By Micky McKinley and Jaana Cutson
This is a descending trail that leads to a deep, ancient gorge carved by glacial meltwater to falls that plunge 45 feet into a basin. One of the things that make the falls so special is its remote location. It is well worth the rather difficult 0.8-mile hike to the edge of a half-hidden forested ravine. Please note that the trek is not an easy one, and can be very wet in places, so you should use extreme caution when walking here. The 0.8 mile-trek down to Falls Brook is part of the much longer Metacomet-Monadnock Trail. The M-M Trail extends for 117 miles from the border with Connecticut near Springfield to Mount Monadnock in southwest New Hampshire.
Sustainability is for everyone. You can make a difference! April is Earth Month, and we’re issuing a challenge to you and your family: can you be a Salamander Superhero by […]
Social distancing is a new and hopefully temporary norm with the threat of COVID-19 in our communities. As we continue to adjust to this way of living the Hitchcock Center remains committed to the importance of getting outside in nature for healing and exercise. We know that with trailheads being crowded, you may be looking for other places to get outside while also keeping a safe distance from others. So we are bringing back our 50th Anniversary blog on 50 places to explore around the Valley, written by a variety of local authors. Look for them roughly mid-week to inspire your explorations outdoors.
Mass Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Health Connector launched the ConnectorCare Card to Culture program at the Hitchcock Center on Friday, January 17. This unique program is designed to facilitate access for all Massachusetts residents to cultural facilities, including the Hitchcock Center, across the state. Residents with EBT, WIC, or Connector Care cards are eligible for benefits at over 100 cultural organizations across the state.
The Hitchcock Center received a USDA Forest Service Every Kid in a Park grant to get local 4th graders outside and connected to nature through hikes in Skinner State Park this past fall. Local parks in the Pioneer Valley provide a valuable resource for nature exploration, exercise, and recreational activities. However, not all children have the opportunity to visit these beautiful resources, despite how close they are. The grant provided funding for Hitchcock educators to lead 15 two-hour inquiry–based natural history and geology field trips for 375 fourth grade students, fifteen teachers, one principal.
By Ahmed Abusharkh
The oceans are rising, the animals are dying, and the Earth is heating up. Young people know it. Adults know it. The politicians and millionaires refusing to address the issues know it. The question is, “Who’s going to do anything about it?” Seemingly, our hope rests on the shoulders of young people and the future generation of green leaders. They have the biggest stake in the game, given that they have to deal with whatever environmental catastrophes that are handed down to them for the longest. Even though it might not be their fault, even though they didn’t build the system that pumps out millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, they’re going to have to figure this out if we want a chance at a cleaner Earth in the future. Luckily, the two Living Building Challenge sites at Hampshire College are helping sculpt the next generation of young environmental leaders who can do something about it.
Through the town’s drinking water permits, the Amherst Department of Public Works (DPW) funds Hitchcock Center educators, Helen Ann Sephton and Aemelia Thompson to teach a series of Water Conservation classes in all Amherst and Pelham classrooms grades 2, 4, 5, 6. By engaging youth in water system cycles and uses, these standards-based classes help develop communities that can more effectively use and manage water resources.
The Western Mass Climate Summit, now in its third year, brought together 12 school teams and 75 students from Massachusetts and Connecticut for a 2-day intensive, empowering students toward action on community solutions at their schools. The event is a partnership between Hitchcock Center and Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Sanctuary and this year for the first time, the Summit’s goals and plan were developed and guided by Sadie Ross a student at Frontier Regional School and Ollie Perault a homeschool student.
What happens when two architects, two research scientists, and an advocate for healthy buildings walk into a room? If their assignment is to influence the architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) community to embrace the design of healthier buildings, they might pose these questions: If you knew that a building product you selected for your project caused cancer, you wouldn’t specify it, would you? If you knew that day-care furniture was exposing children to a vast array of toxic chemicals, you wouldn’t buy it, would you? If you knew that stain-retardant treatment was poisoning our water supply, would you still select white carpet and upholstery, which won’t stand up to use without that treatment?
By Katie Koerten On October 12, I was honored to represent the Hitchcock Center in an event that has long intrigued me: the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts […]
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Hitchcock Center for the Environment
at Hampshire College
845 West Street | Amherst MA 01002 | 413.256.6006 | 413.253.2809 fax