The History of Enchanted Forest
by Brenda A. Patton
My husband and I bought our home and three acres on Shan Creek Road in 1977. In the mid-eighties, we began buying “high-graded” forest land adjacent to our property and wrote an aggressive forest management plan designed to bring the land back into balance. We currently have 375 acres. The property has many zones and micro climates. It has been lovingly restored to its natural state and is an ongoing process of hard work and joy.
In 1988 we were named “Tree Farmer of the Year” by the Josephine Forest Farm Association and the American Tree Farm Association for outstanding forest management serving both forest and people needs. Our written forest plan has always emphasized educational, recreational and spiritual use of the land in addition to managing it for optimum forest health.
We have had numerous demonstrations and tours of our forest over the years, being ever mindful of keeping the impact down so as not to disturb our neighbors. In fact many of the youngsters, now grown and gone, spent many idyllic hours riding horses and bikes or just hiking in our woods.
As we have managed our property, we have been diligent about utilizing as much of the resources that needed to be removed and have sold fence rails, tipi poles, firewood and saw logs from the land. We are and have always been dedicated to building and contributing to our local economy in a balanced and conscientious manner
My grandchildren and many of their friends have spent a great deal of time on this land and as the numbers increased, we decided to have a more structured approach to their wilderness experience and put on an annual camp which we began in 2007. Not wanting to negatively affect the land or disturb our neighbors, we have limited the number of attendees to 30. The traffic from these events has been less than 50% of the traffic from a family gathering and far less than what we had to endure doing the logging heyday.
We have enjoyed watching these young people, who have been visiting here since their pre-school years, blossom into wonderful and caring young adults. Some are graduating from college this year and have asked to have a celebration on our land. I have had parents and grandparents of these youngsters tell me just how much their time spent here has meant to them and some have attributed the experience to turning lives around.
In addition to team building and leadership training we have covered a number of subjects over the years in our search for solutions to improve quality of life on our planet and to find solutions to the problems in our communities and our world. Within the serene setting of Enchanted Forest we have provided information on how what we eat contributes to our performance and how to make healthy choices. We learn how to care for our planet and explore changes that we can make to minimize the negative impact we create. From learning to use our resources wisely to living consciously and experiencing the beauty and perfection of the natural world, together we have been building a new paradigm for co-existing peacefully and harmoniously on our planet.
As part of our forest management plan, we have a well-thought out fire plan with four water tanks that dot the mountainside fed by a spring that begins ands ends on our property. We also have 3 ponds, a swimming pool and a 500 gallon fire wagon that are incorporated into our plan.
This well thought out plan came in handy in July of 2018, when the Taylor Creek fire struck. As fires blazed on the hills surrounding us, thing weren't looking good for The Enchanted Forest. We hosted many firefighters on our large property, who camped out in our fields in order to battle the fires in the day and have a place to sleep and eat at night. The huge fire came up to our property, and I had to evacuate. However, eventually the fire hit a snag: Our property line. In the words of our local firefighters, because of our excellent land maintenance techniques and the care we took of our land, they were able to stop the fire there. Since then we've shared forest maintenance techniques at our camps and trained future firefighters. We've also been active in putting together a Fire-Wise community in our forested neighborhood.
In 2012, just one year after our good friend, Phil Hart, passed away we entered into a lease agreement with the Table Rock Foundation to provide a 40 acre parcel for a youth camp in Phil’s name.
It is our hope that this property will be held in perpetuity by either Table Rock Foundation or another 501 C(3)for the use of the youth in our community and are currently working to make this happen with our estate planning.
It is a magical piece of property and its ability to bring healing to those who come to it has been very apparent to us. We are looking forward to this land being available for future generations to enjoy.
In 1988 we were named “Tree Farmer of the Year” by the Josephine Forest Farm Association and the American Tree Farm Association for outstanding forest management serving both forest and people needs. Our written forest plan has always emphasized educational, recreational and spiritual use of the land in addition to managing it for optimum forest health.
We have had numerous demonstrations and tours of our forest over the years, being ever mindful of keeping the impact down so as not to disturb our neighbors. In fact many of the youngsters, now grown and gone, spent many idyllic hours riding horses and bikes or just hiking in our woods.
As we have managed our property, we have been diligent about utilizing as much of the resources that needed to be removed and have sold fence rails, tipi poles, firewood and saw logs from the land. We are and have always been dedicated to building and contributing to our local economy in a balanced and conscientious manner
My grandchildren and many of their friends have spent a great deal of time on this land and as the numbers increased, we decided to have a more structured approach to their wilderness experience and put on an annual camp which we began in 2007. Not wanting to negatively affect the land or disturb our neighbors, we have limited the number of attendees to 30. The traffic from these events has been less than 50% of the traffic from a family gathering and far less than what we had to endure doing the logging heyday.
We have enjoyed watching these young people, who have been visiting here since their pre-school years, blossom into wonderful and caring young adults. Some are graduating from college this year and have asked to have a celebration on our land. I have had parents and grandparents of these youngsters tell me just how much their time spent here has meant to them and some have attributed the experience to turning lives around.
In addition to team building and leadership training we have covered a number of subjects over the years in our search for solutions to improve quality of life on our planet and to find solutions to the problems in our communities and our world. Within the serene setting of Enchanted Forest we have provided information on how what we eat contributes to our performance and how to make healthy choices. We learn how to care for our planet and explore changes that we can make to minimize the negative impact we create. From learning to use our resources wisely to living consciously and experiencing the beauty and perfection of the natural world, together we have been building a new paradigm for co-existing peacefully and harmoniously on our planet.
As part of our forest management plan, we have a well-thought out fire plan with four water tanks that dot the mountainside fed by a spring that begins ands ends on our property. We also have 3 ponds, a swimming pool and a 500 gallon fire wagon that are incorporated into our plan.
This well thought out plan came in handy in July of 2018, when the Taylor Creek fire struck. As fires blazed on the hills surrounding us, thing weren't looking good for The Enchanted Forest. We hosted many firefighters on our large property, who camped out in our fields in order to battle the fires in the day and have a place to sleep and eat at night. The huge fire came up to our property, and I had to evacuate. However, eventually the fire hit a snag: Our property line. In the words of our local firefighters, because of our excellent land maintenance techniques and the care we took of our land, they were able to stop the fire there. Since then we've shared forest maintenance techniques at our camps and trained future firefighters. We've also been active in putting together a Fire-Wise community in our forested neighborhood.
In 2012, just one year after our good friend, Phil Hart, passed away we entered into a lease agreement with the Table Rock Foundation to provide a 40 acre parcel for a youth camp in Phil’s name.
It is our hope that this property will be held in perpetuity by either Table Rock Foundation or another 501 C(3)for the use of the youth in our community and are currently working to make this happen with our estate planning.
It is a magical piece of property and its ability to bring healing to those who come to it has been very apparent to us. We are looking forward to this land being available for future generations to enjoy.
