A Valentine to the Land
By Evan Coulson, Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives, Camp Ondessonk
Camp alumni, many now camper parents themselves, returned to Ondessonk for a Winter Stewardship Weekend where they engaged in a full day of hands-on restoration work. Their work was rooted in Camp’s 10-Year Forest Management Plan, a science-based strategy developed to reverse decades of ecological decline in our oak-hickory forests. Recent Forest Stand Improvement work near Goupil, Chabanel, and Lalemant had thinned shade-tolerant trees that were crowding out regenerating oaks and choking Camp’s historic sandstone glades. That forestry work left beautiful Eastern Redcedar trees on the forest floor as well as piles of smaller Maple and Beech trees that were thinned to open the forest canopy along the Lake Echon Road. Rather than let any of it go to waste, our volunteers gave these felled trees new purpose.
One crew salvaged more than 50 cedar logs, cutting them to length and carrying them to nearby trails to be hauled out for future fencing, cabin restoration, and projects that will keep Camp’s traditional aesthetic alive for generations.
A second crew transformed piles of small to medium-sized trees that had been thinned out into mulch. This mulch will be utilized during the upcoming Spring Lodge Reunion to refresh Camp’s landscaping and add padding around Camp’s challenge course elements. By the day’s end, the parts of Camp that had undergone forestry work this past fall and winter were looking a lot more like Camp again!
The land wasn’t the only thing that felt the love. Many volunteers expressed joy at the thought of this summer’s campers (some of whom are their own children) who will soon be walking the trails through Ondessonk’s restored forests and glades. One volunteer described the day as a satisfying way to model an ethic of service for those campers. Another reflected that experiences like these help them keep Camp in their life in meaningful ways long after their summer camper and staff years ended. Though tired and a little sore, these volunteers all described the weekend as a refreshing way to give back to a place that had brought them so much of what they love and value in their lives.
This Valentine’s Day weekend confirmed what we’ve long known: our community’s love for Camp Ondessonk is truly a powerful, restorative, and sustaining force.
Click here to learn more about Camp Ondessonk’s 10-Year Forest Management Plan.
