The Stone Wall Initiative (SWI) is coming back to life with more vigor than ever before.  After its launch in 2002, its coordinator, Robert M. Thorson, spent about six years  as a stump evangelist speaking on behalf of stone wall conservation, publishing essays,  and being a traveling educator to school classrooms, state parks, and non-profit environmental organizations.

Things went quiet between 2008 and 2013 when I diverted more of my energy to a separate “signature landform” project on the galaxy of small glacial lakes decorating the northern fringe of the United States, leading to the book  Beyond Walden: The Hidden History of America’s Kettle Lakes and Ponds  (Walker, 2009).  This led to a scholarly investigation of Walden Pond, which led to the book Walden’s Shore: Henry David Thoreau and Nineteenth-Century Science (Harvard, 2014).

Though the SWI went to the back burner during those years, the requests for talks and workshops, and queries from stone wall enthusiasts continued at a moderate clip.   Now, after a five year period of quasi-hibernation, the SWI is bouncing back as an important component of my scholarly engagement at the university.   To serve the education goal,  I’ve resumed classroom visits using Stone Wall Secrets.  For  conservation, I’ve become involved in  involved legislation. For investigation, my colleagues Will Ouimet and Katherine Johnson have published a spectacular geo-archaeology paper on New England’s hidden landscape.  And for appreciation I’m trying to load this website up with information whenever I get the chance. When that’s done, I’ll start putting together some one-minute videos to answer common questions.

Please give the “new and expanded” site a quick overview, and check back every once in a while, as we will be building it steadily for the next several months.   It feels good to be back.

Thor

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