On June 23, 2026 Catherine Schmitt spoke at the Southwest Harbor Public Library about her article “On Western Mountain” in the 2026 issue of the history journal Chebacco.

Parts of Mount Desert Island have been continuously forested for thousands of years, reflecting the unique landscape and millennia of human relations. From Wabanaki caretakers to the European explorers, investors, and colonists who sought to make the forest their own, the history of people here is intertwined with the trees. The pursuit of white pine that inspired the American Revolution reached the shores of Frenchman Bay, while hills of oak and pitch pine helped fuel the emerging economy of a nation. As the island’s conifers filled sluiceways, tanneries, and sawmills, concern for the fate of the forest inspired another revolutionary idea, of people coming together and making decisions about the future of the landscape, preserving the forests that today remain vital to the pursuit of democracy. 

Catherine Schmitt is the author of Trees of Acadia: The Past, Present & Future of Park Forests, published in June 2026 (Down East Books,) and a science communication specialist with Schoodic Institute at Acadia National Park. She has contributed to the MDI Historical Society’s history journal, Chebacco, for over a decade.