On Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025 the environmental science majors left for Dolly Sods, West Virginia. The intent of the trip was to see the landscape of the Allegheny Plateau and see bird banding while camping out in the wilderness. Dolly Sods is a landscape like no other, with high cliffs, expansive bogs, trees that are not as old as the ancient trees of the forest before the fires, and streams that flow into raging rivers. In the early 1900s, Dolly Sods began to burn, a fire that decimated the place that is now a wilderness area. The fires happened repeatedly for years and the land burned two to four feet down to the rocks. The fires were associated with the lumber industry, and part of the intent for intended fires was to increase land for grazing. The impacts are obvious and the scares are real and present walking through the woods of the wilderness. 

Over the past years, Professor Jim Yoder, and more recently Professor Doug Graber Neufeld, have taken certain EMU students to Dolly Sods and have had a lot of experience with the area. The students left on Thursday to return Saturday, however the trip concluded early due to concerns about Saturday’s weather. As the vans entered West Virginia, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” lyrics, “Almost heaven, West Virginia” seemed fitting for the ride. The natural beauty of the state is undeniable. Of course there are the factories and coal mines which have been heavily associated with West Virginia since the post-Civil War days, however there are places that have been protected from industry. 

After the EMU crew got to the site and set up camp, they headed out to the bird banding station and saw what they would be observing the next day. The bird banding station is one of the most significant on the east coast and is one of the major attractions to the area. After the first night and some coffee, students headed on to the bird banding station to see how the bird banders did their job. Bird banding is a process where birds are caught and taken from the nets to a station where the people banding take measurements. Weight, wing and tail length, species, age if they can determine, and sex are all recorded and then the birds are banded and set loose. There has been bird banding at the location just outside the wilderness area since the late 1950s, and it has continued to operate with volunteers for the past 67 years. The Allegheny Front Migration Observatory (AFMO) uses the data to track migratory bird populations and travel in the fall. The decrease in forest cover in the area where the station is located due to the fires in the early 1900s helps attract low-flying birds so they will head straight into the nets. Many species of warblers are found at the station, and they are the most common birds found at the site. 

After spending time watching the birds, the group went hiking to bogs and cliffs, to streams, and to try and find edible berries. After hiking, the day ended quickly and suddenly the vans were filled and the campsite cleared since there was a high chance of rain the next day. On Friday, the group returned and went back to their normal routines after camping in the wilderness.