Adding to Alder Creek Farm natural area
“Alder Creek Farm is a showcase,” says Judy Sorrel. “With our outreach to the community through teachers like Peter Walczak, the community makes connections to the Farm. I want to make the Farm even more accessible and see the education opportunities continue to grow.”
When Judy Sorrel recently donated nearly five acres of riparian meadow and forested uplands on the eastside of Alder Creek, she explained, “I always envisioned it as part of the Farm.” A Trust founder, Judy has distinguished herself as a tireless volunteer and generous champion of conservation. Her donated parcel, called Sorrel Woods, includes a critical easement allowing access from Nehalem’s 13th Street to Alder Creek Farm. Sorrel Woods extends the new ethnobotanical Nehalem Teaching Trail across Alder Creek.
“Sorrel Woods,” explains Trust founder Doug Firstbrook, “is where the teaching trail becomes a learning trail.” Just cross a new bridge, and you’ll see what he means: a wild kingdom of hemlock, elk trails and bedding areas, festoons of sedges and rushes, elderberry, and hawks circling slowly above your head await you. With Judy’s restoration efforts and her enduring connection to the land, LNCT sees a partnership tailor-made for the benefit of all species. “It’s so nice to know there will be energy to continue stewardship,” agrees Judy.
