Taylor Walters - March 26, 2026: Hiking Prince William Forest Park (Free-Choice Entry)

Last summer a friend and I hiked Prince William Forest Park in Virginia and I've been reminded of it since we started discussing regenerative farming and ecosystem health. Prince William is the largest protected natural area in the DC metro region and it was actually a Civilian Conservation Corps project from the New Deal. What I remember most about the hike is how different the air felt once we got deep into the forest. Now that I think about it, respiration and transpiration connects to this as well and how the atmosphere inside a healthy forest is chemically different from the air outside it. We were literally breathing the exhalations of thousands of trees! I also remember being surprised by how quickly the trail changed depending on whether we were in old growth sections versus areas that had been cleared at some point and were in various stages of recovery. The biodiversity was visibly different, which connects to what we learned about soil health and how long it takes ecosystems to truly recover once they've been disturbed. Walking through it made that feel pretty real in a different way than just reading about it.

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