It has been an incredible year of growth for the Clemson Experimental Forest. Driven by changes at the University level and beyond, we have re-envisioned the Forest as a core component of the research and teaching success of the University. We have come to understand the central role of the Forest in the history, productivity, and quality of life – it has been called the very soul of Clemson.
Three years ago, a comprehensive report by the Faculty Senate initiated a series of University-wide changes regarding the Forest. First, it presented quantitative data on the use of the Forest for teaching and research across all nine of Clemson’s colleges. Second, it presented in-depth interviews with faculty users of the Forest that revealed the foundational importance of the Forest for inspiring and informing teaching, research, and outreach.
Fueled by these data, we began a series of actions to better align the Forest with the Clemson Elevate Strategic Plan and the goals of individual departments. We realized we were at a turning point where old assumptions needed to be examined, massaged, discarded, or replaced. In short, we needed a strategic plan, and with that strategic plan, a new forest management plan. We also realized that outdoor recreation, long regarded as an ancillary product of the Forest, needed to be embraced and professionally managed.
After a very busy year we are pleased to say that we have completed a University-level strategic plan, a new forest management plan based on a Board-approved classification system, established an ecological zone for long-term research, hired a Forest Manager with a wonderful leadership background as well as a Recreation Manager, and with MARCOM completed a new website, prepared our first annual report, and released an acclaimed short documentary highlighting the Forest's diverse benefits. Other progress includes a revamped data access and management program, and new maps. In this progress, the Forest was guided by our Provost Bob Jones, whom we can’t thank enough for his transformational leadership.
The coming year should be a time to enjoy the fruits of this labor, as we lay the groundwork for an even more inspirational future.
Dr. Rob Baldwin Executive Director Lloyd Chair of Conservation Ecology
About the Forest
The 19,200-acre Clemson Experimental Forest is a complex landscape of forest, farms, shoreline and other habitats adjacent to campus. It is a resource for teaching, research and outreach and a valued community asset. Clemson College began supervising the land in 1939 under an agreement with the federal government. Over nearly 100 years, careful management has transformed the land from depleted row crop farmland into a national exemplar of teaching, research and public service in the areas of forestry and natural resource management that remains true to founder Thomas Green Clemson's vision of the University as "high seminary of learning" that would exist to benefit all South Carolinians.
The Forest by the Numbers
Teaching
75+ faculty using the forest for instruction
Research
1,400+ plant species catalogued
Outreach
516 Forest Fest participants; 119 national educators
Carbon Storage
2.61 tons CO₂e/acre/year; 2,153 trees measured
Water Purification
13–14B gallons/year filtered to Lake Hartwell
Recreation
60,000+ annual visitors
Economic Reach
25+ local businesses patronized by trail users
Community Engagement
1,000+ volunteer hours post-Hurricane Helene
Digital Access
4,257 digitized herbarium records
Strategic Conservation
3,265 acres designated as ecologically sensitive zone
Clemson University named Wayne Phillips, a forester with 28 years of experience across all aspects of the forestry supply chain, as the new manager of the Clemson Experimental Forest. Phillips took over management of the forest after eight years as area marketing manager with Weyerhaeuser, a timber, land and forest products company that owns or manages 28 million acres of forestland.
Clemson University hired Rob Allen ’98 as the first-ever recreation manager of the Clemson Experimental Forest (CEF), marking a significant step in balancing the Forest’s recreational opportunities with its role in research, education and conservation. In this new role, Allen serves as a liaison between the University and the community, organizing volunteer efforts, overseeing safety training and work projects, and supporting faculty and student initiatives within the Forest.
The Clemson University Board of Trustees designated 3,265 acres of the 18,000-acre Clemson Experimental Forest as an “ecologically sensitive zone” during its fall quarterly meeting. The decision follows nearly a century of systematic exploration and documentation of its biodiversity. A checklist of the flora of the Clemson Forest assembled using plant specimens collected over six decades shows the forest is home to approximately 1,200 species of vascular plants, including 44 rare species tracked by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and 17 species recommended for tracking.
