![Ethan Carr attaches a sign marking the entrance to the دمهْض±²¥ State College Forest. Ethan Carr attaches a sign marking the entrance to the دمهْض±²¥ State College Forest. (GSC Photo/Dustin Crutchfield)](/sites/default/files/styles/news_image/public/CollegeForestCleanup3a.jpg?itok=tn2vVaYl)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 25, 2021
For More Information:
دمهْض±²¥ State College
Public Relations Department
(304) 462-4115
GLENVILLE, WV – Several دمهْض±²¥ State College (GSC) Land Resources students have been working to spruce up the College Forest, a 300+ acre area on Sycamore Run used as an outdoor lab space for the Department of Land Resources.
Organized by the GSC Forestry, Surveying, and Environmental Science Clubs, the improvements have involved a number of areas on the property and an assortment of jobs. The groups gathered several times in the spring to tackle the different projects. It is believed this was the first time the three organizations have come together to work on a project of this magnitude.
In addition to mowing, trimming brush, and hauling away trash, an old sign marking the entrance to the College Forest was razed and framing installed for a new one. A new sign was erected alongside a newly installed gate just prior to the end of the spring semester.
![College Forest Tree Planting](/sites/default/files/styles/half_content_width/public/CollegeForestCleanup2.jpg?itok=XCBh49U2)
Members of the Environmental Science Club and other Land Resources students also participated in a forest regeneration project at the College Forest.
“One of the primary goals and missions of the Environmental Science Club is to promote sustainability and environmental consciousness through service to the community. When I found out about the Mountaineer Treeways Program through the West Virginia Division of Forestry, the Department applied for and received 50 seedlings each of American sycamore, river birch, English oak, black cherry, black walnut, and white pine from the Treeways program,†said Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Management and Environmental Science Club advisor, Dr. Nabil Nasseri.
The seedlings were planted at three different sites around the property with the goal of rebuilding the canopy. Sycamore and river birch seedlings were planted along the stream bank between the driveway to the shooting range and Sycamore Run Road in an effort to regenerate that riparian habitat (near streams or rivers) and to help with erosion. More seedlings were planted along the ridge bordering the College Forest and the Gilmer County Recreation Center. Students also built 300 tree cages to be staked in place around the trees in order to protect the recently planted seedlings from deer browse.
For more information about the programs of the Department of Land Resources at دمهْض±²¥ State College, contact the Department of Land Resources at Land.Resources@glenville.edu or (304) 462-6370.