Allen Chamberlain

In 1897, Allen Chamberlain was commuting home from Boston to Winchester with his friend Joseph Nowell, when both men discussed the health of the forest lining the railroad.

Together, Chamberlain and Nowell formed the Massachusetts Forestry Association (MFA), the purpose of which was "to introduce judicious methods in dealing with forest and woodlands; to arouse and educate a public interest in this subject; to promote the afforestation of unproductive lands; to encourage the planting and care of shade trees.

As head of the AMC Exploration and Forestry committee, Chamberlain struck a balance between conservation and legitimate timber harvesting.

In 1902, he vowed to oppose, "the ruthless waste of material, and ... the stripping of the timber from those lands which are of little value for anything but forest growth".

Perhaps the high point came in 1911, when Congress passed the Weeks Act enabling the subsequent formation of the White Mountain National Forest in 1918.

In Vacation Tramps in New England Highlands (1919), he described several long-distance hiking trails crossing the higher peaks of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

The Chamberlain-Reynolds Memorial Forest, in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, is named for Chamberlain and his colleague Harris Reynolds.

A plaque on the memorial remembers both men for laboring, "with many others to place Monadnock under protective ownership".