Mission:
To serve an act of sacred reciprocity with the forest and the beings surrounding us. This act of reciprocity will be realized by the commitment to:

• Bring healing to the forest

• Bring knowledge to the people

Camp Broken Arrow began as a concept around 2018, as part of an exploration with a family group seeking a location to build a primitive cabin. After walking through 18 acres of forest, my nephew Vincent declared in his matter of fact tone, “this is the best spot for a cabin.”

Around 2021, my son Nick and I created a campsite area, added a fire pit and built an outhouse with a composting toilet.

After a false start in 2022 and 2023, I decided to work in earnest to start the project. In order to support the building of a forest preserve and primitive camp, I took the following steps:

• I made an offer to my neighbor to purchase the land separating my two parcels. The parcel surrounded the stream and was populated by a lush foliage of Mountain Laurel and pine trees. She accepted my offer.
  We closed on this parcel on my mother’s 90th birthday, on property that she considered home
• I had my friend and land steward, Tyler, come and help me survey the property and identify some areas for attention. We tackled a small area of invasives – and found a number of percolating springs throughout the property
• Based on Tyler’s recommendation, I put up Private Property signs. ATV riders had begun creating large gullies and even cutting new paths through the forest with landscaping gear.
  If I wanted to preserve the forest, this had to stop.
  Eventually, I plan to open the preserve to visitors and hopefully run educational programs from it. But one step at a time!
• I engaged an architect who specializes in sustainable building. At the time of this writing, we are actively working on the design of the primitive cabin.
  Right now, this is the MOST EXCITING part of the project… at least for me. I hope to launch some posts soon to tell you more about this project.