By Catharin Shepard • Editor • Hoke High School student Quinton Douglas has been busy the past few months, scoping out the trails at the Hoke Community Forest.

The 16-year-old Boy Scout approached the Hoke County Board of Commissioners in January, alongside Jesse Wimberley of the NC Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association, to seek permission to install trail markers on the public-owned land. Improving the hiking trails has long been a goal for the forest, Wimberley said at the time, and the board approved Douglas’ project.

This past Sunday, Douglas and his fellow Boy Scouts joined family members, along with Wimberley and Angela Gaskell of the Sandhills PBA, and Commission Vice Chairman Harry Southerland in celebrating the completion of the project. It will earn Douglas the highly-respected, and challenging to achieve, rank of Eagle Scout.

“I just appreciate all the support from my parents and my mom, definitely, staying up for hours on hours to help me with everything,” Douglas said. “And especially Mr. Jessy and Ms. Angela with the Association. The funding efforts. Coming out here on Sundays, and days they’ve had off, to come out here and help me with this.”

Douglas also thanked the commissioners, and his Boy Scout Troop for their help with the project.

“You guys are what made it possible. Everything came together. It was amazing,” he said. “It is definitely a work of God, for sure.”

The 19 markers, installed on wooden posts along the trail, show the roughly mile-long route that’s already become popular with hikers, birdwatchers, the cross-country team at Hoke High and even “dry land mushers” – people who enjoy biking with their dogs, no snow required.

Those are just a few of the people who’ve been making good use of the Hoke Community Forest, the largest of its kind in the southeast and, Wimberley said, an example of what can happen when communities work together.

“This is the moment that we’ve all been waiting for when the community started owning this property,” he said. “Back when we first started working on this, we went before the commissioners to ask them what they wanted to do with this forest, and they weren’t even sure they owned it. We’ve gone from there, to all kinds of events out here. The Scouts using this, cross country using this. This was our goal. We wanted to come out, thin it, make a little money for the county, but mainly have the citizens of this county who own this project, come out and enjoy it. Today is a very special day.”

The trail markers include information and education about the Sandhills ecosystem that people can take in as they enjoy spending time in nature.

“It really does unpack the whole story of the Sandhills, which is such a unique place,” Wimberley said.

The conserved land does not allow hunting or development. The county engaged in a contract with a forestry company to help manage the resources. Thinning of the non-native trees brought in a few hundred thousand dollars, and cleared the way for volunteers to plant thousands of native long-leaf pine tree seedlings.

The land is home to native species of animals, including, as the group discovered Sunday, turtles. A box turtle was caught trying to break into the restroom facilities, and was quickly relocated away from the parking lot.

The county hopes to work toward encouraging others to come out and enjoy the community forest, so people can learn about the natural setting while having fun.

“I can’t think of a better use of it than to have our young people,” Wimberley said. “We really appreciate all the support the county has put toward this project.”

The Hoke Community Forest is located on both sides of Vass Road just outside of Raeford. There are signs for where to turn into the parking lot. The forest and its trails are open dawn to dusk.

This was the second Eagle Scout project that a member of Troop 410 has completed at the forest. The first was a geocaching project.

The community forest has even gotten national attention, Wimberley said.

“There are efforts like this throughout the southeast mimicking what we’ve done right here,” he said. “When a community owns a forest, gets outside for that exercise, gets our young people outside – “

“You can’t beat it,” Southerland said.