A forest in Fairfax Station is set to receive some laurels.
The five-acre St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church Sanctuary Forest (5911 Fairview Woods Drive) will be designated as a community forest by the Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN) on Sept. 14.
“We are grateful for the example set by St. Peter’s to recognize and protect a maturing stand of trees that is highly valued by the community,” Brian Kane, the mid-Atlantic regional manager for the OGFN, said in a press release. “St. Peter’s is an inspiring example to protect mature forests, preserve significant wildlife habitat, store large amounts of carbon, and filter stormwater to protect the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay.”
The OGFN is a nonprofit that works to preserve forests across the country. In addition to identifying and protecting “Network Forests” recognized for their age and ecological and cultural importance, the OGFN honors community forests, such as the Sanctuary Forest, and forests on private property.
Community forests are “cherished greenspaces that connect people to nature right in their own neighborhoods,” and may be old or young, according to the OGFN’s website.
The organization maintains a map of community forests, and Virginia currently has two. The Fairfax Station site — which sits on the Manahoac tribe’s ancestral lands and features oak, American beech and tulip poplar trees — will be the first community forest in Fairfax County, per the press release.
“This designation affirms the work of our Creation Care Ministry and the gift that our mature forest offers to countless birds and woodland creatures, not to mention humans seeking a tranquil place for walking, meditation and prayer,” St. Peter’s in the Woods Rector Reverend Susan Hartzell said in the press release. “We look forward to sharing our woods and opportunities for education with the larger community in the months to come.”
The Sanctuary Forest’s induction of the comes a little over a year after the OGFN added a 20-acre stand of trees in Clifton’s Hemlock Overlook Regional Park to its Network Forest list. Those trees are estimated to be around 250 years old, if not older, making them likely the oldest trees in Fairfax County.
For their part, the hardwood trees in St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church’s Sanctuary Forest are mostly between 70 and 100 years old, according to the release. Arlington County also features a Network Forest in Glencarlyn Park.
Image via Google Maps
