Planting a Forest - Revisiting an Old Friend (#50)

 

I jab an iron blade into the soil.  It’s a deep piercing, free of roots and rocks.  My partner places a cultivated Longleaf pine seedling into the cut.  It’s a perfect fit.  We tamp it down with our boots, step off twelve feet to the west, raise the blade, and the planting process starts again.  Then again.  And again.  Over the next two hours, we’ll plant 50 Longleaf pine seedlings.  My partner and I are one of six groups working here at Piney Grove in Waverly, Virginia.  In total, today’s efforts will plant 300 seedlings - essentially, we’re planting a forest.

 

Counting instruction and driving time, I’ll accumulate five hours of dual-purpose volunteer hours on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.  The Nature Conservancy (TNC) made a call for volunteers, and the Virginia Master Naturalist program allows TNC stewardship to count toward the required hours needed for maintaining certification.  It’s an afternoon which brings two great organizations together, and whose conjunction fits right in my wheelhouse.

 

The operation director is Andi Clinton, a passionate, clear leader making today an efficient endeavor.  It started at the Adams Peanut Company parking lot – our gathering spot.  From there, we caravaned to the worksite taking the long way down Chinquapin Road, where on both sides are vast swaths of incredibly beautiful and rare Longleaf pine forest.  It’s a road I’ve traveled before – ten years ago.  Back then, I went so far as to declare Chinquapin to nearly top the list of life’s favorite driving experiences.  And this second drive has affirmed that declaration.

 

Our efforts today are aimed at restoring a vanishing ecosystem - the Longleaf pine forest - which the vitally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker is reliant upon.  It’s a two-fer: re-establishing a forest and saving woodpeckers.  It’s sweaty work through terrain primed for copperheads, chiggers, and ticks.  Long pants tucked into high socks, leather gloves, and long sleeve shirts all covered in bug spray are today’s fashion trend at Piney Grove. 

 

By late afternoon, we’ve worked our way down to a vernal pool marking the edge of our work zone.  Our forest planting is complete.  After looking down at holes jabbed into the ground for the past two hours, looking up and around at this beautiful landscape is our reward, and we all linger for a time listening to stories from Andi before trudging back to our cars. 

 

Why dedicate five hours on a Saturday to such an endeavor?  Accumulating unique and meaningful experiences like planting a forest is a way of building a satisfying life.  I’ve never planted a forest before, but after today, that unique and meaningful experience now sits in my trophy case.  And the older I get, the more important that trophy case becomes.