This is the first half of my talk with Gabe Perkins, who is the executive director of Inland Woods and Trails – woodsandtrails.org - formerly Mahoosuc Pathways – which is based in the western mountain village of Bethel, Maine. You simply won’t find a nicer guy than Gabe, and he’s really fun to talk to. Recently he and I skied up to an incredible viewpoint overlooking Bethel and the surrounding landscape. It was beautiful. The viewpoint is a parking area and trailhead in the summer, and in the winter a great place to enjoy the view and talk.

The mission of Inland Woods and Trails is to promote prosperity by connecting communities through multi-use recreational trails. Here in part one we talk about Gabe’s story of growing up near Bethel. I wanted to talk to him about two recent land conservation success stories that he played an important role in. The first, which we cover and actually ski on here, is the Bethel Community Forest.

Check pout our NEW LOGO by my former AMC colleague Ryan Smith at Rooted in Light Media