Bustling Hub of Research, Teaching and Recreation
Duke Forest Voices
"As a city and a county, we need to
consider the recreational activities and
amenities that Duke Forest brings to
the region and what that means for
us. It's hard to put a dollar value on
that. But without it, this community
wouldn't be as desirable."
Becky Heron
Durham County Commissioner
"We were fortunate that Duke Forest
was a working forest rather than a preserve
or just an experimental forest or
teaching laboratory. It provided a space
where students, faculty and the public
could see the results of forest management
practices first hand.One impression
it left on everybody was that
you could manage a forest and have
economic, recreational and
environmental values retained."
Tom Terry MF'67
"I remember going out into the forest the day after Hurricane Fran hit
to help assess the damage. ...We were supposed to count downed trees—just
those that fell across the trails.We could have stopped at 200 or 300 or
500, but the number kept rising. I remember getting dizzy from climbing
over so many stumps and logs."
Andrea Bedell Loucks MEM'96
"I lived in the forest for seven years
while getting my MS and PhD
degrees at Duke, so you could say
I have an ‘insider's perspective.'
I don't think I would have had the
same level of success in my education
or career without the support
I received from Duke Forest."
John S.King MS'91, PhD'97
Assistant Professor of Tree
Physiology, NC State University
"For me, Duke Forest has been many
things: a buffer from civilization;
a sanctuary; a classroom; and a
playground. ... It sums up why I
was drawn toward Duke's graduate
program to begin with.Duke truly
promotes the multi-uses that many
of its graduates go on to practice all
over the world."
Ryan Lafranz MEM'01
"Duke Forest and the staff who managed it … formed my most lasting connections
to Duke University.The forest is truly an incredible asset to the entire
Durham community."
Mark D. Hollberg MF'82
"One of the very special things about
Duke Forest is the refuge it provides
for stressed-out students. ... Running
and walking in Duke Forest kept
me sane throughout law and
grad school."
Andrea Treece MEM/JD'02
"I took mountain biking one
semester, and every Tuesday and
Thursday we would pedal off into the
forest to various sanctioned, and perhaps
unsanctioned, trails, spending a full hour
and a half getting thoroughly exhausted,
muddy and sometimes bloody. ... There
was something so refreshing about being
able to hop on my bike and, within
minutes, escape all evidence of my busy,
technology-ridden, deadline-filled
campus world."
Eleanor Bates Keeler T'02
"Our class was learning about
timber cruising and I was out in the
forest with a partner. I reached around a
large tree to take a diameter measurement,
and while I was basically hugging the tree a
chameleon scooted around in front of my
face. Being from New York, I had never
encountered a chameleon before and my
ensuing scream brought not only my partner
but quite a bit of ridicule from fellow classmates.
... It still brings a smile to my face
and a wave of nostalgia when I recall it."
Mona Griswold MF'77
"I graduated from Rutgers University's
pre-forestry program in 1954. Our forestry
class visited Duke in 1953 and went out into
Duke Forest with Dr.Korstian. It was quite a
pleasure for young foresters to walk in the
footsteps of such a respected forestry
leader. He led us to a young stand of
saplings and asked us what should be done
with a stand like this? We all gave some kind
of prescriptive silviculture remedy in order
not to look completely ignorant. ...but
Korstian's answer was to do nothing at all.
The lesson was to look realistically at a stand
of trees and leave it alone if it was doing
what Mother Nature intended."
Norm Brocard MF'64