Hello friends of Forest Floor and AATA,

Most of you probably know that our main program location on Shope Creek was heavily damaged by Hurricane Helene. The impact has been pretty devastating for the land and there are literally thousands of trees on the ground. The owners of the land, our dear friends the Sedmak family, has needed the time since the storm to stabilize their family, assess the damage, and regroup. The roads are bumpy but passable now and we are excited to share that it's time to rebuild! We would like to invite the entire Forest Floor community to help with the clean up so we can get our kids back out in the woods as soon as possible. 

Because of the severity and breadth of the damage, we are going to work in stages. Our current goal is to get one section of the impacted woods, the Hemlock Grove, safe and open for kids to return as soon as possible. We will tackle other sections of the property on future work days.

Yesterday I went to the land with an arborist and identified around two dozen dangerous trees in one section of the property and managed to drop them all in one day. That section of the property is now safe for less experienced work crews to come in and begin cleaning up the trees on the ground, clearing trails, etc. That's where you come in!

We are organizing multiple work parties at the land beginning THIS WEEKEND. We would love for you to join us to leave your mark on this forest that has held us all so well; please read on to learn how you can help.

Work party dates are:

• Saturday, Nov. 16th

• Sunday, Nov. 17th

• Tuesday Dec. 10th

• Wednesday Dec. 11th

• Thursday Dec. 12th

We will be working from 10-4 each day and we ask that everyone come at 10am to be briefed and assigned to tasks, and stay as long as you wish/are able. Bring any able bodied adults that would like to contribute to this important work! 

What to bring:

• work gloves

• chainsaws

• tools

• drinking water

• snacks

• good vibes

• we could use heavier machinery like a chipper, skidsteer or tractor, etc. Please communicate with us about this if you have the equipment and skills to use them!

What NOT to bring:

• kids and dogs

Unfortunately, the work and the landscape is too dangerous for us to accommodate children onsite at this time.  If you have a teen 14 years old or older who is ready to work hard and haul brush you are welcome to bring them, but for everyone's safety we will need to keep the kid chaos to a minimum.

This weekend, we need help with:

• Tree and brush cutting and clearing

• Creating new base camps and putting up tarps

• Digging a new outhouse pit, ideally with machinery

• Building a new outhouse to replace the one that was destroyed

• Regrading the driveway

• Moving boulders in the ford section of the creek for vehicle access

• Bringing food for the workers

If you would like to help this weekend or on future work parties please add your information to this form so I can organize the work and communicate with the correct people on the correct days. You can also leave a note here if you have bigger equipment so we can coordinate that.

Thank you everyone who has reached out over the past month with a willingness to help! It's incredible to be a part of this community and to know that we have so many people waiting in the wings to chip in. I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together!

With gratitude,
Michael Ismerio 
Director, Forest Floor

A photo from our very emotional visit to Shope yesterday.