Volunteers devote more than 1,000 hours to Helene recovery
Hurricane Helene left a lasting mark on the Clemson Experimental Forest, bringing widespread damage that required significant effort to address. While the destruction was not as catastrophic as in parts of Western North Carolina, it was extensive and deeply impactful to the Forest ecosystem, roads, and recreational trails. Efforts to restore some areas are ongoing.
The storm's winds caused considerable damage, particularly to large oaks and hickories, many of which were entirely uprooted. Trees toppled across almost every trail, with some paths obstructed every 50 yards by either single large trees or clumps of them. Upturned root balls ripped up some sections of trail, requiring significant reroutes. This widespread treefall created hazardous conditions and rendered much of the forest impassable.
The cleanup process was immense. Forest sawyers worked tirelessly for two weeks to prepare for a full weekend of restoration efforts. Following these efforts, the forest saw an extraordinary outpouring of community support. Over the next couple of months, volunteers collectively logged nearly 1,000 hours of work, clearing trails and removing debris. Their dedication was instrumental in restoring access to the forest, enabling the trails to reopen for public use.
Hurricane Helene's impact on the Clemson Experimental Forest underscores both the devastation that natural disasters can bring and the resilience of communities to come together in recovery efforts.
Natural disasters drive management priorities in the CEF in 2024
The Clemson Experimental Forest faced management challenges in 2024 that came in the form of natural disasters. These primarily drove the management priorities and activities that took place in the forest this year.
The year started with an outbreak of the Southern Pine Beetle affecting 92 stands of pine plantation across the forest. This widespread outbreak necessitated cutting small buffer zones totaling just over 100 acres across the forest. Larger areas that could be combined resulted in merchantable harvesting activity that produced almost 10,000 tons of wood delivered to mills.
Not long after the beetle activity was under control, Hurricane Helene tore through the area, leaving practically every road and trail on the CEF with downed trees across them. CEF staff and volunteer efforts spent the next few months clearing roads and trails. An evaluation of the forest was conducted to see if any stands had enough damage for salvage operations to take place. Overall, windthrown trees in the stands were widespread but not concentrated enough for salvage operations.
The CEF conducted a limited number of prescribed burns this year. An active wildfire season across the entire state led to burn bans. The CEF was proud to assist the South Carolina Forestry Commission in protecting lives and property on two occasions when their resources were stretched thin.
Hundreds Gather at Forest Fest ’25 to Celebrate Nature, Learning, and Public Service
Forest Fest featured Clemson students and Extension Agents sharing science with children.
Free and open to the public, Forest Fest was an interactive event designed to connect youth, families, students and the community with the biodiversity of the South Carolina Upstate, while highlighting the importance of environmental stewardship and natural resource management.
Forest Fest took place at the Issaqueena Trailhead, and was funded and organized by students, faculty, and staff in Clemson Cooperative Extension, the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation, and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management. Forest Fest ’25, was the work of 72 volunteers, four state agencies, and featured six research projects, eight Extension groups represented and six student organizations. A total of 516 people attended Forest Fest ’25. A post-event survey showed:
88% expressed extreme satisfaction with the event staff, indicating a positive experience.
73% of attendees were extremely satisfied with the event's length, although some suggested it should be longer.
84% of participants were extremely satisfied with the content of the event, highlighting its educational value.
Attendees provided positive feedback, with many looking forward to future events and suggesting improvements for next year.
Project Learning Tree National Conference Engages Educators in the Clemson Experimental Forest
In March 2024, the Clemson Experimental Forest served as a dynamic, living classroom for 119 state facilitators from Project Learning Tree (PLT) and staff from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) as part of the national PLT Conference. Visitors traveled from across the United States—including as far as Alaska—to participate in a full day of immersive field-based learning in both the North and South Forests.
