Conservation

Cons-Prisonors
Prisoners behind bars. Residue of a strip-mined stone wall that once was. This one was scooped from the land, wrapped in wire, mounted on pallets, shipped to some “garden-supply” business, and will likely to be used to build a backyard wall that we won’t be invited to appreciate.

Should we strip-mine stone walls?  I think not.  I said so in this New York Times invited essay titled “Strip Mining History.” One afternoon of work by a diesel-powered front-end loader can easily erase a century’s worth of hand-crafted stone, a labor of love by some anonymous person.   Should we stiffen penalties for roadside thievery?  I think so.  Massachusetts recently did, raising the fine above $15 for the first time in decades.  And thumbs-up to New Hamsphire for passing regulations in 2009 against theft and  to its highway department for updating  policies regarding a 1791 law (The preceding link works, even though it’s lined out).

In February 2025, the peer reviewed journal The Public Historian will publish a status report on 20 years worth of thinking about stone wall conservation in an article titled “Conserving the Historic Stone Walls of New England.”  I will update the link when it becomes available. Until then, here are some key quotes:

  • “This article recommends a stepwise approach to the conservation and interpretation of New England’s stone walls that considers their historic, archaeologic, ecologic, aesthetic, and geologic values while remaining respectful of the presence of Indigenous stonework.” 
  • “Three recent developments have made conservation a priority. First is the revolutionary success of (Light Detection and Ranging) technology for facilitating the detection and mapping of stone walls for better and worse, that is, for enhanced management or targeted thefts. Second is the availability, for the first time, of a peer-reviewed and monographic “Taxonomy and Nomenclature for the Stone Domain in New England,” a resource written to define, classify, describe, and interpret stone walls and related features. Third is a rising realization that a scientific focus is needed to ethically differentiate ancient Indigenous stone structures deemed Ceremonial Stone Landscapes (CSLs) from those built since the onset of Euro-settlement.”
  • “Following the successful analogy with wetlands conservation, stone wall conservation by government offices, nonprofits, and landowners will likely involve multi-year efforts to identify, map, inventory, and describe, and interpret the resource so that it can be conserved for future generations.“

 

Conservation is a tricky business, which is why this section of the website has so many links:

  • Threats, ranging from late-night rustling to legal strip-mining.
  • Rationale, a series of published essays justifying the conservation movement.
  • Case Histories, the good and bad news of towns confronting the  stone wall trade.
  • Stakeholders, a page explaining how we’re all in this together.
  • Management, the nuts and bolts.
  • Legalities, a short list of laws and ordinances. (Please send me yours to add here)
Lucky wall is preserved because it's in a wetland.
Walls are local deserts or drylands on land and become reefs when submerged. In both cases, they increase the habitat diversity.