Restoration at Boneyard Ridge

Dense stands of over-planted trees versus a healthy forest with a thriving understory.

NCLC contracted with Colin Meston, a forest ecologist, to oversee the restoration project at Boneyard Ridge. Colin also has previously served as a Site Steward and Conservation Committee member for NCLC. He was hired on staff in 2023.

Additional benefits of strategic thinning as part of restoration include an increase in logs and large pieces of wood, as all trees stay on-site for large wood habitat. These are used by an assortment of animals, like woodpeckers and salamanders.

NCLC Continues Restoration Work on Boneyard Ridge

In Fall 2022, NCLC’s stewardship team started a new active restoration project at Boneyard Ridge Habitat Reserve to set the forest on an accelerated path toward becoming a healthy, functioning system.

This phase of the restoration included selective thinning on about 40 acres of a 115-acre unit that was previously owned by an industrial timber company prior to NCLC’s acquisition. It was last harvested in 1960.

NCLC reduced the tree volume on these particular acres by about 30 to 40 percent. Doing so will help set this portion of Boneyard Ridge on a trajectory to transforming from a tree farm to a healthy forest.

NCLC did a similar project on another unit of Boneyard Ridge in 2019. Each winter since then, the team has planted cedar and maple to increase species diversity. Additionally, selective thinning makes openings that encourage the growth of understory shrub and herbaceous plants. Read More