MOUNT TOM AND MOUNT HOLYOKE ABSOLUTELY HAVE AN IMPACT ON ME PERSONALLY.

MY JOB TAKES ME UP AND DOWN THE CRALLY TO WORK ON A VARIETY OF LAND PROTECTION PROJECT.

WHAT STRIKES ME THE MOST IS WHEN I'M COMING BACK FROM BOSTON, YOU KIND OF FEEL THAT YOU'RE BACK HOME SOMEHOW WHEN YOU CAN BEGIN TO SEE THE RANGE AND REALLY FEEL THAT YOU'RE BACK IN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY.

I LIKE TO DESCRIBE THE MOUNT TOM AS A SEVEN AND A HALF SQUARE MILE GREEN OASIS IN A SEA OF HUMANITY.

MOST PEOPLE I WOULD THINK JUST TAKE IT FOR GRANTED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN ON IT, BUT IT DIDN'T MEAN.

TO THEM, THEY DRIVE AROUND IT, THEY DRIVE OVER IT, AND IT'S JUST A ROAD GOING TO WHEREVER THEIR DESTINATION IS, THEY DON'T THINK OF IT AS A MOUNTAIN.

ONCE I GOT INVOLVED IN THE HISTORY END OF IT, IT WAS EXPANDING MY KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOUNTAIN.

AND EVERY DAY I HIKED, YOU KNOW, 5 TO 6 MILES, I WOULD SEE VARIOUS THINGS THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE.

I WOULD GO BACK TO THE HOLE YOKE LIBRARY WHICH HAS THE BEST RESOURCE FOR MOUNT TOM AND FIND OUT WHAT I HAD JUST SEEN.

I HAD BEEN WALKING THE RANGE AS A POST-HEART ATTACK REHABILITATION AND ONE DAY I TOOK MY GRANDDAUGHTER WHO WAS ABOUT 7 AT THE TIME AND WE WENT UP TO MOUNT M NONOTUCK, AND LOOKING AT THE MORTAR AND STACKED STOLENS I KNEW THAT IT WAS NOT, I TOLD HER, I WILL RESEARCH IT AND I WILL GET BACK WITH YOU.

THAT WAS 20 YEARS AGO AND I HAVEN'T STOPPED SINCE.

I LOVE IT BECAUSE IT'S SO DIVERSE, THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO THAT LITTLE PIECES OF IT THAT YOU PUT TOGETHER IN A LARGE PUZZLE, AND I THINK IT'S WONDERFUL.

>>> I OF COURSE KNEW ABOUT MOUNT HOLYOKE, THE MOUNTAIN, LONG BEFORE I EVER KNEW THAT I WOULD BE AFFILIATED WITH THE INSTITUTION NAMED MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE.

SO IT WAS PARTICULARLY INTERESTING FOR ME WHEN I MOVED INTO THE AREA TO GO SEE THIS MOUNTAIN.

AND THOUGH IT'S NOT A VERY HIGH ELEVATION, IT IS A DRAMATICALLY BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE.

DURING THE DAY I CAN NOTICE CHANGES IN THE MORNING, IT JUST CATCHES THE MORNING LIGHT ON A PARTICULARLY SUNNY DAY.

SOMETIMES THERE'S CLOUDS HOVERING OVER THE SUMMIT, IT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL.

I WOULD DESCRIBE THE MOUNT HOLYOKE RANGE AS A BEAUTIFUL CORNER OF NATURE, A BEAUTIFUL CORNER OF THE NEW ENGLAND LANDSCAPE THAT ALSO HAS AN IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE PAINTINGS HAVE COME TO BE CONSIDERED THE MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN LANDSCAPE PAINTING.

HE CAME TO THE PIONEER VALVE IN THE 18 30'S, LARGELY BECAUSE MOUNT HOLYOKE WAS A FAKE US TOURIST DESTINATION, IT WAS THE SECOND MOST VISIT SPOT IN NORTH AMERICA IN THE 19TH CENTURY, SECOND ONLY TO NIAGARA FALLS.

ALTHOUGH HE REALLY PREFERRED TO PAINT HISTORY PAINTINGS, IMPORTANT SUBJECTS, HIS CLIENTELE REALLY LIKE REAL TICK PAINTINGS OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE SCENERY.

HE WROTE A LETTER TO HIS PATRON A COUPLE YEARS LATER AND SAID I THINK I'M GOING TO START PAINTING THE VIEW FROM MOUNT HOLYOKE, IT'S A WELL-KNOWN PLACE, A VERY LOVELY SKETCH AND I THINK IT'S GOING TO MAKE A VERY SAILABLE PAINTING.

THERE ARE SOME PAINTINGS THAT JUST HAVE THE AUTHORITY THAT SURPASSES TIME.

AND SO MANY OF THE ARTISTS WHO WENT TO MOUNT HOLYOKE SPECIFICALLY ARE RESPONDING TO THOMAS COAL'S PAINT.

WE SEE THAT TIME AND AGAIN.

