A Message from the President -- Dennis McGrath

This issue of CONSERVE focuses on connectivity.

The physical connections of our natural landscape are essential to the diversity of life that resides in them. Increased fragmentation of these landscapes is a sometimes subtle but nonetheless potent threat that inflicts "death by a thousand cuts." As you'll read on page seven, WPC and partners are working to sustain the forest connections of the forest blocks along (and between) Laurel Ridge and Chestnut Ridge. In the future, you will hear more as we embark on a renewed commitment to this special feature of global significance.

On the topic of social connectivity, guest writer and former WPC Senior Naturalist, Paul Wiegman offers a history of the Great Allegheny Passage, a landmark rails-to-trail corridor that is a reality today because of the foresight and tenacity of WPC Presidents Josh Whetzel and John Oliver, and former Board Member Linda McKenna Boxx. This month, the last miles from Frostburg to Cumberland, Maryland will connect 150 miles of unparalleled beauty and open the way for hikers, bikers, naturalists, sportsmen and others with a love for the outdoors to enjoy some of the most remote and beautiful parts of the region.

Lastly, you will read about our new field offices in Ridgway, Elk County, and in the Central Appalachian region. Out of these offices our staff will work with, and within, communities to sustain both the physical and social conservation and environmental connections so essential to the future.

Henry David Thoreau said, "The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was
when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer." I've found that the
most fruitful conversations I've had happened when I took Thoreau's advice.

This is not to say that our goal is simply to accommodate. We aim much higher than that. We believe that many of those who have invested their lives in these beautiful forested areas have a love for their land and are already, or could become, advocates for conservation. It is our hope that our regional offices will afford them the best opportunity to succeed.

When we begin to appreciate our region for its unique natural endowments, when
we come to understand how it nurtures and sustains the diversity of all life, then a core
conservation value is born. The power that springs from grasping that one concept could rewrite our collective history.