

March 23, 2023 Blog Environment
The farm hosts an American Chestnut Forest (an extinct historic plant community). There’s a hardwood forest, too, and Southern Hemlock—a species threatened by pests across the U.S. and threatened on Coal Creek a few years back, though a management solution was applied. There is shortleaf pine on the farm and a White Pine forest, too. While the farm was clearcut for years, a combination of new and old management techniques is bringing back both wet and dry habitats. The riparian thickets growing along the waterways provide both habitat and shoreline stabilization.
April 25 2023 Blog Environment
Some scientists estimate that native grasslands have declined by as much as 99 percent. By some estimates, this resulted in three billion fewer birds on the landscape than 50 years ago. This has harmed both the eastern meadowlark and the bobwhite which are both found on Coal Creek.
April 20 2023 Blog Environment
Historically, open savannas and woodlands were largely maintained by periodic fire, which served to remove dense blankets of accumulated leaf litter from the ground and promote the growth of fire-adapted trees, such as shortleaf pine. Due to the loss of periodic fire, it is estimated that at least 90% of shortleaf pine-oak savanna has been lost.