St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church Sanctuary Forest to be Inducted into The Old-Growth Forest Network, September 14, 2024
St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church Sanctuary Forest in Fairfax Station, Virginia, will be inducted into
the Old-Growth Forest Network on September 14, 2024 at 10 a.m. Brian Kane, Mid-Atlantic Manager of the
Old-Growth Forest Network will convey the distinction to Stacey Remick, (Creation Care Ministry) and Rev.
Susan Hartzell and Vestry. The forest is the first Community Forest in Fairfax County to be inducted into the
Network, and the third Community Forest in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The church is part of the
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, a chapter of the Center for Spirituality in Nature (SING) and a member of Faith
Action for Climate Solutions (FACS) and serves as an approved project site for the Fairfax Virginia Master
Naturalist chapter.
The five-acre forest which is part of the church’s certified Northern Virginia Bird Alliance (formerly Audubon
Society of Northern Virginia) wildlife sanctuary campus, consists largely of oak species, tulip poplar, and
American beech and most of the hardwood trees are between 70 and 100 years of age.
This forest is on the ancestral lands of the Manahoac tribe.