Meet at Allbritton at 6:45 pm! Transportation is provided, just a 10-minute drive to CFPA Headquarters at 16 Meriden Road, Rockfall, CT.
If you love Connecticut’s forests and trails, and have any curiosity as to why they are so abundant in our state, then join us for a free, one-hour film screening about one person who helped start the conservation movement and influenced the creation of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association!
One of the most important, yet least recognized and appreciated, giants in the early movement to save forests and protect open lands is Gifford Pinchot, “America’s First Forester.” Ironically, his family made significant amounts of money clear-cutting forests, selling the timber, selling the land to farmers, and moving on. As the story goes, Gifford’s given mission at a young age was to repair the damage and grow the forests. He became the first forester in the country, the first Chief of the Forest Service, and helped start the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His friends noted his influence when they started CFPA. He really did do what he was told!
Gifford’s great-granddaughter, Dr. Leila Pinchot (Ph.D. Natural Resources, University of Tennessee), will introduce the film Seeking the Greatest Good: The Conservation Legacy of Gifford Pinchot and lead a Q&A afterwards about one of the original philosophies driving the creation of the CFPA. The film establishes Pinchot’s vision of conservation to affect social justice as a force that shaped our nation. By exploring their efforts to find “environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially responsible” solutions to contemporary conservation challenges, Seeking the Greatest Good demonstrates how the Pinchot Institute for Conservation exemplifies Gifford Pinchot’s philosophy of “practical conservation.”