Places Volume 5
On Assignment with conservation photographer Jerry Monkman.
On Assignment with conservation photographer Jerry Monkman.
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PLACES<br />
On Assignment with Jerry Monkman<br />
THE MERRIMACK:<br />
RIVER AT RISK<br />
Putting a spotlight on one of<br />
America’s most endangered rivers.<br />
CONSERVATION PHOTO<br />
PROJECTS<br />
Forests, farms, fires and more<br />
from across the Northeast.<br />
MAINE TOURISM SHOOTS<br />
Headin’ upta camp.
Sunset at Square Lake in Maine’s Aroostook County.<br />
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From Jerry<br />
I was just a week away from sending out this edition of <strong>Places</strong> when the<br />
Covid-19 pandemic changed all of our lives in so many ways. In my house,<br />
that meant the return of a college freshman and learning how to live<br />
together as a family of four again – a minor change that I’m grateful for! I<br />
hope you and your family are experiencing relatively mild impacts as well.<br />
On the Cover: Dawn breaks in New<br />
Hampshire’s Great Bay.<br />
During the last few months, we’ve all been itching to get out of the house<br />
whenever we get the chance to do it safely. In the best-case scenario that<br />
means being able to walk, run, or hike in a park or forest close to home.<br />
For me, the pandemic has reinforced the need for there to be a variety<br />
of conserved open space in all communities. The majority of my career<br />
has been spent working with non-profits to publicize land conservation<br />
projects throughout the northeastern US, and in these times, I am<br />
even more impressed with the amazing work these organizations have<br />
accomplished over the last three decades. Many of the photos on the<br />
following pages show how this work continues.<br />
Be well, stay safe, and enjoy the outdoors!<br />
-Jerry<br />
Table of Contents<br />
The Merrimack: River at Risk................................................................................4-5<br />
Putting a spotlight on one of America’s most endangered rivers.<br />
Conservation Photo Projects............................................................................... 6-21<br />
Forests, farms, fires and more from across the Northeast.<br />
Maine Tourism Shoots........................................................................................22-26<br />
An award-winning "Headin’ upta camp" marketing project.<br />
P.O. Box 59, Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03802<br />
603-498-1140<br />
jerry@ecophotography.com<br />
www.ecophotography.com<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 3
Film<br />
NH & MA<br />
The Merrimack:<br />
River at Risk<br />
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Feature-length documentary to be<br />
released this summer<br />
The Merrimack River is the birthplace<br />
of the industrial revolution<br />
in America. Factories in cities like<br />
Manchester, New Hampshire and<br />
Lowell, Massachusetts were the<br />
largest textile mills in the world in<br />
the 19th century. Like many rivers in<br />
America, the Merrimack was heavily<br />
polluted by the 1960’s, but due to the<br />
Clean Water Act, the Merrimack has<br />
been cleaned up considerably since<br />
then. Remarkably, more than 80%<br />
of the Merrimack watershed is still<br />
undeveloped and largely forested,<br />
yet in 2016 the river was named<br />
one of the most endangered rivers<br />
in the US by American Rivers. Since<br />
then, I have been working with the<br />
Society for the Protection of New<br />
Hampshire Forests to produce a<br />
film that tells the Merrimack’s<br />
story and explains why the river is<br />
in trouble today. Almost four years<br />
later, we have finished that film –<br />
The Merrimack: River at Risk. The<br />
pandemic has shuttered our plans<br />
for theater screenings for the time<br />
being, but I’m proud to announce<br />
the film’s broadcast premier will be<br />
on July 23rd when it will air on New<br />
Hampshire PBS.<br />
https://ecophotography.com/a-new-film-the-merrimack-river-at-risk/<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 5
Conservation<br />
NEW ENGLAND<br />
Conservation Photo<br />
Projects<br />
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Forests, farms, fires and<br />
more from across the<br />
Northeast<br />
Two and a half years ago, I produced a video for<br />
the Harvard Forest that introduces people to their<br />
conservation vision for the Northeastern US called<br />
“Wildlands and Woodlands.” (You can see that<br />
video and others on my site here: https://archive.<br />
ecophotography.com/video.) Their vision makes the<br />
case that we can still conserve 70% of our land as<br />
forests and 7% as farms, while also sustaining vibrant<br />
communities. Forests provide wood products and<br />
jobs, clean the air, and provide clean drinking water.<br />
And it’s possible to feed most of the region with that<br />
7% of farmland. Many of the photos I’m asked to shoot<br />
are for forest and farm conservation projects, and I<br />
love visiting and shooting in places that most people<br />
have never seen. Over the next several pages, I share<br />
photos of forests and farms, fires and scientists, and<br />
a little solar power.<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 7
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Battenkill River sunrise, Shushan, NY.<br />
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Hiking on land conserved by<br />
The Conservation Fund in<br />
southern Vermont.<br />
