Join the New Hampshire Rivers Council and enjoy one of the largest environmental film festivals on your own screen, starting on Friday, March 26, 2021, at 6:30 pm. The Council brings you the 2021 Wild & Scenic Film Festival with live-streaming and video-on-demand for five days, March 26 – March 30. This is the Council’s […]
Archive | environment

Old-Growth Forest Network: The Healthiest Forest
Created by the Old-Growth Forest Network, this film “takes you on a 4-minute journey that represents 300 years in the life of a forest. See how structure and biodiversity recover naturally, and how continued management like thinning and harvesting interferes with recovery.” Related news articles Death of the giants: forests getting shorter, younger, in Northwest […]

‘Time for a climb’ from New Hampshire Garden Solutions
It’s Time For a Climb: New Hampshire Garden Solutions takes you along on a recent outing on Pitcher Mountain in Stoddard, N.H., and the discoveries made by taking the same trails again and again. John Burroughs said “To find new things, take the path you took yesterday” and of course he was right. I thought […]
Gale Straub: ‘She Explores – Women in the Outdoors’
“Enjoy. I find inspiration and comfort by connecting with women who share their outdoor experiences and stories.” A Friends of Mount Sunapee volunteer organizer shares She Explores, the podcast by Gail Straub of Dover. N.H. Episode 149: Stories of Togetherness Voices & Views

FOMS launches Voices & Views
Welcome to Voices & Views, a Friends of Mount Sunapee blog dedicated to comments and images that speak about experiences in nature, land conservation, and environmental stewardship. With your help, Voices & Views will bring you timely comments and short takes from FOMS members, non-members, bloggers, and newsmakers. The goal is to encourage and support […]

“Nature’s peace will flow into you …”
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ― John Muir Friends of Mount Sunapee President Steve Russell shares this photo from […]

The under-told story: Mount Sunapee’s rare forest
Many people know Mount Sunapee as a fun place to ski. Few know the story of its rare forest. Yet, audiences at the Claremont MakerSpace and Goshen’s Brook Road Inn recently heard Steve Russell, president of Friends of Mount Sunapee, tell that story about an enduring, exemplary forest in Mount Sunapee State Park. “Everlasting Forests: […]

Ice, water, and watersheds
Friends of Mount Sunapee recently added a Sunapee Mountain Watersheds page to the website. Check it out! And we welcome submissions of water and watershed related articles and media for publication. For more information, see our contact page. Water: This, that, and the other Now available from New Hampshire Silver Jackets is the Spring Report […]

New NH rule, if made permanent, will put endangered species at risk
Environmental organizations in New Hampshire “say a new state rule, which has support from the construction industry and could become permanent, puts endangered species at greater risk from development.” See the reporting of Annie Ropeik for NHPR: Instead of “no adverse impacts,” the new rule says only that project designs must “not jeopardize the continued […]
Protect Our Winters comes to NH
Protect Our Winters is coming to New Hampshire. POW, an international group of outdoor enthusiasts and climate activists, will work this year in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. “We’re coming to you [New Hampshire] this year to get to know your community and learn about all of the great outdoor opportunities your state has to […]
‘The primeval forest of Mount Sunapee’
Courtesy of the Eagle Times, July 28, 2018, this article by Steve Russell, president of Friends of Mount Sunapee, reports on a recent hike with conservation ecologist Chris Kane. “Mount Sunapee contains as much as 10 percent of all the known ancient forest in New Hampshire, and the great majority south of the White Mountains.” – […]
Forest Society working to buy popular trailhead for Mt. Sunapee hike to Lake Solitude
When the Society for the Protection of N.H. Forests (Forest Society) posted on Facebook a plan to buy a property in Newbury that hosts the trailhead of a hiking route to Lake Solitude on Mt. Sunapee, hikers who know the Andrew Brook Trail responded quickly. They posted phrases like “Love this hike,” “One of my […]
Soar over Mount Sunapee via “To Be A Bird”
Enjoy stunning, soaring views over New Hampshire via “To Be A Bird.” This video by Kris Roller captures the autumn landscape and precious mountain and watershed lands … including Mount Sunapee. At 20 seconds, you’ll find yourself flying over Mount Sunapee and taking in breathtaking views of Lake Solitude and beyond. Take flight via — […]
2015 NH Wildlife Action Plan provides new data and maps
The NH Wildlife Action Plan has been updated, and there are new data and information now available, including new Wildlife Habitat maps. Check out NH Fish & Game for town maps showing the “highest ranked wildlife habitat by ecological condition.” For more info, visit—http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/maps/wap.html The 2015 Wildlife Action Plan is a blueprint for conserving Species […]
SooNipi Magazine: ‘Hiking Mount Sunapee’s Summit Trail’
Enjoy and explore the Summit Trail at Mount Sunapee State Park. The SooNipi Magazine, always a fun and informative read, delivers in its summer (2015) issue an article that takes you for a hike up the Summit Trail. Learn what makes this area of our state park so special and why this favorite hiking trail […]
Is a ‘Timber Ripper’ coming to Mount Sunapee?
A Disney style amusement ride — a mountain coaster, which Okemo calls its “Timber Ripper” in Vermont — maybe coming to Mount Sunapee State Park. The agency that oversees NH parks recently approved a rollercoaster for Sunapee that will cut into and further diminish the wooded land near the base of the mountain. A roller […]
How do you describe Mount Sunapee’s rare old forest?
Q. – The manager of Okemo/Mount Sunapee Resort has repeatedly stated that there is no old growth in the proposed expansion area. How do you and the Friends of Mount Sunapee respond to that claim? A. – It is essential to understand that, even among forest ecologists, there is some debate over the definition of […]
Help protect the Summit Hiking Trail on Mount Sunapee
“The proposed ‘West Bowl’ expansion will fatally compromise the Summit Trail,” says Steve Russell, Newbury. “The trail as it now exists will be gone.” “The trail, which provides the general public with all-season access to the park, will be cut through with ski runs at four different locations.” Okemo/Mount Sunapee Resort is seeking a major […]