Reforestation & Community: Stillmeadow PeacePark

Forests play a very important role in the health of the Chesapeake Bay. They help clean and purify water entering the Bay and sequester harmful nutrients that would otherwise pollute the water.

I was lucky enough to grow up on a street that had a small forest behind my house. When I was young, the woods felt never ending. No matter how often I visited them (every day, no exaggeration either) there was always something fun to get into. The old Volkswagen Beetle that somehow ended up rusting away deep in the forest, the tree swing that seemed 100 feet tall, and the call of unknown animals; there was always something to keep me busy. My friends and I were never bored. And that was only the half of the woods that I felt comfortable exploring. The other half, past the dry streambeds, seemed so far from home that I was afraid of getting lost. When I grew up, half of the forest was razed to build new homes. What seemed like a never ending patch of land in childhood seemed so much smaller once houses went up.

I credit my childhood and the woods behind my house for my love of nature, hiking, and trees. Seeing patches of forest knocked down to keep suburban sprawl alive irks me to this day. I am deeply interested in reforestation and reversing sprawl. I guess a part of me misses those days where I could walk out my back door and straight into “wilderness.” I wanted to check out a nearby plot of land where reforestation efforts and experiments were underway. The land, called Stillmeadow PeacePark, reminded me a lot of the woods from my childhood.

When I arrived at the park I was greeted by Morgan Grove, who works at the Northern Research Station of the Forest Service, located in Baltimore. He was kind enough to give me a tour of the place and explain what they had been working on. Before we started, he introduced me to Pastor Michael Martin. He’s the Pastor of the church of which Stillmeadow is located. He was very warm and welcoming and made me feel right at home. As we chatted, he was helping set up a fish tank that was going to be used to raise bluegill, which would be released into the stream and pond that runs along the edge of the park. Morgan seemed skeptical that the fish would survive but appreciated their enthusiasm.

As we made our way outside to the park, Morgan explained a bit about the land's history. It had once been farmland, which surprised me because it was so hilly. Apparently the old farmhouse was at the top of the land with some crop fields, and the section we were walking through was more or less pastures. He said it was a farm up until around the 1920s or ‘30s. A lot of people may look at this forest and think of it as old, but it’s still relatively new. It looks a lot like the forest I grew up near, so I wonder what it used to be and how it’s changed in 100 years.

The church wants to use the land as a place for people to find peace and enjoy nature. The church became a spot for the community to come together after devastating floods in the neighborhood in the past few years. They run a food pantry that gives out free food every month, they provide COVID-19 vaccinations, and the next step to help connect with the community will be through the park. So cool.

With funding through the Forest Service, Morgan is helping clear out and reforest the park. Around the area you’ll see invasive vines and dead trees, all of which are in the process of removal. When Morgan first started here, he said he thought the vines would be the biggest issue. But he soon realized that the ash trees were a main point of concern. Many of the ash trees were dead or dying because of emerald ash borers, an invasive beetle that destroys the trees within a few months of infestation. As we walked through, a young guy was using the paths in the park as a shortcut and he stopped to ask what’s happening in the park. Morgan explained and mentioned the problem caused by the beetles, even pointing out a log nearby which showed markings from the ash borers destruction.

With so many trees dying, it was important to remove them for the park to be safe. Especially when the tree dies from the ash borer because it becomes less stable and can fall apart in pieces. A lot of work went into removing the trees and now many of them line the path. Working on the vines is another headache. Especially on the south facing hill by the parking lot. That area gets a lot of sun so it makes it difficult to stop the vines from growing. Morgan suggested to Pastor Martin that they could use herbicide, but the Pastor completely rejected that suggestion because he didn’t want it to hurt the bees using the apiary on the other side of the property. Even after Morgan explained it wouldn’t, it was still a strong no. Got to respect house rules after all.

One way they are keeping some vines from growing is by putting down wood chips on the ground that were created from the dead trees. This blocks the potential plant from receiving enough light. Which, speaking of, leads me to the reforestation part of the trip. Afterall, that was one of the main reasons I wanted to visit.

From what Morgan explained, two of the biggest issues with reforesting the area are the vines and deer. The wood chips are put down to help prevent vines from growing and fencing is put up in sections to keep deer from eating the young trees. It should only take a year or two for the trees to grow tall enough to avoid harm from the deer. There are five different areas within the 10 acre forest that are fenced. Each working as an experiment to see under what conditions trees grow best. Each of these sections is half covered in the wood chips, and the other half is left bare. They are trying to see what sort of difference putting the chips down will have on the trees growing. The wood chips will help enhance water retention during droughts and suffocate any vines or plants of light, giving the trees less competition for sun and nutrients. But, in the first year so far, it appears as if the unmulched trees are growing faster. They thought is that as microorganisms consume the carbon in the wood chips, they’re also consuming nitrogen. This is taking away from the nutrients that the trees may have gotten. It is still early in the experiment phase (this is a 30 year project after all), so we’ll have to see what happens in the long term.

I asked Morgan when they expect to see results that can be used in other projects by the Forest Service. He said they already have. They created a terrain scanning tool that at first took many weeks to use and obtain data. But, since then they’ve gotten the process down to just a few days. That’s just at the technical end of the experiment though.

The results matter of course, but there are already results and benefits being seen in the community. Throughout the forest are paths for people to walk and run. Morgan said they have a regular morning runner who goes through the park and was grateful they had somewhere in nature to run now. In the 10 acres, there are also areas to sit, meditate, and relax. One area is being left semi-untouched, and specifically for children to explore and play. Like Morgan said to me on our walk, if you want to see how children play, leave them alone. Reminds me of when I would escape to the woods with my friends every day. Morgan also said he’s been able to teach some kids, and even their parents, how to skip rocks in the small pond. I forgot that we were in the middle of the city and not everyone has had that experience before.

What I’m getting at here is that my ability to explore and play in nature when I was younger turned me into someone who cares about and is interested in protecting the environment. If people don’t have access to these types of natural places, how could we expect them to care about them to begin with? Morgan said he’s noticed a curiosity in the community that visits here. Like when they noticed certain mushrooms growing on different trees, they wanted to know why. It’s these types of questions and interactions that keep the community involved. When they have it in their own backyard, they’ll be more likely to care. You can’t help improve the Chesapeake Bay if you don’t give people a reason to care. But you can get them to care by introducing them to the nature around them. And that’s exactly what they’re doing here at Stillmeadow.