The Peace Park is a separate area..Commonwealth Forest would not be coterminous.
Gary Gary A. Beluzo Professor of Environmental Science Division of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Holyoke Community College 303 Homestead Avenue Holyoke, MA 01040 [email protected] 413 552-2445 On Sep 29, 2009, at 3:28 PM, Edward Frank wrote: > 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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
