept. Colby Rucker opposed the idea http://www.nativetreesociety.org/corner/colby_additional.pdf pg 29. I believed at the time, and still do, that his sarcastic hyperbole was misguided and that the idea was a good one. I would like to encourage you and Bob to revisit the idea again. Colby's counter to the idea did not really provide any meaningful arguments against the idea, but just ridiculed it. Ed Frank "Oh, I call myself a scientist. I wear a white coat and probe a monkey every now and then, but if I put monetary gain ahead of preserving nature...I couldn't live with myself" - Professor Hubert Farnsworth ----- Original Message ----- From: Gary A Beluzo To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 3:12 PM Subject: [ENTS] Re: The Commonwealth Forest Just a specific area WITHIN Mohawk State Forest would be designated the COMMONWEALTH FOREST in the real sense of the word commonwealth. This would give a state Gary Prof. Gary A. Beluzo Systems Ecologist Holyoke Comm College 303 Homestead Ave Holyoke, MA. 01040 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
