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COVER STORIES: BACK TO THE LAND...STILL
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| photo by
Derek Dudek |
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E. H. Roy, A76
Sustainable woodlot management and solar power advocacy merge twin interests of a New Hampshire graduate
Back to Back
to the Land...Still
For many years E. H. Roy was a petroleum geologist with Exxon. These days,
the oil fields of Texas are a far cry from the wilds of northern New Hampshire,
where he manages some 400 acres of forest. But he’s not only traded the
professional fast track for a flannel shirt, he’s also become a convert
to solar power. “Woodlot management and photovoltaics both are attempts
to make contributions characterized by sustainability and a consideration for
the environment,” he says. “While some might say that cutting trees
is not an environmental action, the bottom line is that our
society needs working forests and the products that come from them. Firewood,
for instance, is a better heating means in this area than fossil fuels because
it is renewable as long as it is harvested sustainably.”
Roy grew up in Stewartstown, New Hampshire, where his family ran a small lodge
and vacation cabins on 100 acres of woodland. Today, he’s back in the same
area, and he doesn’t just work in the solar industry, he lives with the
technology as well in a cabin outfitted with solar panels. He’s also sharpening
his skills at sustainable woodland management, leaving untouched nearly 150 acres
he’s owned since the 1970s. On his other parcel, he focuses on selective
cutting that allows strong trees to grow to maturity. “My goal is to cut
much slower than growth rate and allow species to regenerate,” he says. “In
the long term, I am improving the health of the forest and retaining its recreational
and wildlife quality.”
It is a lifestyle that, he admits, might seem extreme, but one that offers the
right mix of principle and profession. “I enjoy a hands-on mode of work,” he
says. “Helping my farming friends with sugaring and haying is also an attempt
to participate in sustainable activities that provide useful products from the
land without using it up or abusing it. It is also a way for me to support folks
who have not succumbed to the temptation to carve their fields up into building
lots. Many people would say, ‘You’re educated, you’ve got the
capability do much more cerebral things, so what are you doing here?’ Well,
I was working in a big corporation and making a good salary, but this way, I
am much more independent, closer to the things I value, and much more satisfied.” |
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