OTHERS ARE TRAVELING HERE OR LIVE IN THE AREA, AND IT'S JUST A PLACE THAT ATTRACTS ALL OF US.

SO ARTISTS HAVE COME HERE AND HAVE BEEN TRUCK BY THE ARTISTIC POSSIBILITIES, BUT THEY'RE ALSO PART OF THE TRADITION.

AND THEY ARE NOT ONLY RESPONDING TO THOMAS COLE, BUT ARE TALKING WITH EACH OTHER AND VERY OFTEN THEY ARE IN A DIALOGUE WITH CONTEMPORARY ART AND WITH SOME OF THEIR COLLEAGUES AND WITH THEIR OWN ARTISTIC CHALLENGES AND THEIR OWN ASPIRATIONS.

SO WE HAVE A VARIETY OF RESPONSES.

SOME QUITABSTRACT, AND SOME METICULOUSLY DETAILED AND EXACTING.

¶ WE ARE HERE AT ONE INSTANT IN THE LIFE OF MOUNT HOLYOKE.

THE RANGE HAD ITS BEGINNING 200 MILLION YEARS AGO AND THE END SOMETIME MILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE FUTURE.

THE RANGE WILL CHANGE OVER TIME, IT WILL BE LOWER IN ELEVATION IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS HIGHER IN ELEVATION IN THE PAST.

IT IS CONSTANTLY BEING ERODED WITH THE RAINFALL AGENTS WINTER ICE FREEZES AND THAWS AND LITTLE BITS ARE ERODED AWAY AND CARRIED EVENTUALLY DOWN THE CONNECTICUT RIVER AND OUT OF NEW ENGLAND.

THE TALUS SLOPES, THE STEEP ROCK CLIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT HABITATS FOR VARIOUS REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS AND THESE ARE PHYSICALLY BROKEN OFF CHUNKS OF BASALT THAT HAVE CRUMBLED DOWN, AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY VERY DISTINCT AND WORTHWHILE HAPPEN AT THAT TIMES.

-- HABITATS.

>> I LOOK WITH AWE AS DOES EVERYONE ELSE, BUT CERTAINLY I SEE THE BASALT COLUMNS, THE COOLING CRACKS THAT FORM THE SIDE OF MOUNT TOM, THAT ARE NOW FEATURES THAT HELP THE MOUNTAIN ERODE.

SO I SEE THAT HISTORY.

I SEE SOMETHING HAPPENING 200 MILLION YEARS AGO WHICH WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US IN WESTERN WASHINGTON.

MASSACHUSETTS.

THE RIVER IS WHERE THAT ORIGINAL LAVA FLOW CRACKED AND FAULTED.

MOST OF THE RANGE RUNS SOUTH, AS DOES THE WHOLE OF THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS, THE RANGE HAS BEEN BENT SO THAT THE MOUNT HOLYOKE RANGE ITSELF RUNS WEST.

THAT'S PRETTY UNIQUE IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES.

THE RANGE WAS NOT PUSHED UP IN THE SENSE OF CONTINENTS RUNNING INTO ONE ANOTHER.

INSTEAD, IT WAS LAVA FLOW TILTED LONG AGO, AND THEN THE HOLYOKE RANGE APPEARED AS ALL OF NEW ENGLAND ERODED DOWN AROUND IT.

THE HARDEST ROCKS ERODED MORE SLOWLY SO THEY WERE LEFT BEHIND, MORE RESISTANT TO THE EROSION SO THEY FORM A HIGH PLACE, BUT THEY, TOO, ARE ERODING, JUST MORE SLOWLY.

THE HOLE YOKE RANGES OFFERS A VERY UNIQUE SPECIAL PLACE TO WALK AND ENCOUNTER NATURE THAT WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO IF THE RANGE WASN'T THERE.

IF YOU'RE STANDING ON THE DECK OF THE MOUNTAINHOUSE, AND YOU LOOK AT THE RIVER AND THE VIEW, THAT VIEW IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME AS IT WAS PERHAPS 1 50 YEARS AGO.

IN THE EARLY DAYS, THIS WAS BEFORE THE HOUSE, ANY STRUCTURE WAS BUILT, PEOPLE WOULD CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN JUST FOR THAT VIEW.

YOU COULD SET FIELDS AS YOU CAN TODAY.

YOU COULD SEE WORKERS WORKING IN THE FIELDS.

SO YOU'VE GOT A SENSE OF HUMANITY FROM MOUNT HOLYOKE, THAT PERHAPS YOU DIDN'T GET FROM ANY OF THE OTHER MOUNTAINS.

WITH THE COMING OF A SHELTER, WHICH WAS BASICALLY UP THERE FIRST, TO PROVIDE THE EARLY CLIMBERS WITH SOME SORT OF REFUGE, SOME REPRESENT, BECAUSE SOME WEREN'T, BECAUSE THIS CLIMB WAS PRETTY ARDUOUS, YOU COULDN'T HAUL ANYTHING UP.

