Field Trip or Excursion
Co-Curricular Outdoor Learning Experiences
Environmental Stewardship is a pillar of Gravatt’s Mission. Program Director, Evan Mikula uses the land we care for to educate children and young adults through our Upland Pine Outdoor Education Program. The UP Outdoors program allows students to engage in active learning using all their senses – seeing, touching, feeling, and smelling the world around them.
Thomas Coleman, Director of Facilities and Environmental Stewardship, works diligently to take care of our land. The Longleaf Pine Savannah is a critically endangered ecosystem. Originally comprising 90 million acres in the American Southeast, it has been decimated down to a mere 3 million acres. A habitat loss of 97%. How lucky are we at Gravatt to have healthy stands of Longleaf Pines. In addition to the Longleaf Pine ecosystem, we are looking into methods to manage our Atlantic White Cedar Ecosystem and our stands of Mixed Hardwood Forests. The Atlantic White Cedar bog is another critically endangered ecosystem that calls Gravatt home.
These bog environments are extremely efficient at capturing and storing carbon out of the atmosphere to be recycled into the soil creating a rich peat environment. With the use of prescribed fire and selective cutting, we are trying to restore these ecosystems to what they once resembled in order to attract certain animal species that once roamed these environments. We hope our efforts will qualify Gravatt to be a release site for the endangered Red Cockaded Woodpecker through the SC Forestry Commission’s Safe Harbor Program.
Gravatt’s Forestry Management Plan is an evolving plan, with a long term goal of maintaining and restoring our 280+ acres to its natural and native habitat and ecosystem. Our Forestry Management plan and techniques also serve as a building block for Gravatt’s UP Outdoors curriculum by teaching about what we do to improve our environment.
We have two management plans, one is developed by a private consultant and the other by the South Carolina Forestry Commission. Each plan addresses different goals for our forestry management. Our primary techniques used are prescribed fire and selective thinning of our forests. Other techniques include planting of native plants, discing the forest floor, but fire and thinning have the most impact on reaching our primary goal is to create an environment to promote the existence and health of native species of wildlife. plants, and trees. By using prescribed fire and selective harvesting we create an environment for wildlife and plants to thrive naturally.
Questions?
Interested in learning more about the outdoor adventures and educational opportunities available at Gravatt? Call or email us today!