Forestry Stewardship

Forestry Stewardship is a program under Camp Deerpark’s Stewardship Initiative tasked with managing the approximately 360 acres of forest owned by the Camp. Like all Stewardship programming, Forestry stewardship sees humans as part of creation that have a unique God-ordained role in managing living things and resources according to his way and will. The current program was founded in 1997 by members of the North Bronx Mennonite Owner Church and friends who began to advise Camp on sustainable practices informed by work on community forest management by Dr. Chuck Peters (see this history).

Projects

• 10% Inventory — from 1998-2000 approximately 10% of our tree species were inventoried and the results compiled by Kevin Coffey from New York Botanical Garden to create an overview and understanding or our land, resources, and forest health.
• A Time To Build Cabin Construction Project — Forestry Stewardship developed a plan for sustainable harvest of White Pine to build post-and-beam cabins for the Promise Woods village. This project removed mature pine to improve biodiversity and restore the more productive oak-heath community. Forestry Stewardship volunteers advised on harvest areas and marked trees.
• Annual Woodcutting — Camp heats several buildings with firewood and welcomes volunteers — especially Youth and Young Adults — harvest, haul, split, and stack firewood. This project converts deadwood and low-value trees into a valuable resource and can provide a carbon-neutral alternative to fossil fuels with proper woodlot management.
• Periodic Inventories and Monitoring — Camp continues to measure and monitor our forests. When sustainable management began, our forest was yielding approximately 26,000 board feet/year of “merchantable wood”. Management has increased this number to 45,000 board feet/year with healthier forest lands.
• Harvest and Sawmilling — Camp maintains small-scale harvest equipment and a portable sawmill and projects have continued to harvest and created value-added products for the Camp and other nearby organizations such a local school district and nearby Christian Camps.
• 2023 Comparison Study — Graduate Student Missy Poff compared the South Woods around Orange Trail with the newly purchased North Woods from “The Mehr Parcel”. Since the later had not been subject to our management practices, it was a good reference to compare and determine results from our program. The study did confirm the South Woods were healthier and more productive than non-managed lands. Also, future recommendations for the Forestry program were developed from this study.

Membership for the Forestry Stewardship team is open to a variety of volunteers with different skill sets and experiences. Contact Us to join the team or to schedule your family or group for a forestry related retreat of volunteer experience.