Press Releases
09/27/2024
DEEP Celebrates Forestry Day at Goodwin Conservation Education Center on September 28th
Celebrates 60th Anniversary of Goodwin Forest
(HARTFORD) – The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announces its No Child Left Inside ® (NCLI) program comes to the Goodwin Conservation Education Center in Hampton on Saturday, September 28, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM with free activities for all. In collaboration with the Friends of Goodwin Forest, DEEP State Parks and Forestry Divisions, and other partners, NCLI invites families and adults to enjoy the day in the great outdoors with many fun and engaging activities.
Activities include forestry demonstrations such as the use of a portable sawmill, forestry gear, and tools, as well as guided hikes and learning about forest-dwelling owls. There is something for everyone to learn and enjoy. Forestry Day is part of the NCLI Families in the Parks Program 2024, in which children, their caregivers, and their families are welcomed to a series of fun activities, pop-up events, and adventures.
“No Child Left Inside events like Forestry Day are a fun way for families to be introduced to the outdoors, learn about environmental careers, and build the next generation of environmental stewards, as our staff, volunteers, and partners showcase Connecticut’s State Parks and Forests,” said DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes.
Visit www.FriendsOfGoodwinForest.org for updated event details.
About Goodwin Conservation Center
Goodwin Conservation Education Center is an education facility of the Connecticut State Parks & Public Outreach Division of CT DEEP. Located at 23 Potter Road, Hampton, CT, within the James L. Goodwin State Forest, the Center is currently open to the public Thursdays and Saturdays. Hiking trails and the Richard Haley Wildlife Demonstration Garden are open daily. The Friends of Goodwin Forest support the work through various volunteer efforts. Established in 1913, the mission of the Connecticut State Park System is to provide natural resource based public recreational and educational opportunities through a system of state park and forest recreation areas, environmental centers and nature centers which provide an understanding of, access to, and enjoyment of the state’s historic, cultural and natural resources.
About James L. Goodwin State Forest
James L. Goodwin was one of the state’s earliest conservationists. He attended the Yale School of Forestry when it was still in its infancy and graduated in 1910. Three years after his graduation, in 1913, Goodwin came to Hampton and purchased his first piece of property. Of these three acres of white pine and 25 acres of open field Goodwin wrote, "…it was my ambition to own, develop, and operate my own timber acres according to the best forestry principles."
He continued to expand and improve his forest lands through the years. His initial crop was Christmas trees which he planted in 1921. He sold a crop every year from 1924 until 1964. He experimented with red pines, spruces, white pines, and Norwegian pines as his "Pine Acres Farm" grew. Ultimately, the approximately 2,000 acres included Christmas trees, stands of timber, and apple orchards.
In 1933 he built a dam on Cedar Swamp Brook flooding the existing swamp and impounded what is now the 135-acre Pine Acres Lake. Black Spruce Pond and another smaller lake was also constructed on the property. In all, Goodwin accumulated nearly 2,000 contiguous acres split between the towns of Chaplin and Hampton.
Philip Goodwin, James’s brother, turned the run-down farmhouse into his home enabling James to live on the property. That farmhouse, located at 23 Potter Road in Hampton, is now the Goodwin Conservation Center and interpretive museum which focuses on explaining the natural sciences and the art of forestry.
James Lippincott Goodwin made a generous gift of this, his personal forest, to the state of Connecticut in 1964. This led to the creation of the Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center.
Today, the land surrounding the Goodwin Conservation Center and Pine Acres Lake is a living display of forest practices common in Connecticut. The interpretive museum adjacent to the center explains the natural sciences of the art of forestry. The lake vicinity has become the central hiking area of the forest and a great place to observe wildlife.
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Contact
DEEP Communications
DEEP.communications@ct.gov
860-424-3110