News & Events

By Barry McGee

One extraordinary feature about Salemtowne is our forest and network of hiking trails. The volunteers who comprise the Forest Keepers maintain that network for all residents, present and future.

The trail system began in the late fall of 2016 when Michael Boing started clearing paths so that he could put identification signs on some of the trees. Tom Mann saw Michael working and offered to help, as did Joe Rust. The trails grew and more residents joined in, and in 2020 Dillon Robertson suggested the group’s name—the Forest Keepers.
The Keepers’ duties include clearing the trails of fallen trees, leaves, and debris, reducing erosion, and fighting the ongoing battle against the invasive plants that threaten the woodlands’ stability, like Kudzu, Wisteria, English Ivy, Callery Pears, Privet, and Autumn Olive.

Our forest hosts an ecosystem as vibrant and diverse as any the Earth can sustain. Tom Mann has identified about one hundred wildflowers in the woods and meadow, and Michael Boing over thirty species of trees. Joe Murray instantly distinguishes the native plants from invasives. Plus the forest is home to birds, squirrels, deer, and other wildlife.

There were no bridges over the streams for the first group hike on the trails, but with the Forest Keepers’ assistance, no one made a splash. The three current bridges were built by an Eagle Scout, his father, his scout master, and even the scout’s grandfather who was visiting from the Czech Republic. The boardwalk emerged from the hard work of many residents, including the master woodworkers here at Salemtowne. Notice the skillful way the walk curves. The workers signed the last board put in, but they were a modest group and turned the signed side toward the ground.

The longtime Forest Keepers can tell good stories, like when they saw goats brought in to eat the Kudzu, or how they nervously watched Bub Manning on a boat out in the lake, cutting a tree that had grown in the spillway.
The forest invites everyone to enter, quietly observe, and be part of a living miracle. The Forest Keepers’ reward is having residents enjoy that experience, and want to do it again. Some of the names have changed over the years, but the Forest Keepers’ mission remains the same—to maintain the trails and give the woodlands the loving care that all life needs and deserves.

Note: Barry McGee is a Salemtowne resident and Writer for the resident publication, Reflections.