The goal of the Duke Hollow (DH) PRISM site is to create a demonstration project showing that one or more people can manage invasive plants on a scale of 500-1000 acres. The commitment of the landowners to continue monitoring the forest and avoid weed resurgence has been crucial to the success of the project. Positive feedback from witnessing the forest become an inviting place to walk again has been a major incentive driving the work forward.
History
The forest in DH (located in Clarke County, Virginia) was largely cleared for farming during the 1800’s. Today, there is still an original log cabin (ca. 1800) and attached frame house (ca. 1915) at the center of a clearing. Dr. Sanford Rosenthal bought a large part of this area as a family get-away in 1943. The forest regrew as most of the old farms along the Blue Ridge were abandoned by WWII. The Appalachian Trail was re-routed through DH in the early 1980’s. The Barbehenn family inherited and added to the DH property, now totalling over 300 acres.
An Ecological Challenge
The large clearing around the DH cabin has long attracted birds and the invasive plants that they spread. These include Bittersweet, Wineberry, Japanese Honeysuckle, Privet, Multiflora Rose, and Japanese Barberry. Following the advice of the USDA in the early 1970's, Russian Olive was planted, and it also spread up and down the hollow. With the death of numerous White Ash and Slippery Elm trees, the DH forest is now riddled with light gaps. Invasive plants are often the first species to take advantage of these gaps, again seeded there by birds.
The thickets that have developed in the light are impenetrable even to deer, and act as productive refuges for invasive plants. Though they are native, species of grapes and greenbriers are major components of these thickets. Grape vines have been especially damaging to tree saplings, entwining them, preventing their vertical growth, and thereby impeding forest regeneration. Not coincidentally, grapes and greenbriers are also bird-dispersed species. The DH creek is a natural light gap (and bird flyway), and it was heavily colonized by invasive plant species.
Taking Control
The removal of invasive plants began with periodic efforts around the homesite in the 1990's, but increased to a year-round effort in 2015 by Ray Barbehenn, a retired ecologist. Effective methods include cutting plants below ground level with loppers, and spot-treating invasive plants with herbicide when they are too numerous to control by hand. Seasonal priorities have been based on eradicating plants before they produce fruit. By opening the thickets, it is now possible to search efficiently through the entire forest to defend it from recolonization by invasive plants. Another key to success has been enlisting the cooperation of neighbors to allow work on their land. By pushing invasive plants out of the foraging ranges of the birds that live in DH, the amount of weed seeds moving into DH has been greatly reduced. Thus, the project has expanded out to over a square mile!
The greatest help from neighbors in recent years has come from the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC). With about 100 acres of land in the AT corridor through DH, this has long been a swath of land that was largely unmanaged for invasive plants. With leadership by Rob Lamar (the PATC naturalist), groups of PATC volunteers are now contributing to the care of almost the entire area of DH. Blue Ridge PRISM applauds this wonderful partnership between the Barbehenn family and the PATC.
After 11 years of continuous stewardship, a major limitation for restoring the forest is clear: White-tailed Deer! Every time a tree falls, it leaves an opening that cannot fill in again with trees because their seedlings are eaten by deer. In addition, larger saplings are often permanently damaged when bucks rub their trunks with their antlers. Therefore, "volunteer" seedlings and saplings that are found in the light gaps are now protected with wire cages or plastic sleeves, respectively. These methods have been more effective than planting bare-root tree seedlings because of the high mortality of planted seedlings.
Management of the deer herd by hunters is essential for protecting the native flora, and has also been a source of excellent meat from DH. Deer hunting is encouraged across most of DH and neighboring lands – an area that approximates the one square mile home range of many of the deer that forage in the DH area.
Finally, Beech Leaf Disease spread rapidly into the DH area in 2025. We were fortunate to partner with researchers from Connecticut who were looking for a study area. The research team, led by Dr. Rich Cowles, injected or sprayed Beech trees with a phosphite solution ("Reliant"). Over 200 Beech trees have been treated in DH by this team and by Davey Tree Expert Company, hopefully creating a long-term "Beech sanctuary." 🌱
