Land Preservation Inspired by a Woman’s Faith
One of my husband’s “retirement jobs” is finding places to explore. He read about an old-growth forest nearby, and after visiting a virgin Long-leaf Pines in Moody Forest, Appley County, Georgia, he knew it was a must-see!
We enjoy afternoon hikes this time of year in Wisconsin, and our adventure to see Cathedral Pines in the Chequamagon-Nicolet National Forest did not disappoint. Until our visit, we had no prior knowledge of the history behind this 40-acre old-growth forest which had been preserved, thanks to Lucy Rumsey Holt.
The historical marker, next to the four-car parking area, noted: “In the early 1900s, Lucy Rumsey Holt brought her children here to teach them prayers and Bible stories. These pines and hemlocks seemed to her to be a sacred place, she named it “Cathedral Woods” and persuaded her husband, the president of Holt Lumber Company, to preserve it, because of her, this stand of virgin timber was never logged.”
Have you ever been to a historical church? Our eyes immediately look up to vaulted ceilings, arches, and massive space above us upheld by buttresses. I can understand why Lucy named this white Pine forest Cathedral Woods. We looked up through branches of pine needles into the heavens and were met with silence and whispers of a breeze.
Who was this woman who would have the insightfulness to preserve the forest and influence her husband to do so? I wanted to find out more about Lucy, and the Wisconsin Historical Society was a perfect place to start. After her marriage to William A. Holt in 1895 in Lake Forest, Illinois the couple moved to Oconto, Wisconsin to manage a lumber company. Three years later, they built a summer home on an island in Archibald Lake, near the logging camp in Lakewood.
White Pine virgin timber was prized for its quality of being “knot-free” much like the harvest of Long Leaf pine was prized for its quality of virgin resin in the south. After the White Pines were cut by lumberjacks, logs were floated on rivers to mills, then fashioned into board planks, and shipped on the Great Lakes to buyers.
I imagined when Lucy took her children for prayers and Bible stories to her sacred place in the woods, they must have passed through cut land harvested by her husband’s company. She knew exactly what happened to the land once the trees were cut leaving only barren stumps. The very thought of her woods being cut must have been beyond her comprehension, as well as threatened a place she held dear. Lucy’s strong character embraced her life in the Northwoods, her faith, foresight, and deep connection to the forest protected forty acres of these woods.
Today we can see the passing of time in this ecosystem. Lightning strikes have etched lines in trees, and some have fallen exhibiting massive root scapes, which once held them upright. Because of the height of trees herons have used the tall pines to build nests and establish their rookery in spring. The forest floor was dotted with small plant species and soft ground moss thriving in the shade of a pine canopy. We also were amazed at the size of trees allowed to live over 300 years and then some.
It was not until the 1930s when the CCC began restoring land no one wanted with reforestation, together the Chequamagon and the Nicolet National Forest cover twelve counties, with a combined 1,519,800 acres including Lucy’s 40 acres. Thank you, Lucy!
If you have visited Cathedral Woods or any other old-growth forest, I would love to hear about your experience. Please feel free to leave your comments.
