Michelle Mitchell E-mail | Web site Michelle is the Digital Media Producer for The Telegraph and NH.com. She spends her workdays searching for things to do in New Hampshire and then putting them into the NH.com event calendar. Michelle is originally from St. Louis but has been in New Hampshire for over 15 years, "I love my home state, but New Hampshire has the mountains, the seacoast and perfect summer days!" She is the mother of 5 children varying in age from 20 to 8 and loves to find inexpensive things to do with her kids. Michelle enjoys New Hampshire's music scene and is always on the lookout for new bands and new places to enjoy them. She also enjoys her dogs, cats and, when possible, a day of nothing but movies and sleeping!

I must admit, I am a history buff. But that’s not the only reason that the Plymouth State University’s lecture series about the Weeks Act interests me.

The passage of the Weeks Act forced conservation groups and industrialists to come together to give future generations (that’s us) the federally protected land affectionately called The Great North Woods.

Without the Weeks Act the White Mountains would not be the pristine forests we see today! Imagine giant corporate logging corporations controlling New Hampshire’s beautiful mountain regions. Imagine barren mountainsides, flash floods and forest fires. Yuck! Think of our beautiful rivers and streams damned to provide power to manufacturing plants and private homes.

Lecture Schedule:

• Thursday, February 18, at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons, 4:30 p.m. - “100 Years of Public Land Management” presented by Tom Wagner

• Art Exhibition at Plymouth State University, Silver Center for the Performing Arts - March 3—April 11 “Protecting the Forest: The Weeks Act of 1911” - Opening reception, Wednesday, March 3, 6 p.m.

• Monday, March 8, at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons 4:30 p.m.

“The Impact of North Country Community and Collaboration in the Weeks Act of 1911” presented by Rebecca Weeks Sherrill More

• Friday, March 12, at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons, 1 PM

“Two Centuries of Tourism in the White Mountains: A Region Comes Full Circle” presented by Mark Okrant

• Tuesday, March 16, at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons, 6:30 p.m. - “Making the National Forests National: The Weeks Act and the Expansion of Federal Forestry,” presented by Char Miller,

• Tuesday, March 30, at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons, 6:30 p.m. - “Working Forests: From Market Revolution to Industrialization,” presented by Linda Upham-Bornstein

• Thursday April 1 at Plymouth State University, Heritage Commons, 4p.m.

“Saving the Mountains: Joseph B Walker, Phillip Ayers, and the Weeks Act of 1911” presented by Marcia Schmidt Blaine

• Friday April 9, location to be determined, 2:30 p.m.

“Stories of New Hampshire and the Forests,” presented by Becky Rule

Passed in 1911, the Appalachian-White Forest Reservation Act (Weeks Act ) established the National Forest Reservation Commission, allowed states to cooperate in the conservation of forests and water supplies. Thus, parts of our White Mountain National Forest are in Maine. The Weeks Act also authorized federal matching funds to protect watersheds and navigable streams and provided for cooperation between states and the federal government for the purpose of fire prevention and control. The Weeks Act is considered a major accomplishment for the America’s early conservation movement.

Early in the history of New Hampshire’s industrial revolution most navigable streams were leased or sold without hesitation to private corporations in order to power New Hampshire and Massachusetts textile mills. Watersheds and mountainsides were not protected from over-logging, floods cause by damns ruined farmer’s fields, and the recreational use of the White Mountain area was threatened.

The sale of federal lands for industrial purposes was not limited to New England. In the West, logging effected water quality and there were a number of uncontrolled wildfires in 1910 costing millions of dollars and the lives of many firefighters.

In New Hampshire, those who sought to protect the mountains were primarily recreationists who wanted the land preserved for skiing, hiking and camping. In the early 20th century those who wanted the land persevered for recreation joined forces with conservationists to enlist the aid of Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts asking for his help to legislate the purchase of the White Mountain National Forest. Later Mount Weeks, in Coos County, was named to honor Senator Week’s accomplishment.

Who where the men and women who led the grass movement to save the White Mountain National Forest for our use today? Under what circumstances where they able to convince a nation that federal dollars be spent to preserve our mountains. They were certainly successful. Only the Great Smokey Mountains, a national park, draws more visitors each year.

I look forward to this lecture series and frankly, the stories of the people who were involved in the struggle to preserve our land. Because of this, I will be sure not to miss Becky Rule’s Lecture “Stories of New Hampshire and the Forests,” on April 9th because for me, history is in the stories.

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