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Our Million-Plus Acre Backyard Commons: Triumphs and Tragedies”

“Our Million-Plus Acre Backyard Commons:  Triumphs and Tragedies” was distributed by Bay Journal News Service, February 2016.

I’m surrounded here by the 1.1 million acre George Washington National Forest, a commons that provides incalculable ecosystem services to many millions of people.
I’m surrounded here by the 1.1 million acre George Washington National Forest, a commons that provides incalculable ecosystem services to many millions of people.

“There’s no grill in my big back yard, no swing set, and no swimming pool, unless you count the rock-bottomed bowls along Reedy Run as it cascades to the Shenandoah River. They’re mainly trees here in the George Washington National Forest (GWNF) along the Virginia-West Virginia line. Just trees, creeks and 100,000 species of wildlife.

My home borders the forest, so my back yard grows to 1.1 million acres of forested mountainsides. It is mine, but also yours. It belongs to the people in a way that no other property does.”

Click here to read story online.


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