While the Cathedral Pines were standing, the conservancy, the private landowner, was doing the right thing, preserving the old growth timber.

Those that accuse the conservancy of inflexibility misunderstand the real value of preserving the Cathedral Pines in the first place.

Cathedral Pines planted in Brentwood were the site of a utopian community in the 1800's, Mr. Sinclair said.

His business, Cathedral Pines Farm, established in 1983, is New England's oldest llama farm.

The first tornado, which may have been three separate tornadoes, started its path of destruction in Cornwall, leveling a virgin forest known as Cathedral Pines.

The acquisition consolidated a block of more than 830 acres that includes Cathedral Pines County Park.

But the Cathedral Pines are owned by the Nature Conservancy, a worldwide private environmental group that buys land and protects it from infringements by man.

The ski area, a few miles from the Cathedral Pines, lost most of its trees, as well as a number of structures.

They will likely have little impact, however, on the Cathedral Pines.

Cathedral Pines - a 42 acre nature conservatory and old growth forest.