While the weekday closure for deer management every fall may be disappointing for recreational visitors to the Duke Forest, we want to share a bit more about why deer management is such a vital component of our management plan (an annually-updated 100+ page document), and how we take a holistic approach to managing and stewarding the Duke Forest. As our neighbors, we think you will appreciate the context.

Management of the Duke Forest is guided by a comprehensive plan that promotes the Forest’s academic mission while ensuring the protection of its natural resources.  The management of the Forest is certified by Preferred by Nature™ to Forest Stewardship Council® guidelines, a strict set of environmental, social, and economic standards. Duke Forest is committed to continuing support of these standards through a holistic approach to forest management. Last year, the team was recognized for our tireless work on the ground with a FSC Leadership Award.

Duke Forest Management Priorities

• Promoting the teaching and research mission by facilitating a diverse array of projects and programs.
• Sustainably managing resources for timber production, forest health, water quality, and wildlife habitat.
• Protecting rare species, unique ecosystems, historical sites, and archaeological resources.
• Providing education and outreach opportunities about natural resources and forest management.
• Offering recreational and aesthetic amenities to the community.

Often times, a single management activity accomplishes multiple goals. For example, sustainable timber management promotes forest health, increases habitat diversity for wildlife, demonstrates renewable resource, and protects water quality while also generating funds that help sustain forest operations. Wildlife management efforts like the deer herd reduction program also result in multiple benefits for forest health, as well as the teaching, research, and community engagement goals of the Duke Forest. These include:

• Promoting a deer population that is healthy in size and distribution, which among other things can reduce the spread of tick-borne disease to humans and reduce deer-vehicle collisions.
• Protecting plants, shrubs, and tree seedlings from overabundant deer browse, which promotes plant diversity, protects forest regeneration, and sustains wildlife habitats.

Overall, management of the Duke Forest aims to maximize a wide variety of benefits that are available not only to Duke University, but also to the broader academic and public community.

Here’s a snapshot of Duke Forest’s upcoming management activities:

Annual Deer Herd Reduction Announcement

From September 25, 2023 through December 15, 2023, the following divisions of the Duke Forest will be closed to all public access Monday through Friday:

Durham Division | Korstian Division | Blackwood Division

Read the announcement to learn more.

Off-Leash Dogs

In our recently completed, decadal recreation survey, the vast majority of respondents said they felt safe when visiting the Duke Forest. Those who didn’t feel safe almost unanimously mentioned that dogs, especially off-leash ones, as the problem. We can relate, not only do we hear reports for recreational visitors, but our staff have been attacked numerous times. Our intern this summer was chased and cornered by dogs with an owner nowhere in sight. We posted on social media about an incident where off-leash dogs directly disrupted active research in New Hope Creek, despite our Executive Director asking the owners to leash their dogs.

Most members of our staff have dogs, and we love them. But there is a major problem with people allowing their dogs off-leash regionwide. Many of our friends heading land bases in the area are having the same problem — more disregard for rules, more pet excrement, and more safety issues than ever. To make matters worse, in the Duke Forest Teaching and Research Laboratory, dogs and their waste also challenge our ability to maintain a safe and viable place for researchers and their sensitive scientific studies.

Please help us by leashing your dogs and removing pet waste when visiting the Duke Forest

Christmas Trees and Yard Waste

Our field team asked us if we could let our neighbors know about the problems created by the disposal of yard waste, especially Christmas trees, in the Duke Forest. This waste ends up blocking and damming culverts, which causes erosion upstream and throughout the watershed during high water events. It also spreads non-native, invasive plant species, and some of these such as Fig Buttercup, critically threaten the health of our forests and take an inordinate amount of time, money, and resources to beat back every year.

Please help us spread the word: properly dispose of trees and all yard waste on your own property or at municipal composting facilities—not in the Duke Forest! Thank you for your understanding of this serious issue.

Annual Gathering

Please save the date for the Duke Forest Annual Gathering on the evening on Thursday, November 16, 2023. This event is an opportunity to give the community an update on the teaching, research, and management activities happening in the Forest. It is a great time to learn about the research forest in your backyard and meet the team managing it. We anticipate having an in-person and virtual option this year. Stay tuned to our e-LOG newsletter for more information.

• Request to download our digital recreation maps, which are the official version of the roads and foot trails available for public recreational use. 
• Read our Strategic Plan and learn about all of our teaching, research, stewardship, and community engagement objectives.

• Annual Gifts – Become a Friend of the Duke Forest with a gift of $50+. Learn more.
• Sustaining Gifts – Make a monthly sustaining gift to support our work. Are you a Duke employee? Payroll deductions are as easy as it gets. Learn more at the bottom of our Giving Opportunities page.
• Enduring Gifts – We know that for many of you, having this incredible land base in your back yard might is deeply meaningful to you and your family. If you would like to talk about how you can make a legacy gift to steward this land base for the next generation, please contact Assistant Director of Engagement Blake Tedder at blake.tedder@duke.edu or 919-613-8631.

If you share a boundary with the Duke Forest, you can use this form to make sure we have your correct contact information on file. Reasons this might be helpful are:

• If we need to get in touch with you about an adjacent management activity.
• If we notice a property issue.
• If we send out neighbor-only communications (very rarely).