The field day on March 12 featured a rotating series of six educational stations throughout the Issaqueena Lake area and surrounding sites. Topics included invasive species and forest entomology, forest hydrology and water quality, prescribed fire and wildfire ecology, dendrology and forest history, recreation management, and forest education methods. Each group of approximately 24 attendees rotated through a curated sequence of stops, gaining hands-on experience and insights from leading forestry educators and professionals from Clemson University, the South Carolina Forestry Commission, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
In the afternoon, attendees reconvened at Fant’s Grove for in-depth demonstrations on forest management and logging operations. The three featured stations included:
Active Logging Operations – led by Crad Jaynes and Gordy Mouw
Forest Management and Use – led by Wayne Phillips and Matt Schnabel
Teaching Forest Management (Every Tree for Itself) – led by Russell Hubright and Kate Nagle
The event not only highlighted the forest as a premier site for environmental education but also underscored its national relevance as a model for sustainable forestry, experiential instruction, and cross-sector collaboration. It reinforced Clemson’s leadership in delivering field-based learning that connects ecological science with educational outreach.
Learn more about Project Learning Tree and its mission to advance environmental literacy through education.
Experimental Forest featured in documentary video
The CEF’s transformation from worn farmland to a place of teaching, research and outreach, and community asset was the focus of documentary film, “Transformative Landscape: The Clemson Experimental Forest.” The documentary features interviews with faculty, staff, students and community members about the role the Forest plays in Clemson’s land-grant mission and impact on community wellbeing.
Research
From invasive species to mental health, the Forest serves as a living laboratory for scientists and students.
Jason Fridley and Antonino Malacrino (College of Science), and Nishanth Tharayil and Don Hagan (College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences) collaborated with Clemson Forest staff to establish long-term research on forest changes in response to species invasion, drought, and temperature. Supported by the National Science Foundation, an instrumentation network based in Prague, and internal competitive grants, they have initiated two controlled experiments, hundreds of dendrometers to measure tree growth, and the use of our Continuous Forest Inventory to track forest-wide change.
Erin Buchholtz of the USGS Cooperative Wildlife Unit based at Clemson University has continued her groundbreaking work on the movements and population dynamics of wild hogs in the Clemson Forest. She and doctoral student Charlie Brill have deployed a network of cameras that will aid in quantifying population dynamics, building on her past research in which she tracked hogs using GPS and determined the size of their movements and areas used.
Olivia McAnirlin and Matt Browning (College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences) have continued their work assessing the value of access to natural areas for mental and physical well-being.
Lorena Endara, in collaboration with SC Department of Natural Resources, is near completion of her inventory of the vascular plant diversity of the Forest. Using collections from the Clemson Herbarium, field visits, and GIS they are verifying and establishing locations of species, and in so doing have catalogued a very significant number of vascular plant species. The Clemson Forest, with over 1,400 species, rivals the most biodiverse locations of the Southeastern United States.
Betty Baldwin (College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences) has been conducting institutional research with her Creative Inquiry students to document the phenomenon of University Forests globally and relate the Clemson Forest to the functions of its peers. Hundreds of universities have significant forests associated with them that play various roles in teaching and research. Her students presented results at two conferences and won the poster competition at the Southeast Recreational Research Conference.
Teaching
Clemson Faculty Integrate the Experimental Forest Into High-Impact Teaching
Clemson University’s commitment to providing the No. 1 student experience is vividly reflected in the way its faculty leverage the Clemson Experimental Forest for immersive, hands-on teaching. The forest is not only a living laboratory—it is a foundational component of Clemson’s approach to experiential learning, enriching coursework across forestry, ecology, conservation, and land management.
