NOTE: Some of my GBH photo essays were not routinely distributed from mid-February through mid-June. I will resend those one by one, beginning the first week of July. Here is my Post from March 18 (https://stevejonesgbh.com/2026/03/18/brief-form-post-55-auburn-universitys-college-of-forestry-wildlife-and-environment-crooked-oaks-nature-resort/)

Fellow retired forester Chris Stuhlinger, retired videographer Bill Heslip, and I visited Marshall Forest Preserve, established as Georgia’s first National Natural Landmark near Rome, Georgia, on April 5, 2026. Recognized by the Old Growth Forest Network (https://www.oldgrowthforest.net/), the preserve encompasses ~300 acres of undisturbed upland pine and hardwood forest. I focus this photo essay on the forest understory and ground cover we observed on the preserve.

The entrance sculpture suggested to me a maze, a puzzle, a secret hidden within, although nothing in signage or on the MFP website revealed its intended meaning. I’ll stick with my interpretation because it aligns with what every one of my woodland rambles divulges:

In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks. (John Muir)

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)

 

Overnight-rain-wetted Asian wisteria clogged the trail and dampened our clothing as we penetrated its dense growth from ground to ten feet.

 

The scarce ground cover under the massive oak is typical across the preserve.

 

The two images below reveal one cause of the spartan ground cover. Both show a distinct browse line to five to six feet above ground, typical in hardwood forests with high deer density.

 

Muscadine grape seedlings hug the ground. Deer will feed on the new foliage, thus keeping the muscadine constrained to an understory carpet. We saw very few hardwood tree seedlings, another clue to excessive deer density.

 

Although we hiked during the height of spring wildflower season, we noted a dearth of spring ephemerals, yet another nod to over grazing.

 

I recorded this one-minute video of the sparsely vegetated ground cover dominated by muscadine grape seedlings.

 

We noted an oak surrounded by a circle of seedling wood sorrell. I’ll classify this one-of-a-kind novelty as unexpected, peculiar, and worthy of explanation…yet none of us could fathom why we found this unique, isolated concentration.

 

A single striped wintergreen found a means of penetrating and standing above a thick carpet of last fall’s oak leaves.

 

An American giant millipede grazed microrganisms on that same oak leaf forest floor.

 

Ever on the lookout for mushrooms, especially edibles, I found only this lonesome clump of trainwrecker mushrooms, a basidiomycete parasite of coniferous trees. The species is tough enough to resist creosote and grow even on railroad ties. Online resources indicate that they are edible when young. Let’s see, tough enough to grow on creosote-treated railroad ties…is edible! I am not ready to place a checkmark on my future foraging list. Regardless, they are handsome.

 

Bill borrowed my iPhone to photograph me strolling along a moss-carpet trail section.

 

White moss occupied trunk collars and windthrow hummocks, mounds, and pillows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The carbon cycle is continuous, ranging from a recent windfall, to last year’s leaf drop, to a decades old downed tree well along to reincorporating with the soil.

 

Eight days after exploring Marshall Forest Preserve, I reported to a Huntsville, Alabama surgery center for scheduled left shoulder replacement revision, prosthesis reversal. Fifty-two days (as I compose this narrative on June 4) of physical therapy later, I am ready to return to woods-wandering. I am once again feeling vibrant. Yet, I think of an anonymous conservationist quote, “A tree’s role is to add a little new wood each year.” My wood-incrementing pace is fading. I used to measure hikes in miles per day. Today I revel in logging observations, reflections, photos, and brief videos per hour. Distance itself holds lesser and lesser significance and value. What I see, feel, discover, and ponder ignite my passion, fuel my wanderings (and wonderings), and lead me to add a little new wood each year, even if at a reduced pace.

 

 

Thoughts and Reflections

 

I offer these observations:

• Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. (Albert Einstein)

• Death is a powerful and ubiquitous part of forest life. (Steve Jones)

• What I see, feel, discover, and ponder ignite my passion, fuel my wanderings (and wonderings), and lead me to add a little new wood each year, even if at a reduced pace. (Steve Jones)

 

Inhale and absorb Nature’s elixir. May Nature Inspire, Inform, and Reward you!

If only more of us viewed our precious environment through the filters I employ. If only my mission and vision could be multiplied by untold orders of magnitude:

Mission: Employ writing and speaking to educate, inspire, and enable readers and listeners to understand, appreciate, and enjoy Nature… and accept and practice Earth Stewardship.

Vision:

• People of all ages will pay greater attention to and engage more regularly with Nature… and will accept and practice informed and responsible Earth Stewardship.
• They will see their relationship to our natural world with new eyes… and understand their Earth home more clearly.

Tagline/Motto: Steve (Great Blue Heron) encourages and seeks a better tomorrow through Nature-Inspired Living!

 

Steve’s Four Books

 

I wrote my books Nature Based Leadership (2016), Nature-Inspired Learning and Leading (2017), Weaned Seals and Snowy Summits: Stories of Passion for Place and Everyday Nature (2019; co-authored with Dr. Jennifer Wilhoit), and Dutton Land & Cattle: A Land Legacy Story (2025) to encourage all citizens to recognize and appreciate that every lesson for living, learning, serving, and leading is either written indelibly in or is powerfully inspired by Nature. All four of my books present compilations of personal experiences expressing my deep passion for Nature. All four books offer observations and reflections on my relationship with the natural world… and the broader implications for society. Order any from your local indie bookstore, or find them on IndieBound or other online sources such as Amazon and LifeRich.

I began writing books and Posts for several reasons:

• I love hiking and exploring Nature
• I see images I want to (and do) capture with my trusty iPhone camera
• I enjoy explaining those images — an educator at heart
• I don’t play golf!
• I do love writing — it’s the hobby I never needed when my career consumed me
• Judy suggested my writing is in large measure my legacy to our two kids, our five grandkids, and all the unborn generations beyond
• And finally, perhaps my books and Blogs could reach beyond family and touch a few other lives… sow some seeds for the future