Duke Forest

This summer, former Duke Forest Senior Projects Coordinator Maggie Heraty returned to the Duke Forest in a new role. Now pursuing her master's degree in North Carolina State University's College of Natural Resources, Maggie is leading the first round of post-restoration monitoring on New Hope Creek while using the data she collects to support her graduate research.

With assistance from Duke Forest staff and volunteers, Maggie is documenting how the creek is responding following the removal of the Concrete Bridge and Billy Erwin Dam. Her fieldwork includes measuring sediment deposits, conducting pebble counts to assess streambed composition, surveying stream cross-sections to track channel changes, and photographing permanent monitoring sites to create a visual record of the creek's recovery over time.

Funded through the New Hope Creek Teaching and Research Fund, Maggie's work represents the first chapter in a long-term effort to understand how a restored New Hope Creek recovers.

With all the much-needed rain we received over the past few days, fungi will be putting out their "flowering" bodies—aka mushrooms! 🍄🍄

Please remember: as a teaching and research forest, we have a rule prohibiting the harvesting of any vegetation, including mushrooms. This rule is in place to preserve the forest's natural elements, which are actively studied by faculty in the forest.

Observe. Don't disturb!

Temporary Road and Trail Closures in the Durham Division

The commercial thinning operation in the Durham Division announced last month is transitioning to its second of three sites. To accommodate heavy equipment and ensure the safety of visitors and logging personnel, Gates 10 and 13 will be closed to all vehicles and recreational access beginning today.

Closures are occurring in phases as work progresses:
- Thinning inside Gate 14 is nearing completion and will be reopened once all heavy equipment and personnel transition to the next site.
- Beginning Monday, July 20: Gates 10 and 13 will be closed to all vehicles and recreational access.
- On a date to be announced: Gate 12 will be closed to all vehicles and recreational access.

We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we carry out these forest stewardship activities. These commercial thinning operations are an important component of long-term forest management, helping to improve forest health, promote stand resilience, and support the Duke Forest’s missions of teaching, research, and stewardship.

Schmidt Science Fellows from universities across the world explored the Duke Forest during the program’s annual Interdisciplinary Science Summit, hosted at Duke University this year. The internationally recognized fellowship prepares emerging scientists to tackle society’s greatest challenges through interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and leadership.

During their visit, Fellows learned about the Forest’s history and ecology while practicing reading the landscape and discovering how management decisions made decades or even centuries ago continue to shape the Forest’s ecosystems, research opportunities, and educational value today.

🐻 Black bears are a natural part of North Carolina's wildlife, and recent sightings in and near the Duke Forest are normal—especially during the warmer months as bears disperse in search of new territory. In most cases, bears are simply passing through and will move on if they don't find an easy food source.

If you encounter a bear, give it plenty of space, never approach or feed it, and allow it a clear path to leave the area.

➡️ Swipe through BearWise safety tips and best practices to learn how to responsibly coexist with black bears.

Today is the final day of Duke University's fiscal year.

If you have ever found peace beneath the trees, watched wildlife along a trail, listened to water flowing through a creek, or simply felt restored by time spent in the Duke Forest, we invite you to give back.

Your support helps restore ecosystems like New Hope Creek, advance climate-related research, and connect students with the lessons that only nature can teach.

Make your gift before midnight tonight, and help restore the Forest that restores so many.

https://www.gifts.duke.edu/dukeforest?designation=3992433&technique_code=ENVFORST

Temporary Road and Trail Closures in the Durham Division

Beginning today, portions of the Duke Forest’s Durham Division will be temporarily closed to accommodate a series of commercial thinning operations. These forest management activities require the use of heavy equipment, and closures are necessary to ensure the safety of visitors and personnel.

Closures will occur in phases as work progresses:
- Beginning June 29: Gate 14 will be closed to all vehicle and recreational access.
- On a date to be announced: Gate 12 will be closed to all vehicle and recreational access.
- On a date to be announced: A portion of the Gate 10 road and trail system will be closed to all vehicle and recreational access.

Additional updates, including the timing of subsequent closures and reopening dates, will be posted as work progresses.

We appreciate your patience and cooperation as we carry out these important forest stewardship activities. These commercial thinning operations are an important component of long-term forest management, helping to improve forest health, promote stand resilience, and support the Duke Forest’s missions of teaching, research, and stewardship.

Summer is a wonderful time to explore the outdoors, but high temperatures can quickly turn a pleasant outing into a health risk. Before heading out to the Duke Forest or other outdoor spaces, take a few minutes to review heat safety resources developed and compiled by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment, and Sustainability’s Heat Policy Innovation Hub.

Learn how to stay cool without air conditioning, recognize the warning signs of heat-related illness, understand heat forecasts and temperature measurements, and make informed decisions to stay safe all summer long: https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/project/heat-policy-innovation-hub/heat-safety

A quiet walk beneath the trees. The sound of a creek flowing through the forest. A glimpse of wildlife along a trail.

For many people, the Duke Forest is a place of restoration.

This year, donor support helped complete major restoration work along New Hope Creek, advance climate-related research that informs how forests can remain resilient in a changing world, and connect students with the lessons that only nature can teach.

As June 30 approaches, we invite you to give back to a place that gives so much.

Help restore the Forest that restores so many. Make a gift today!

https://www.gifts.duke.edu/dukeforest?designation=3992433&technique_code=ENVFORST

More than three decades ago, Lirio Hittle, MF ’92, stood in the pouring rain alongside her classmates in the Duke Forest, learning from Professor Dan Richter that it was “the best time to see the interaction between water and trees.” The experience proved transformative, sparking a lifelong passion for forests that would shape a career in climate policy, environmental education, and public service.

Today, Lirio is helping create similar opportunities for future students. Following a successful matching-gift campaign that generated $8,645 in community support and inspired 44 new donors, Lirio has made a new three-year pledge to fund academic-year student employment in the Duke Forest.

Her contribution will be used to leverage additional funding sources, creating hands-on learning opportunities for students while strengthening the pipeline of future forest managers, researchers, and conservation leaders. Read how one alumna is paying forward her transformative experience for the next generation: https://dukeforest.duke.edu/2026/06/17/lirio-hittle-mf-92-is-paying-forward-a-transformative-experience/