WHITEFIELD, Maine — Tracy Moscowitz and Bambi Jones say they wanted to build their own house in a rural town, have a garden and enjoy living “back to the land."
That was 45 years ago, before the two embarked on what has become a lifetime journey of conservation, land protection and hard work.
Did they think, back then, that Bambi would become a full time farmer and Tracy a woodcutter?
“Not in our wildest dreams,” said Bambi with a smile, standing on the edge of a large field of lush grass, and a garden ready to be put to bed for the winter.
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Tracy was an engineer and a lawyer, who came to Maine for a job with the state Public Utilities Commission. Bambi was finishing law school herself, and would go into private practice. They bought an old farm in Whitefield, and got a mortgage through the Farmers Home Administration, which was clear about wanting some farm activity on the land.
“That put us on the path and said OK, I guess we’re going to do this,” Bambi said.
They began growing vegetables and raising chickens while both kept working their regular jobs. They found customers who wanted the meat and veggies. Tracy began to also work their woodlot.
Then they began looking for more land.
Both say it was their goal to protect and conserve forest land around them and protect it from development.
“I’d say (land protection) was a bigger goal than the forestry,” Tracy said. “And then the question became you have all this land what will you do with it?"
The decision needed to be made, because they were steadily expanding the amount of land they owned. It would eventually total well over 2,000 acres.
They admit they didn’t know much about forestry or agriculture when they began. But the farm would eventually grow to five acres of vegetables, plus hayfield. Bambi said she began signing up customers for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) where families subscribe to the farm and receive usually weekly orders of fresh food.
At the peak, Bambi said, “I was feeding 125 families.”
By that time, she had quit her job as a lawyer and focused full-time on the farm.
Tracy continued his energy consulting work but also became more heavily involved in sustainable forestry. That meant working to improve stands of trees through thinning and other forest management techniques to promote better tree growth.
“We take the worst and leave the best, where typical logging is taking the best and leave the worst.”
They also worked cutting new trails and improving old ones, for both hiking and cross country skiing. Some of that trail work led to spots where small, lakeside cabins could be built, with lumber from the land.
Eventually, Tracy and Bambi split off about a thousand acres of that forest land and created the Hidden Valley Nature Center, complete with trails and cabins and more. They sold the property to a local land trust, which now manages it the center.
Since then, they have focused on doing more to improve the woods in the thousand-plus acres they still own. Tracy purchased a mechanical harvesting machine, to ease and speed up the work. They have found ways, he said, to have the forest land pay its way through selling sawlogs for the mills and firewood for retail customers.
“We sold about 100 cords this year,” he said. “We have a significant income stream. I would say the woods are close to $100,000 a year,” he added with some pride.
“That’s not net (income),” he said with a laugh,.
The farming work has been cut back. Bambi said she now supplies food to “just” seven families.
Some of the woodland and wetlands on the property are never harvested, and are permanently protected through being part of a state wildlife conservation area. The rest of the forest land is managed for wood, wildlife and for recreation. Tracy says they now has 25 miles of trails through the woods, many of them groomed in the winter for skiing, and open for others to use.
All of this work, and the conservation of their land, has attracted interest far beyond Whitefield. In October, the national Sand County Foundation from Wisconsin honored Hidden Valley Farm with the Leopold Conservation Award for New England. They are the first people in Maine to be so honored.
“All Leopold award recipients share a common trait,” said the foundation’s Lance Irving at the ceremony on the farm to honor Bambi and Tracy. “They are leaving the land better than they found it. Tracy and Bambi are an amazing example of this.”
And the pair may not be content to just tend and manage the acreage they already have.
“And there is a chance we may add another 500 (acres) shortly,” said Tracy, with a smile.
Asked if they ever stop and think about how much they have accomplished, Bambi answers with a different question.
“No, more like ‘look at all there is still to do.”