Volunteers met at the cabin across a small footbridge from the fort to plant about 100 trees in an area they were recently able to clear of the invasive privet shrub thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Blair County Conservation District.

“So instead of this army of mostly young people destroying privets like this and maybe getting 10 feet into the thicket and then planting a few native trees, right now we’re just planting,” Jody Wallace said.

Fort Roberdeau’s Weed Warrior Project coordinator, Wallace said planting the trees “does so much for the environment and for people” as it increases biodiversity.

“Every tree, every shrub is a banquet,” Wallace said. “From the insects that eat the leaves, to the birds that eat the insects, to the predators that eat those things. Where once no wildlife lived, we’ve got this multitude of birds, we’ve got foxes and raccoons and possums and snakes, and just this whole food web, this whole cycle of life going on here at this spot where before there was nothing.”

A group takes part in the Fort Roberdeau Earth Day tree planting on Tuesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

During Tuesday’s event, a riparian buffer was established to protect the stream from pollution, runoff and erosion; “baby” privets were removed; and hazelnut and American chestnut trees were planted.

Fruit trees such as apples, pears and cherries will be brought into the area at a later date.

The American chestnuts were highlighted to those in attendance, with Wallace saying they were crossed with Chinese chestnuts to make them blight-resistant.

“The blight started in the late 1800s, and by 1950, the tree was functionally extinct,” Wallace said. “Hopefully we will re-establish the American chestnut back here at Fort Roberdeau.”

A program that will be “widely expanded to include lots of trees and shrubs and even medicinals” with the newly cleared area is Foraging at the Fort, Wallace said.

Jody Wallace of CreatureTeacher LLC explains the procedure of planting a hazelnut sapling to MacKenzie Caron of Blair Planning Commission. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“It would be what the settlers would be doing back in the Revolutionary War times and the tens of thousands of years of Native Americans,” Wallace said. “Biodiversity is a big deal. Teaching people how to forage, how to sustain themselves like they did in the olden days, and if we should ever become food insecure again in our country people will know the skills to just feed themselves.”

Fort Roberdeau’s director Glenn Nelson described the fort as a “three-legged stool,” with its history through the Revolutionary War, conservation through its 230 acres of land and recreation through its trail system. The fort’s history, and its connection to Earth Day, “comes down to natural resources.”

Established because of the area’s lead mine deposits, the settlers stopped its operations after only two years, but remained for the fertile soil.

“This is a great place where people could farm and get enough, not only food to survive themselves, but then to go to the market,” Nelson said. “And it’s still some of the best Ag land in the entire world. So the history is tied in with the natural resources between the lead, the farm, soil and the forest.”

Denice Rodaniche, a friend of Fort Roberdeau and a member of the Juniata Valley Audubon Society, was also on hand for her second year of tree planting.

04/22/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Jean Sinal of Martinsburg wraps up an American chestnut sapling to take home.

“I love native plants,” Rodaniche said. “I’m all about conserving our forests, helping them regenerate to their native state, what will help keep our birds healthy and the pollinators that support them and a healthy ecology.”

Using native plants in gardens is “becoming popular,” Rodaniche said, and “you don’t even have to use the term climate change.”

“All you have to do is say ‘we’re promoting the resources that God has given us and helping us keep our environment healthy’ and not even bring up something that can be controversial,” Rodaniche said. “You get people on board primarily because, who doesn’t look around and say, ‘I want to preserve this?'”

Rodaniche said she wants to be able to drive through Sinking Valley and “still see those beautiful trees and the wildlife and know the birds are going to be migrating through here in the spring.”

It’s also not only about preserving the environment for themselves, Wallace said, but for future generations.

04/22/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Sarah Chamberlain of State College places American chestnut saplings in her wagon to take home.

“American chestnuts can live to be 400 years old,” Wallace said. “You know, I’m 74 years old, and I will not see the fruit of this. And that’s okay.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.