Camp Agapé Timber Harvest 2026 Questions & Answers
If you’ve hiked near Archery or walked the Sweetgum Trail recently, you may have noticed something looks very different. If your first reaction was surprise — or even sadness — that makes complete sense to us. We want you to understand what’s happening, why we made this decision, and what we’re hoping it becomes.
What happened to the trees near Archery and the Sweetgum Trail?
In 2026, Camp Agapé completed a timber harvest covering approximately 240 acres — a decision made in consultation with Piedmont Timber, the N.C. Forest Service, and an independent forestry consultant beginning in 2023, and approved by the AKBM Board. We know it looks dramatic, and we want you to understand why we made this choice and what comes next.
Why clear cut rather than thin or select cut?
We asked that same question. After consulting with multiple forestry professionals, clear cutting was recommended as the best practice for stands of this age that had already undergone previous select cuts. Modern forestry has evolved, and for forests like ours, respectful clear cutting often results in less long-term ground disturbance than repeated selective harvests. In some areas, the alternative to harvesting would have been a controlled burn —a different management technique composed of small fire-break clearing zones and well supervised burning designed to remove potential wildfire fuel.
We also want to be honest about something: timber income was part of the decision. It wasn’t the driving factor, but it was a real one. From the beginning, the land at Camp Agapé has been understood as a resource that supports the ministry — not just spiritually, but practically. Responsible stewardship has always included using what God has entrusted to us in ways that sustain the work we’re called to do.
The N.C. Forest Service monitors the entire process to minimize soil disturbance and requires that logs and debris remain on the ground, where they prevent erosion, shelter wildlife, cool the soil, and return nutrients that feed the next generation of forest.
Will it grow back?
Yes — and in North Carolina, it happens faster than you might expect. The 170 acres north of Parker’s Creek were replanted in mid-March 2026. The area near the Outpost will be replanted in March 2027, weather permitting, or by March 2028 at the latest. Views from Archery should begin to be obscured within just a few years.
The area near Archery itself will not be replanted with managed timber — it will be allowed to regenerate naturally as a mixed forest. Our hope, which will be formalized in the new plan, is that this area will be permanently designated as succession forest, with no future harvesting.
This feels like it’s in tension with our commitment to creation stewardship. How does the Board reconcile that?
We hear that, and we take it seriously. Creation stewardship — caring for and learning from the natural world — is one of our Seven Major Goals, and we want to be honest: an untouched, old-growth forest would be the ideal in a perfect world. But Camp Agapé is an active, living ministry. Hundreds of campers, families, and retreat guests walk this land every year, and that means we bear real responsibility not only for the forest, but for the people in it. Caring for the trees and caring for the safety of those who gather beneath them are not opposing goals — they are both part of what it means to be a faithful steward. As wildfires become an increasing concern across the country — a reality that climate change is making harder to ignore — thoughtful forest management is one of the most important things we can do to protect both the land and those who love it. Responsible management isn’t a compromise of our values. It is our values.
We also believe stewardship means making thoughtful, informed decisions and being accountable for them over time — not just leaving things as they are and hoping for the best. We made this decision carefully, with expert guidance, and we’re committed to tending what comes next with that same care.
What will this area become?
This is where we’re most excited — and most honest: the full plan is still being developed this summer. We don’t want to overpromise the specifics. What we can say is that we are deeply committed to using this land as a living resource for learning about God’s creation, and we believe the possibilities are genuinely exciting.
What we’re hoping and working toward: a portion of the area near Archery may be set aside to regenerate entirely on its own, without replanting or intervention, while nearby replanted areas are managed differently. Over time, we hope visitors will be able to walk between these areas and observe the contrast firsthand — how forests work, depending on how, or whether, humans are involved. Dated interpretive displays with successive photographs could tell that story as it unfolds, year after year.
We’re also dreaming about open wildlife spaces, possible night sky viewing, prairie ecosystem demonstration, and improved trail accessibility. Some of these ideas will take shape; others may evolve into something we haven’t thought of yet. The point is: this isn’t just cleared land waiting to recover. It’s an open page — and we believe God is already at work in what grows next. We’re invited to tend it, shape it, and discover it together.
What about the trails?
Most trails are unaffected. A small section of the Ironwood Trail is now more open, and parts of the Sweetgum and Laurel Trails now overlook the harvest area — which we hope will become one of the most interesting views on property as regeneration takes hold.
We’ve also reopened and improved the historic Fern Trail — a path that’s been part of camp for generations but that many of us haven’t walked in years, or perhaps ever. It now winds from Archery to the Outpost through different forest types, and it’s worth discovering (or rediscovering) for yourself.
Was there a plan going into this?
Yes. camp has operated under forestry plans since 1989. One important factor in the timing of this harvest was bringing more of camp’s acreage into sync for future management cycles — a necessary step that our forestry consultants identified as part of moving toward a more coherent long-term plan. A new 40-year plan is being developed this summer, drawing on expert guidance — including insights from our own ACE Education program — and we expect it to clearly define which areas will be available for future harvests — likely a smaller footprint than what has been done historically — and which will be permanently designated as succession forest. We’ve already set aside nearly 200 acres that way since 2010, and we expect that commitment will only grow.
Questions? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to board@agapekurebeach.org