SO IT BECAME A MORE AND MORE OF AN EXPENSE TO GET MORE AND MORE COMFORT FOR THE TRAVELER GOING UP THERE.

AND EVENTUALLY, JOHN FRENCH, WHO WAS THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THE HOTEL, WHEN HE GOT CONTROL OF IT, WHEN HE WAS ABLE TO OWN IT AND CONSTRUCT HIS FIRST HOUSE, HE PUT A LITTLE OBSERVATION AREA ON TOP OF THE ROOF.

HE WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH, HE HAD TO GO UP ON THE ROOF TO GIVE YOU AN EVEN HIGHER DISTANCE.

MOUNT HOLYOKE BECAME THE FIRST HOUSE, AND THEN MOUNT TOM CAME LONG.

AND THEN THE PURPOSE FOR MOUNT TOM WAS TO TREABLGHT MORE PEOPLE TO MOUNTAIN PARK.

>> THE SECOND HOUSE WAS WHAT WE CALL THE BIG HOUSE.

IT WAS SEVEN STORIES TALL.

IT HAD AN OUTSIDE OBSERVATORY, AN INSIDE OBSERVATORY FOR INCLEMENT WEATHER.

IT HAD ANOTHER OBSERVATION DECK HIGHER YET, WE CALLED IT THE VIP DECK, AND ALL OF THIS WAS CAPPED WITH A GOLD-LEAF DOME.

IN FACT, OUR 25TH PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY, WHEN HE CAME TO MOUNT HOLYOKE HE SPENT A DAY AT THE SUMMIT.

>> HIS VISIT WAS PREDICATED ON HIS NIECE GRADUATING FROM MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE.

HE'S OVER HERE, AT HER GRADUATION CEREMONY, AND CROSSES OVER AND GOES TO MOUNT TOM.

>> NOW, I DON'T BELIEVE HE EVER WENT UP MOUNT HOLYOKE.

I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF THAT.

I THINK MOUNT TOM MIGHT HAVE HAD MORE EXPOSURE IN THE PRESS AT THE TIME.

>> I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS TO BEGIN TO GET A BETTER APPRECIATION OF OUR LANDSCAPE, THE CONCERN THAT I HAVE IS THAT THE MOUNTAIN RANGES COULD BECOME, IF THEY AREN'T -- THEY NEARLY ARE ALREADY, BUT COULD BECOME ENTIRELY BIOLOGICAL ISLANDS.

WE HAVE TO HAVE THE ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS -- WE TALK A LOT IN MY PROFESSION ABOUT ECOLOGICAL CONNECT ACTIVITY, THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN ORDER TO ACTUALLY FUNCTION.

AND THE CONCERN WE HAVE IS THAT AS DEVELOPMENT OCCURS AT THE LOWER ELEVATIONS AND KIND OF CUTS OFF STUFF, YOU END UP WITH THIS ISLAND THAT'S VERY SPECIAL BUT THE GENE POOL MIGHT BE -- BECOME STAGNANT BECAUSE THERE'S NO INTERACTION THROUGH THE CONNECTION TO OTHER AREAS.

SO THAT IS ONE OF MY PARTICULAR CONCERNS, AND THAT'S WHY LAND PROTECTION AND APPRECIATION, WHICH LEADS TO LAND PROTECTION, IS SO IMPORTANT.

>> EVEN THOUGH THERE IS CERTAINLY INDUSTRIALIZATION THAT HAS CHANGED THE FACE OF THE VALLEY AND FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS, AND HIGHWAY 91 STRATEGICS BY THE MOUNTAIN'S BASE, NOT FAR FROM IT, IT REMAINS A SCENE OF INFINITE VARIETY AND DRAMA.

>> THE MOUNTAINS ARE A SOURCE OF STRENGTH TO ALL OF US, THEY'VE BEEN A PART OF OUR CULTURE, AND WHEREVER YOU ARE, YOU CAN TURN AROUND AND FIND THE MOUNTAIN.

>> I FEEL INCREDIBLY FORTUNATE LIVING IN THE LITTLE TOWN OF GRANBY, THAT THAT RANGE IS IN MY BACKYARD.

I CAN MY HOUSE IN FIVE MINUTES AND DRIVE TO THE NOTCH AND BE ABLE TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL.

>> APPLIES THE WORD "DIVERSITY" AND IT'S THERE.

CULTURAL DIVERSITIES, ECOLOGICAL, BOTANICAL, GEOLOGICAL, ALL OF THESE FEATURES COME TOGETHER WITH MOUNT TOM AND MOUNT HOLYOKE RANGE.

>> IT'S OUR LANDSCAPE, OUR SETTING, THE BACKGROUND FOR OUR LIVES.

>> "FOCUSING ON THE RANGE" IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MEMBERS OF WGBY, AND BY: "FOCUSING ON THE RANGE" BROUGHT TO YOU BY PEOPLE'S BANK, PART OF THE VALLEY LANDSCAPE FOR OVER 120 YEARS.

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