For the last three years, the seventh-grade class at the Well School has visited the Forest Society’s Tom Rush Chestnut Orchard to learn about tree anatomy, growth and maintenance.
As the Autumn volunteer season winds to a close, here is some of the great work our volunteers have helped us achieve this Fall.
Workday at Johnson Clark Trail: Johnson Clark is one of the Forest Society’s newer properties, and as a result, needed some TLC to get it ready for hikers to visit and enjoy. Volunteers spent the day working on sprucing up the trail and clearing a corridor through overgrown brush, grass and saplings. Property signs were added to help guide hikers on the trails, and a parking lot kiosk was installed, complete with a trail map and information on the Forest Society. Volunteers also installed bog bridging through areas that are prone to flooding and brushed back a trail corridor through the property’s field so that the trail could be more easily located and followed.
We’re so excited to add this hiking trail to our property list. The Johnson Clark trail offers so much scenic beauty and ecological diversity for many hiking abilities. Plus, if you’re prepared for an uphill hike, take the trail up to Lewis Hill for some beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and countryside. Thanks to our volunteers, this trail is ready and waiting to be enjoyed!
Tom Rush Chestnut Orchard: This year marks the Forest Society’s third year of partnership with the Well School in Peterborough, NH. For the last three years, the seventh-grade class has visited the Forest Society’s Tom Rush Chestnut Orchard with their teacher, Jocelyn Bennet, to learn about tree anatomy, growth and maintenance. This year, students learned how to perform Diameter-at-Breast-Height measurements of the chestnut trees, marked the annual progress of the trees’ growth, and assisted staff with clearing branch trimmings from the orchard.
“This was a great group of students,” says Volunteer Coordinator, Laurel Swope-Brush, “They were very curious and asked a lot of great questions. They actually knew a lot already, and it was super awesome seeing them connect what they had learned in the classroom to the workday.”
Dana Forest Bog Bridge Work: Forest Society Staff joined Land Steward Tom Banit and 3 other local volunteers to build a section of bog bridges at the Dana Forest. Underground hydrology can change over time, and Tom alerted Forest Society staff that several heavy seeps had sprung up in recent years soaking a previously dry section of trail in deep mud.
The crew dug drainages to help water cross the trail, and built 70 feet of bog bridges using rot resistance cedar base logs and tamarack stringers. The bog bridges will help keep hikers' feet dry, as well as prevent soil erosion and trail widening from hikers skirting around the edges of the muddy trail, improving both trail sustainability and making a better hiking experience for visitors.
Workday at The Rocks and Creek Farm: Two of our major flagship locations hosted end-of-season workdays to prepare the trails and property infrastructure for the winter months.
As the holiday season approaches, our volunteer efforts focus on preparing The Rocks for winter visitors. Volunteers spent the day dismantling and repairing a footbridge on the Christmas Tree Trail that had fallen into disrepair. The wooden railing had rotten through, and the boards on the decking were following suit. Volunteers and staff ripped out the old and rotting wood, replacing it with new boards that will hold up better once the winter weather arrives, providing visitors with a safe and sturdy path over the trail.
Additionally, volunteers installed trail signs and Iron Ranger stations at trail heads on the property, allowing for improved hiker experience.
At Creek Farm, volunteers focused on general fall stewardship tasks, including cutting invasive species back, clearing hanging branches from trails, and moving piles of fallen leaves left by the October wind.
Tool Maintenance Day: 6 volunteers joined Forest Society staff to help clean, sharpen and maintain our important tool cache, getting ready to put things to bed, ready to go for the next field season. The group was a mix of experienced tool maintainers to those interested in learning how to properly care for tools.
“We also took advantage of the beautiful day to clean up our tool shed to refresh this vital space,” says Laurel Swope-Brush.
End of season workdays are some of the most important, as they help lay the groundwork for the start of the spring season. Without this specific day, the work to do when the snow thaws would be exponentially larger.