08/19/2026
Juggling multiple projects and never quite feeling ācaught upā is just part of mountain life. Some days it can feel overwhelming, because progress is hard to see when youāre standing in the middle of a thick forest that has needed attention for a very long time.
But then I remind myself to look back instead of always looking ahead.
The path into one of our thickest, most overgrown areas is almost cleared. That feels like a pretty big winā¦ until I look up the mountain and realize we havenāt completed even 10% of the paths weāll eventually need to reach everything. šš²
And thatās okay. Healthy forests arenāt created overnight.
A big part of what Iām doing is thinning the smaller trees that have grown far too close together. When a forest becomes overcrowded, those trees compete for sunlight, water, and nutrients while creating more fuel for wildfire. Carefully thinning those areas gives the stronger trees more room and resources to grow and helps us work toward a healthier, more resilient forest.
What I really enjoy is that so much of what comes out of the forest doesnāt have to go to waste.
Many of these smaller trees make great corral poles, fencing, rails, landscaping features, rustic projects, and all kinds of useful creations around the property. What might look like ābrush and little treesā to someone else can become something that serves another purpose for years.
And moving forward, weāll also begin harvesting select trees for others to use as well, making them available for purchase. The goal is to create a sustainable way for this work to help support itselfāgenerating revenue that can be reinvested back into the land, including upgrading equipment, improving access, and eventually enhancing accommodations here on the mountain.
But the part that means the most to me is the generational impact.
Iām not doing this expecting to see the finished product next yearāor even in the next several years. Forest stewardship is measured in decades. Some of the work we do today may not show its full impact until my kids and grandkids are the ones walking these same trails.
That changes how you look at the work.
Every trail we open, every overcrowded stand we thin, every healthy tree we give more room to grow, and every piece of timber we put back to use is one small investment in what this mountain will look like long after Iām gone.
Thereās something pretty special about working land knowing that youāre not just improving it for yourselfāyouāre leaving it better for the generations coming behind you.
So today Iāll celebrate getting one more path almost finishedā¦ and tomorrow Iāll probably look uphill and wonder what the heck I got myself into. šš²šŖµ
One tree. One trail. One project at a time.
Leave the forest better than you found it.