Immersive Learning in the Clemson Experimental Forest
Across multiple courses in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences, faculty utilize the Clemson Experimental Forest to bring classroom concepts to life. In FOR 2520: Forest Operations, students spend an intensive summer week in the forest engaging directly with forest landowners, management companies, and harvesting operations. Field-based instruction is complemented by daily reports in which students document their learning about timber equipment, silvicultural challenges, and forest policy frameworks.
In FOR 3410: Wood Procurement Practices, students deepen their understanding of timber markets by participating in timber sale projects, contract analysis, and simulated bidding exercises. While much of this course is classroom-based, the experiential foundation laid in prior forest-based courses such as FOR 2520 directly informs their applied work in procurement strategy.
Similarly, FOR 4100/6100: Harvesting Processes combines lectures with robust lab experiences that cover everything from road layout and production cost analysis to best management practices for minimizing environmental impact. These topics are reinforced with real-world exposure in the forest, where students evaluate harvesting operations firsthand, translating theoretical knowledge into practical skillsets.
Fieldwork as a Teaching Method
Dendrology (FOR 2050/2051) is one of the most direct examples of CEF-based instruction. In this course, students learn to identify over 140 native and exotic tree species, with about half of the field labs taking place within the Experimental Forest. Weekly excursions expose students to a wide range of species in their native habitats, embedding ecological literacy through firsthand observation.
In FOR 2060/2061: Forest Ecology, students examine ecological processes such as secondary succession, plant invasions, and disturbance regimes. The field component culminates in data collection exercises, where students gather measurements on tree height, diameter, and distribution—reinforcing lecture content with empirical evidence from the field.
FOR 2510: Forest Communities, an intensive summer field course, pushes students further by requiring them to design and execute group research projects in the CEF. These investigations include evaluating how variables like soil type and topography affect forest composition, culminating in peer-reviewed presentations that mirror professional scientific communication.
Faculty Integration and Institutional Identity
The Experimental Forest is not just a teaching venue—it is part of Clemson’s institutional identity. According to survey data, more than 75 faculty members actively use the forest in their teaching, and over 80 plan to integrate it into their curriculum in the coming years. Faculty comments describe the forest as “the face of Clemson” and “part of the DNA of our University.” One professor noted, “The Forest means more to me than a salary in many ways,” while another emphasized its role in faculty recruitment and productivity.
Conclusion
Through the Clemson Experimental Forest, students gain more than textbook knowledge—they gain the ability to observe, analyze, and make decisions in real forest ecosystems. By bridging academic theory with field-based practice, Clemson faculty ensure that students not only learn forestry but also live it. This immersive, hands-on approach exemplifies Clemson’s commitment to delivering a student experience that is not only top-ranked but deeply transformative.
Economic Impact
Clemson Experimental Forest drives economic activity through outdoor recreation
New data gathered through a collaboration with Clemson’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management confirms what local residents and business owners have long known: the Clemson Experimental Forest is a year-round magnet for outdoor recreation and a driver of economic activity in the surrounding region.
In the past year, the Forest hosted an estimated 60,000 visitors across its trail systems, shorelines, and boat landings. The Issaqueena Lake Trailhead (“Horseshoe”) alone saw 12,800 visits, making it the most heavily trafficked entrance to the Forest. Other popular trailheads included Butch Kennedy (5,100 visits), Seed Orchard (3,000), and Fant’s Grove (2,000). Additionally, the Issaqueena Road and Twin Lakes Boat Landing collectively attracted another 45,000 users, underscoring the Forest’s role as a regional outdoor destination.
Visitor traffic is not seasonal, with consistent use documented throughout the calendar year, aside from a modest decline during the winter holiday period. Usage peaks on weekends, offering strategic insights for staffing and volunteer coordination.
Perhaps most compelling is the economic footprint of these visitors. Using anonymized cell phone data, researchers identified the top 25 commercial locations visited before or after a trip to the Issaqueena Lake trailhead. This data reveals that Clemson Forest users frequent restaurants, retail shops, and service stations throughout the Upstate, extending the Forest’s economic impact well beyond the trailhead parking lots.
