Barbara Green, a forester for the State of Virginia, and Dave Wilson, a member of our Board, recently walked through most of our 22 acres of wooded common ground, talking about the overall health of the woods, the condition of the streams that run through the woods, the wildlife, and what kinds of things we should or should not do with our common wooded areas.

Overall Barbara commented that our woods were in wonderful condition - better than many that she has seen in the county! She spotted a couple of white pines that really impressed her.

Barbara did have a few recommendations for us. This included leaving the downed trees where they fell and let nature take its course in reclaiming the trees, continue to maintain and repair our asphalt trails, and using porous matting underneath the rip-rap that has been used to stabilize the stream beds, along with several other minor suggestions.

In the end, Barbara recommended we engage a state-sanctioned arborist to keep our woods in tip-top condition. And in the true spirit of helping out, she's volunteered to act as a technical resource for any future Eagle Scout forestry projects and to assist in any further Scout stream control projects.