We are repairing Woodend’s forest that has been damaged by years of deer over-browsing. For the first time in decades, new tree seedlings are thriving and will be ready to replace the mature trees as they age and die.

The completion of a deer exclusion fence in 2017 has allowed native tree seedlings to grow for the first time in decades. These sprouts on the forest floor will become the future forest. (Hickory, Sassafrass, Elm)

We are removing exotic shrubs like bush honeysuckle to make room for plants that support local wildlife.

We are making room for native shrubs like Arrowwood Viburnum that have co-evolved with the wildlife of our region. Native plants provide food, nesting and resting places for wildlife – and they are beautiful too!

Native plants form the foundation of a healthy forest food web by hosting insects like this Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar. Caterpillars serve as food for other insects, birds, small mammals, and amphibians.

Bird species like the wood thrush need native understory plants for nesting and an abundance of insects to feed their young. We hope to attract a nesting pair of wood thrushes to a restored Woodend.

Oaks alone support 534 species of moths and butterflies making homes for eggs and cocoons, providing food for caterpillars, and as resting and mating places for adults.

In a healthy forest, complex relationships happen at every level. Bloodroot blooms early on the forest floor to take advantage of spring sunshine before the trees leaf out. Bloodroot provides an early food source for bees and ants.

Join NF volunteers who are surveying the return of forest vegetation to
track progress and guide restoration efforts.

Come visit and watch how the forest grows as we make progress toward a vision of Woodend as an urban oasis of nature for all people and all wildlife.