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Exploring the newly created Bethel Community Forest in Bethel, Maine.<br />
Forest in western Maine in the path of a proposed transmission line.<br />
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Mountain biking on new conservation land in southern New Hampshire.<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 13
Farms<br />
I’ve shot farm conservation projects across New<br />
England, from northwestern Connecticut to central<br />
Maine. In the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough<br />
to work close to home for the Southeast Land Trust of<br />
NH on several forest projects as well as some of their<br />
projects conserving local farmland. Many of the farms<br />
are places that I buy veggies from at our local farmer’s<br />
market every Saturday in the summer. I love being<br />
asked to work these farms, and I really enjoy being able<br />
to envision the land where my food was grown while<br />
sitting down with family and friends for a meal. And<br />
now these farms will remain farmland in the future.<br />
It’s also nice to work on projects where I can sleep in my<br />
own bed at home!<br />
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Above left: Three women process a<br />
beet harvest in South Hampton, NH.<br />
Above right: A young man feeds<br />
his calves at a dairy farm in New<br />
Hampshire.<br />
Middle and below right: Kinney<br />
Hill Farm in South Hampton, New<br />
Hampshire.<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 15
Women harvest kale in South Hampton, New Hampshire on<br />
land recently conserved by the Southeast Land Trust of NH.<br />
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Prescribed Burn<br />
In September, The Nature Conservancy asked me to<br />
photograph a prescribed burn on one of their grassland<br />
preserves in Maine. Grasslands are less common<br />
in Maine than they used to be, not only because of<br />
development, but because they tend to revert to forests<br />
if they aren’t burned every few years. This community<br />
provides nesting habitat for several rare ground nesting<br />
grassland birds including the grasshopper sparrow,<br />
upland sandpiper, and short-eared owl. These open<br />
grasslands also provide excellent habitat for a rare<br />
snake, the northern black racer. I was very impressed<br />
with the Nature Conservancy staff’s attention to detail<br />
and ability to safely complete this burn exactly as<br />
planned.<br />
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SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 19
Solar Panel<br />
Installations<br />
It was great to have the opportunity<br />
to shoot a couple of solar panel<br />
installations as part of a project for<br />
the Barr Foundation. The industry<br />
is booming, providing excellent<br />
jobs and affordable, carbon-free<br />
electricity that is a key part in our<br />
efforts to stem the effects of climate<br />
change.<br />
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Manomet<br />
I’ve had a blast shooting primarily<br />
video projects for Manomet during<br />
the last two years as we work on<br />
telling their story of using science<br />
and partnering with business to<br />
foster a sustainable world. Manomet<br />
applies conservation science to<br />
industries that impact all of us:<br />
forestry, commercial fisheries, and<br />
agriculture. The organization got<br />
its start 50 years ago conducting<br />
bird research and that’s still a big<br />
part of their work (and really fun to<br />
shoot!) They have one of the longest<br />
continuously run land bird banding<br />
stations in the world, and they are<br />
leaders in the study of shorebirds<br />
in the western hemisphere (like this<br />
whimbrel being outfitted with a<br />
GPS transmitter in the back seat of<br />
a Toyota.)<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 21
Recreation<br />
MAINE<br />
Maine Tourism<br />
Shoots<br />
Headin’ upta camp<br />
Over the course of my 20+ year career, I have been to<br />
so many places in the state of Maine, from Portland and<br />
the south coast near my home in Portsmouth, NH, to the<br />
western mountains and the Appalachian Trail, to one of<br />
my all-time favorite places, Acadia National Park. When<br />
I was asked to shoot in the Deboullie Public Reserve Land,<br />
I was surprised that I had never even heard of the place.<br />
And then once I arrived, I was even more surprised. The<br />
ponds, cliffs, mountains, and forest are classic Maine<br />
wilderness, home to bears and moose, great hiking,<br />
hunting, camping, and paddling, and a classic Maine<br />
wilderness lodge (Red River Camps) to use as a base to<br />
explore it all. My work on this project with Thalo Blue<br />
Destination Marketing, and Aroostook County Tourism<br />
received the 2020 Maine Tourism Marketing and<br />
Promotion Award. A video about the collaboration can<br />
be viewed at: https://vimeo.com/420535493.<br />
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SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 23
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SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 25
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facebook.com/ecophotography<br />
twitter.com/jerrymonkman<br />
linkedin.com/in/jerrymonkman<br />
instagram.com/jerrymonkman<br />
SUMMER 2020 ECOPHOTOGRAPHY 27
P.O. Box 59<br />
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03802<br />
603-498-1140<br />
jerry@ecophotography.com<br />
www.ecophotography.com