12/30/2025
As 2025 comes to a close, we are reflecting on what a remarkable year it has been! From welcoming Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to our headquarters in May to preparing for "Henry David Thoreau", the film executive produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley that will air in March 2026, our 35th year has truly been one for the books. This week, we would love to share some highlights with you!
On April 1st, we joined Daniel Emerson, great-great-grandson of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Mark Thoreau, representing the Thoreau Family, at the Massachusetts State House, who voiced their opposition to a private jet infrastructure expansion plan at Hanscom Field civil airport in Bedford, MA. The expansion project is one of the largest of its kind proposed in the United States. It will wreak significant impacts on our efforts to address climate change, and dramatic noise impacts on surrounding historic sites, including Minute Man National Historical Park and Walden Pond. Together, with The Walden Woods Project, Stop Private Jet Expansion, Save Our Heritage, National Parks Conservation Assn., and The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Daniel Emerson and Mark Thoreau presented MA Gov. Maura Healey’s representative with a letter signed by 43 well-known and influential individuals who vehemently oppose this ill-advised and negatively impactful project that is harmful to Walden Pond, Walden Woods, Minuteman National Historical Park and other cultural and historic sites in towns surrounding Hanscom.
Photo: Mark Thoreau (2nd from left), Daniel Emerson (3rd from left) and others working to stop the Hanscom expansion project (pictured with the Concord Minutemen) gather outside MA Governor Healey’s office to deliver a letter and petition to Governor Healey’s representative opposing the Hanscom expansion project.