Below are two visualizations illustrating visitor trends and economic connections:
Figure 1: Visitor Patterns Over Time
This graph illustrates consistent visitation levels throughout the year, reinforcing the Forest’s status as a dependable source of economic and recreational activity.
Figure 2: Visitor Spending Footprint: Map of Top 25 Shopping Destinations of Forest Visitors
The map displays retail and service locations frequented by trail users, showing that local economies—including those in and around Clemson, Pendleton, and Anderson—benefit from Forest-based recreation.
Ecological Impact
Ecological Benefits of the Clemson Experimental Forest
The Clemson Experimental Forest (CEF) is more than an academic resource; it is a vital ecological asset that delivers measurable environmental benefits for the region and beyond. Through its forested watersheds, rich biodiversity, and increasing carbon storage, the CEF plays a critical role in protecting water quality, capturing greenhouse gases, and supporting ecological research and education.
Natural Water Purification and Supply
Spanning over 19,200 acres, the CEF serves as a massive natural water filter nestled amid the urbanizing Upstate. Each year, rainfall filtered through the forest’s soils and vegetation discharges an estimated 13 to 14 billion gallons of fresh water into Lake Hartwell. This is enough to supply the water needs of two cities the size of Anderson or 42 Clemson University campuses. Much of this filtered water becomes part of the public drinking water supply for the Cities of Clemson and Anderson, supporting both human health and regional economic activity.
In addition to its hydrologic contribution, the forested landscape naturally improves water quality by reducing sedimentation, capturing nutrients, and cooling stream temperatures, conditions critical for aquatic life, including native fish species.
Carbon Sequestration and Forest Growth
The Clemson Experimental Forest is also a powerful carbon sink. Through long-term monitoring of forest biomass using 185 fixed plots measured every five years, Clemson scientists have documented a steady increase in carbon stocks across the forest. In 2021, 2,153 trees were measured in the carbon inventory, with Loblolly Pine (754 individuals), White Oak (269), and Yellow Poplar (252) being the most common species recorded.
These forests sequester carbon at an average growth rate of 2.61 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per acre per year, mitigating the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. The graph below (based on continuous forest inventory data) visually demonstrates the increase in carbon storage across the CEF over time:
Figure 1: Carbon Storage Over Time
This graph, based on continuous forest inventory data, visually demonstrates the increase in carbon storage across the CEF from 1961 through 2021.
Botanical Richness and Habitat Diversity
Biodiversity within the CEF is another essential ecological service. According to the Clemson Herbarium’s recent SFI-supported digitization project, the forest is home to over 1,017 unique plant species documented through 4,257 specimens. These collections support research, management, and conservation and are made accessible through the SERNEC Portal. Mapping tools now allow for interactive exploration of species by order, family, invasiveness, and rarity, providing a foundational dataset for ongoing ecological planning.
Conclusion
From purifying billions of gallons of water and storing carbon, to sustaining rare plant communities and educating future scientists, the Clemson Experimental Forest is a living laboratory of sustainability. Its ecological services benefit not only the Clemson community, but also regional residents, industries, and ecosystems. Stewardship of this resource underscores Clemson University's land-grant mission and commitment to environmental leadership.
Conclusion
From purifying billions of gallons of water and storing carbon, to sustaining rare plant communities and educating future scientists, the Clemson Experimental Forest is a living laboratory of sustainability. Its ecological services benefit not only the Clemson community, but also regional residents, industries, and ecosystems. Stewardship of this resource underscores Clemson University's land-grant mission and commitment to environmental leadership.
It has been an incredible year of growth for the Clemson Experimental Forest. Driven by changes at the University level and beyond, we have re-envisioned the Forest as a core component of the research and teaching success of the University. We have come to understand the central role of the Forest in the history, productivity, and quality of life – it has been called the very soul of Clemson.
