In better forestry news, a heretofore-unknown pocket of virgin forest has been discovered in Massachusetts and is believed to be the largest in the state. The area, which somehow escaped more than three centuries of logging and development, consists of up to 1,000 acres on the 2,608-foot Mount Everett, near the Connecticut and New York borders. The forest is comprised of hemlocks, pines, and other trees, most of them severely stunted by the wind conditions and the extreme slope of the mountain. Although the mere discovery of primary forest in the Northeast is cause to celebrate, scientists are particularly excited about the panoply of rare species found in the area, including one utterly new lichen and two lichens previously unknown in Massachusetts.
