In Centennial woods, there is clear evidence of recreational, agricultural, and educational land use. Centennial woods is a social-ecological system. Every environmental factor has been imprinted by human impact. If you observe the surrounding area of this forest you cannot miss human imprint, e.g. hotels, busy industrial roads. When you get into the woods you can see human impact everywhere. There is trail steps stop erosion, making it easier for hikers to walk and helps redirect water during storms. There are small ladder bridges to get over the brook. There is an ROTC bunker which is now just used as a canvas for graffiti. There is remnants of barbed wire. Which is an indication of agricultural grazing of cattle. As well as current human use of this land, it was also originally used by Abenaki Indigenous people. They had respect for the natural world so they didn’t change the landscape much. Whereas, the hospital used it as a dumping grounds for human cadavers. Clearly, there is opposite ideas and opinions on how the natural world should be treated. It has been a long time since Centennial went untouched by humans. Mass deforestation occurred when white European settlers arrived in the New England region. Forests were cut down for economic purposes like agricultural development and logging (wood used for fuel). At one point, Vermont was over 70% deforested, as we learned in class. When studying this and other lands, researchers should always look at it as a social-ecological system. It is important to consider human history alongside natural history.
3 Dec