AN INITIATIVE OF MERCK FOREST & FARMLAND CENTER
The Taconic Impact Alliance
Rooted in place.
Shaped by time.
Moving into the future.
Founded in 1950 as Vermont’s first land-based environmental organization, Merck Forest moves into its next 75 years with the launch of the Taconic Impact Alliance.
Your annual commitment? One dollar for each acre we steward.
A HABITAT OF GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE
At the confluence of the ancient and the urgent stands a forest of critical significance.
Here, in the well-worn Taconic Mountains — a 150-mile-long sub-range of the Appalachian Mountains — an unfragmented 42,000-acre Appalachian-Acadian forest block provides critical stop-over habitat to southern species escaping the warming climate. Merck Forest & Farmland Center stewards 3,644 thriving acres of this broadleaf intact temperate forest, keeping the essential forest block intact.
This corridor is not just a migration route for mammals, birds, and amphibians: it is a path to survival. As climate warms, and species are forced to move north, they move through this vital bioregion. The future depends on our adaptation and stewardship today, and we take that responsibility seriously.
“We see our forest changing before our eyes. The insect that’s killing the ash trees couldn’t have survived here a generation ago. But the climate changed, and now they’re here.”
MIKE STOCK
Land Manager, Merck Forest & Farmland Center
A FRONTLINE LANDSCAPE
One of four global priority landscapes for biodiversity and climate change.
The Nature Conservancy has identified the Appalachians bioregion, of which Merck Forest is a part, as one of four global priority landscapes for biodiversity and climate change.
This is our community. This is our responsibility. The land we steward creates space to connect, recreate, learn, and explore. And it is an active experiment in climate adaptive management, where we are testing a new kind of social-ecological monitoring system that can act at the speed of climate change.
01.
The Appalachians
02.
The Kenyan Grasslands
03.
The Amazon Basin
04.
The Rainforest of Borneo
THIS IS US!
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KEEPING PACE WITH REAL CHANGE
We don’t strive to stop change; we prepare for it.
The forest is changing faster than most people realize. We see it at Merck Forest every day. Sugaring season is less predictable, species that have defined this landscape for generations are moving north, and new insects from warmer climates are arriving. The forest composition is shifting in real time;
what grows here, what survives here, and what passes through changes from season to season.
We keep the forest whole so species have room to migrate. We monitor changes to manage proactively, not reactively. We teach the next generation of land stewards how to care for the land. We adapt, we change, and, with your support, we sustain and grow.
“We steward 3,644 acres and tend to the capacity of this place to keep functioning for wildlife, for water, and for the people who will be here long after we’re gone.”
ROB TERRY
Executive Director, Merck Forest & Farmland Center
THE MERCK IMPACT
Each year, we welcome students, explorers, and volunteers from all over the world. In 2025…
3,200
students were inspired with curiosity.
1,000+
visitors were welcomed at our signature events.
1,000+
youth mobilized, Pre-K to post-grad, to protect biodiversity.
1,000+
volunteer hours were donated on the property.
200
summer campers attended camp over 8 weeks.
100+
organizations, schools & universities partnered with MFFC.
100+
community members hiked under the full moon.
30+
native & climate-appropriate species were reintroduced.
WHY JOIN THE TACONIC IMPACT ALLIANCE?
You love forests as much as we do.
You understand that the future depends on how we steward bioregions today. The Alliance needs your financial support, intellectual capital, and problem-solving power to enable Merck Forest & Farmland Center to:
Sustain long-term forest monitoring and climate-adaptive management.
Support education and research that build the next generation of land stewards.
Keep this landscape whole and connected within a critical migration corridor.
Respond decisively as conditions change and new knowledge emerges.
THIS IS YOUR INVITATION
Maybe you have felt awe taking in the long view from Mt. Antone, or seeing the light filter through the canopy on a forest walk. Maybe you have camped here, visited the lambs in the springtime, or gathered with neighbors for Harvest Fest. Or maybe you have yet to visit, but your values align and your curiosity calls.
Please, join us.
A CALL FOR CONNECTION
Join the Founding Cohort
A forest of global significance requires sustained investment. Your support of $3,644 or more annually will allow us to act at the pace and scale this moment require and provides unrestricted, flexible support so we can respond to ecological change with agility and maximum impact.
Your annual commitment
Choose your level of support. Every gift directly stewards this landscape.
One time
Yearly
Amount
Alliance Founder - One acre for every acre we steward
$3,644
Alliance Leaders
$10,000
Alliance Keepers
$25,000
0/100
Comment (optional)
JOIN THE STORY
Impact Reports
We’ll share what your support makes possible across the forest and farm.
Field Experiences
Invitations to walk the land with the people who steward it.
An Annual Forum
Gather with notable national and international experts as we shape the work together.
Our Mission
Sustain the generational work of stewardship that keeps the forest whole, connected, and capable of responding to a rapidly changing world.
Visit
Merck Forest & Farmland Center
3270 Route 315
P.O. Box 86
Rupert, Vermont 05768
Connect
An initiative of Merck Forest & Farmland Center, Vermont’s first land-based environmental organization, founded in 1950.
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