Saving Walden Pond: How a treasured landmark is under threat

A half-an-hour drive from Boston, Massachusetts, in the town of Concord, sits one of the most revered literary landscapes in the world: the 2,680-acre Walden Woods and Walden Pond State Reservation.

Annually, over a half-million people pay homage to the storied pond and spiritually-nourishing woods where Henry David Thoreau wrote his 1854 classic book, "Walden."

During his two years, two months and two days living there, Thoreau treated every creature he encountered, from a scampering red squirrel to warring ants, as kin.

As Thoreau wrote at the outset of "Walden": "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Tragically, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has listed the Walden Pond and Walden Woods as one of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places." Blame a proposed Hanscom Airport expansion near Walden. This aviation project would add 6,000 private jet aircraft takeoffs and landings a year, shattering the solitude of enchanted Walden.

Environmental threats to Thoreau's retreat aren't limited to those from the air. Just a stone's throw from the pond sits a 35-acre former landfill . Without conservation protection, this parcel could be open for commercial development.

The American people should call for the conservation of the former landfill, and demand an immediate cease-and-desist of the jetport enlargement. No developer has the right to destroy the historic essence of Concord, which includes the Minute Man National Battlefield of the American Revolution; the former home of Ralph Waldo Emerson; and the place Louisa May Alcott wrote "Little Women."

By defending Walden, we save the birthplace of an American literary shrine, and honor its inspiration: the sublime of the natural world.

For more info:

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation: "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places"
• Walden Pond State Reservation , Concord, Mass.
• The Walden Woods Project
• Friends of Walden Pond
• Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation: Park Alerts
• Minute Man National Historical Park , Concord, Massachusetts
• "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau (Project Gutenberg)

Story produced by Liza Monasebien. Editor: Karen Brenner.

See also:

• Passage: The life of Henry David Thoreau ("Sunday Morning")