The Walden Woods Project

Conservation & land managementthe Walden Woods Project preserves and protects Walden Woods and thoreau country in recognition of their worldwide literary, historical, and environmental significance and their capacity to motivate others to protect The global environment and The ecologically/historically significant areas that exist in their own communities.the Walden Woods Project owns and stewards nearly 200 acres of land that provides an important service to The public as a highly sought-after resource for passive recreation and education. The majority of our land is open to The public year-round, and our interpretive trails are used extensively by The general public and a wide variety of organized groups, including school groups, elder services groups, and tourists. Management activities include maintenance of existing trails, trail design, interpretation and construction, maintenance of trail head parking facilities, and ecological improvements intended to benefit wildlife and The natural value of our land.the Project's land management programs support collaboration between a wide variety of civic and environmental groups.the Walden Woods Project manages conservation restrictions on 53.90 acres of land, which prevents development of sites not owned in fee (total acres owned in fee: 130.30). Annual conservation restriction monitoring ensures that The protections prescribed in The conservation restrictions are in effect.the land we own and manage includes a certified organic farm that offers healthy, locally grown produce for public consumption and that hosts educational programming and volunteer service projects. In its capacity as The state-designated "friends of Walden pond," The Walden Woods Project partners with The Massachusetts department of conservation and recreation on fundraising for public programs and conservation initiatives at The Walden pond state reservation.

Research and library:the Walden Woods Project library is owned and managed by The Walden Woods Project and is located at The wwp's campus in lincoln, Massachusetts. The library houses The most comprehensive research collection by and about henry david thoreau, as well as other transcendentalists, including ralph waldo emerson and margaret fuller, and is The repository for The collections of The thoreau society, The ralph waldo emerson society, and The margaret fuller society. In 2023 The Walden Woods Project revised its loan agreement with The thoreau society to become The permanent repository for its collections. Staffed by a full-time curator & thoreau scholar, and a half-time curatorial assistant, The library is The premiere resource on a global basis for research and scholarship on thoreau and his contemporaries. The library worked with six volunteers this year who have an interest in The history and literature of thoreau's time. Every year brings new people with varying interests to The Walden Woods Project library, whether in-person or virtually. Translators from around The world have worked with The curator to provide accurate and representative translations. Our virtual classroom sessions bring our curator into schools around The world, reaching hundreds of students in 2023. We continue to publish many works electronically to ensure that our resources reach The largest number of scholars and students.

Education:the education programs of The Walden Woods Project serve an audience of students, educators, and life-long learners around The globe. Our signature programs include guided tours for groups visiting Walden Woods; The global live deliberately essay contest for youth ages 14-19; approaching Walden, a week-long summer professional development program for teachers; other professional development workshops throughout The year; virtual group visits, and The stewardship lecture series. All of our programs are inspired by The writings and philosophies of henry david thoreau and ask people to explore their own sense of place-their connection to their own community and other places in The world-and to develop an environmental ethic. As thoreau himself is a highly interdisciplinary subject, we address The topics of transcendentalism, social reform, writing, natural history and 19-century history in our programs.