[MUSIC AND PROJECTOR SOUND]
TOM CRAVEN: Trying to picture
what Duke would be like without Duke Forest…I don’t think you could do it. They’re inextricable.
I can’t tell you how many times people have told me that it was their solace, their escape.
They were just so thankful that Duke Forest was here.
It’s nice to run into people who appreciate it as much as we do.
VOICEOVER:
Founded in 1931, the Duke Forest covers more than 7,000 acres across three North Carolina counties.
This is the story of the six people whose job it is to take care of it.
SARA CHILDS:
As the director I'm responsible for the oversight of this entire forest and managing it for its
health and protection of its wildlife and plants and trees. And then really, most importantly,
the team. So the people that I work with in order to make sure we can take care of this resource and
serve the mission, which is really to facilitate teaching and research at Duke and beyond.
BLAKE TEDDER:
Living in this area for years I thought the Duke Forest was just here. And it was just land that
Duke owned. But every inch of this forest is really known to us in this office. Which is
kinda unbelievable cause it's 7,000 acres and we really know and think about the entire thing.
This is the Duke Forest Maintenance shop where we have all the tools that
we need to take care of this entire teaching and research forest.
From our chainsaws, the weed whackers, our gas cans for our prescribed burns are up here,
all of the various different kinds of signs that we have to put up all over the forest are here.
That’s the most important one.
SARA CHILDS: The forest is host to a wide variety of research from studies that are
looking at what's happening under our feet to studies that are looking at
the outer reaches of our atmosphere. It's our role as the Duke forest staff to help
facilitate those projects and whatever they may need to accomplish the study objectives.
At any given time there are 40-plus research sites active in the forest.
In addition to working with the researchers to plan and prepare the sites, the team supports
the projects by doing everything from mowing to gathering and recording data over decades.
Researchers from all over the world use the Forest to address the global problems of our
time from Climate Change to sustaining our natural resources.
The Duke Forest staff makes this ground breaking research possible.
TOM CRAVEN: I was actually a student at the Nicholas School from the late 90’s and early
2000’s. And I got my Masters of Forestry and Masters of Environmental Management
and I worked for the forest for two of the years that I was here. I always thought that it would be
a plum job to come back to. But you don’t just set your career aspirations on like the one job that
exists in the world. But I was just happy to, happy to get the call when they needed someone.
TOM CRAVEN:
We have silviculture signage throughout the forest to explain what was here before and
what we've done to create the conditions that you see right in front of you.
A lot of the land as we acquired it was just bare land. And so one of the very first products
that came off of Duke forest in these planted areas was fence posts. We sold a lot of fence
posts early on because we didn't have trees that were large enough to sell its timber.
SARA CHILDS: One of the great values of having a timber management program here near urban centers,
where people are not familiar with what it means to extract and use our natural resources every day
is that we have the opportunity to actually show them live and in color,
what timber management done well can look like.
We have to use our natural resources. They underpin our society, but we can do it in a
responsible and sustainable way. And the Duke Forest is a great opportunity to see how that works.
TOM CRAVEN: This is one of the first stands that was planted when Duke Forest began in the 30’s.
So this stand is 90 years old.
VOICEOVER:
Sustainable timber management promotes forest health while generating the funds necessary
to support the staff. The full cycle of a pine stand can be up to 90 years,
so the staff works to manage a lifecycle that will long outlast their own careers in the forest.
Our current re-gen plan is that we’re going to let this and the other side grow up until
next summer. Everything is going to sprout back and then after that were going to do a
site prep burn. And then next winter, winter of 2022 we’ll plant it back in loblolly.
TOM CRAVEN:
Some of my favorite parts of the forest are where you can see
just the benign remnants of past settlement.
You're just walking along in the woods and you think you're the first person that's ever been
there, and then it reminds you of the long history of man's influence in this area.
SARA CHILDS:
Recreational access to the Duke Forest was really started under Dr. Clarence Korstian.
He recognized that it was important for people to have a connection to their natural world.
We want people to have that sense of connection and relaxation that you get
from being in a natural environment. But really appreciating that these resources
are so much more. That they provide for an unparalleled teaching and research experiment,
that they allow for the persistence of biodiversity in the protection of
things like water quality, that's not so much available in other spaces that are developed.
With the breadth and scope of this resource that we manage, we really cannot insure the forest
health by ourselves. We need everybody to come with a sense of stewardship
about this land and helping us to ensure it's as vital as it is now 100 years from now.
TOM CRAVEN: It's a huge responsibility to know that you've got this long history
of work that has brought you to this place and you don't want to let any of it slip on your watch.
Taking the time to maintain what we already have
is rewarding just in the sense that it's a relief to think okay, I'm not going to be the one, not
on my watch. It’s not gonna not gonna fall down on my watch.
SARA CHILDS: Having this resource that Duke is so committed to keeping for all
the tangible and intangible benefits. I mean, now that I have small children,
just thinking about the fact that I'm helping to contribute, having this mostly natural system
around that even my children and my children's children will be able to connect to.
I just, it couldn't mean any more to me. And that’s all I’m going to say before I cry.