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Welcome to One Forest Fragment

Adventures in forest revival at Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve. Just another little piece of degraded urban forest with great potential.

What is a forest anyway? Is it just a place where trees grow? Who are the inhabitants, and what are the ties between them and the place where they live? Why would a forest need to be revived or restored? Just some of the questions this blog will try to answer.

 

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Restoration would be too optimistic a word for what we are doing. Decades, even centuries, of anthropogenic change have altered this forest irrevocably. Fragmentation, timber harvesting, agriculture, draining, stream channelization, grazing, soil erosion, invasive plants – this place has seen it all. And now an ever-increasing urban deer herd is deciding, bite by bite, what the future forest will look like.

One definition of the word revival  “An improvement in the condition, strength, or fortunes of someone or something.” This blog will show, I hope, what improvements are possible with very little money, committed volunteers, perserverence, hard work, and the vision of a stronger, more fortunate forest ever in the mind’s eye.

 

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9 thoughts on “Home”

  5. Pam Raidt

    I appreciate your article on removing invasive species. I have been struggling for years to keep the bush honeysuckle and winter creeper from taking over my backyard. Clipping and pulling are not very effective in slowing their spread.i have hesitated to use chemicals, but I’m sure that’s the only means that will work.

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    1. oneforestfragment

      I had the same experience with trying to manage them here. These plants simply make more of themselves faster than we can work to remove them. Despite all the hype about Roundup, glyphosate can be used in a safe manner to oneself and the surrounding plants.

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  6. Denise Furnish

    How lucky I just happened here… we live on just under an acre in the highlands… we stopped mowing a large portion of it years ago and wound up with a yard full of invaders… mostly plant honeysuckle… I feel terrible using roundup, but am glad it is the right thing to do… thanks for the information!

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    1. oeforestfragment

      Yes, herbicides are an important tool for invasive plant management. I also resisted their use initially, but found that the invasive plants just returned with even more vigor after cutting alone.Herbicides use will not result in an improved habitat, but must be followed by intensive planting of native grasses and herbaceous plnats.

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