By Amy Nathanson, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Atwater Farm, a 300-acre forest in East Charlemont, is a well-managed and beautiful area. The trees here are large--they average twenty-three inches in diameter and many trees are over thirty inches. Though the trees are valuable, investment manager John Atwater thinks of this forest as a very long-term investment.

Like most Massachusetts forests, the Atwater Farm forest grew up in abandoned agricultural fields in the early 20th century. The trees in this forest are all 75-100 years old. However, Mr. Atwater’s vision is a forest containing a variety of tree ages and species. He has visited forests in Germany, and was very impressed with the forests there. His management plans are guided by the Dauerwald concept, where the goal is a forest with high biodiversity and large volumes of valuable trees along with younger seedlings and saplings.

Mary Wigmore, a private consulting forester, manages John Atwater’s forests. Ms. Wigmore works hard to listen to woodland owners and understand what they want to do with their forests. In Mr. Atwater’s case she says he would like to grow the trees as long as possible. She says his philosophy is, “If there’s nothing wrong with the tree biologically, let it grow.”

There is also a sawmill on the Atwater Farm property, run by sawyer Ken Griswold. “[Mr. Atwater] likes to get involved in unique projects,” says Wigmore. “He restored a three-story colonial house on his property from the 1700s. All the wood for that restoration came from his land.” Mr. Atwater also recently provided nearly all the wood used for the restoration of the 17th-century Christ Church Tower in London’s financial district.

Though he does remove some low-value wood, especially to provide light and growing space to higher value trees, for the most part trees are cut based on what is necessary for current projects. Mary Wigmore stated that Atwater works with a few carpenters in the area. “Someone might want a 40-foot length of oak,” she says, “And what he’ll do is go out and find a tree that will fulfill that order.”

Mary Wigmore emphasized John Atwater’s long-term outlook for forest management. She says, “If the trees are healthy on John’s land, his theory is, ‘Why can’t I just let them grown to 300 years?’” He hopes his family will continue this philosophy.

To learn more about John Atwater and the Christ Church Tower restoration project click here.

To find a service or private forester in your area click here.