Significant Tree Walk with Historical Ecologist Michael Gaige on Sunday November 17, 10am-12pm
Join us as we explore Oak Hill’s tree-scape looking at the cemetery’s oldest trees. We will discuss how to recognize them, identify different species, and what the cemetery may have looked like in the early 19th century. In 2024 the Oak Hill Cemetery Historic Preservation Foundation commissioned a Significant Tree Report of the grounds to understand our historical ecology even before the cemetery was created. This is a focused approach to understanding the property’s history including a field inventory and archival research. This work will serve as a foundation for our emerging Landscape Archive as well as our Landscape Master Plan to ensure that we document, understand and can preserve our historic tree canopy. Michael Gaige is an independent consulting ecologist based in upstate New York. His work explores the intersection of nature, culture, and history at the landscape level. Michael works with organizations, private landowners, and design teams on park and landscape projects, historical ecology inventories, and conservation planning for natural areas. He wrote detailed historical and landscape inventories for the Oak Spring Garden Foundation main site and its adjacent Rokeby farm. Michael teaches field studies programs for several colleges and universities. . Reserve your ticket HERE