We are committed to being great stewards of the 550 acres on Turkey Run Road! We want to go beyond sustainable development and incorporate “regenerative” principles into everything we do. What does that mean? The goal of sustainable development is to meet the fundamental human needs of today without compromising the possibility of satisfying the needs of future generations. An example of this would be our plan to conserve over 90% of the land for hiking, nature watching, etc.
Regenerative design is about developing restorative systems that are dynamic and resilient, and are beneficial for humans and other species. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials while integrating the needs of society with the natural ecological processes. An example of this would be our plan to implement an overall management program to restore the site’s natural ecosystems by proactively addressing forest, species, stream, and vegetation lifecycle needs. This will ensure clean air, food and water is available for our furry friends as well as plant and tree wildlife living with us at 1815 Turkey Run Road!
When we look back in history, a great example of regenerative development are the ongoing efforts at Devil’s Backbone State Forest located close to our property on the Outer Mountain. From the mid-18th century to after the Civil War, this beautiful 558-acre forest was used to make charcoal as fuel. In 1868, the Star Tannery was built and started stripping the forest trees of their tannin-rich bark. After that, local inhabitants cut its firewood and timber for kilns to make quicklime from limestone in the Shenandoah Valley. By the mid-20th century, hardly any forest remained!
Fortunately, the forest was able to be restored, renewed and revitalized by planting stands of loblolly pine to regenerate the native hardwoods through a grant by John and Bernice Hoffman, as well as efforts to re-introduce the glorious American Chestnut (the subject of a future blog post!).
