Projects
Here's just a small sampling of the past, current, and future projects we are accomplishing.
Acquiring the Retreat Youngstown, Ohio
Exploring Limits Wilderness Retreat was acquired in January 2023. For a decade, this property had been used as a landscaping waste dump site. It was almost impossible to navigate the property and we relied heavily on the established deer trails to navigate. The closing process was complex, required numerous adjustments, and ultimately took over 100 days to achieve. Joyfully running along these paths, exploring new natural treasures at every turn; It was love at first sight.
Cleanup
At a minimum, the property was completely overgrown. It was a wild beauty to behold. The meadows were filled with flowers. The deer playfully poked their heads out from the tall thickets. Standing in the center of the retreat, one would be filled with a sense of peace and calmness. Slowly, concerns arose and piece by piece issues trickled in that reflected how unbalanced this ecosystem actually was.
Landscapers had been dumping their lunch wrapping waste, including their drink bottles, landscaping plastic bags filled with otherwise compostable materials were left without their contents poured out. During the first three months, over 50 large bags of inorganic waste were hauled away for proper disposal.
The ecosystem itself was unregulated. Invasive ornamental plants commonly used in landscaping were left to thrive in an unregulated environment. Snakes, rodents, and ticks thrived in the thick overgrown grass where natural predators couldn’t reach.
Landscaping
During the cleanup, it was realized how desperately landscaping needed to be prioritized. We rented brush hog industrial mowers, geared up, and started overhauling. After a few months of regular mowing, the ecosystem began to shift. We enjoyed an influx of birds during the mornings and bats swooping around at dusk. We began to have visiting cats from nearby neighbors. we cleared about 1/3 of the entire retreat and readied it for primitive campers. More and more plastic waste was freed from previously impenetrable areas. We even came across an almost complete deer skeleton!
This project is continuously ongoing. Some days it feels that when we get an area perfectly cleaned out, the earth opens to cough up a few more layers of plastic waste. We still deal with mounds of organic materials working on composting. We utilize a few methods to encourage natural processes such as detaching, aeration, and vermicomposting. If you’re taking a stroll around and spot some litter, we thank you in advance for picking it up and properly disposing of it.
Future Projects
We are greatly looking forward to the future of the Retreat. We have countless projects and improvements planned. Exploring Limits Wilderness retreat is completely funded by donations and volunteer efforts. If you have a skill to share or an educational/natural event to host, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Even by booking a fun relaxing weekend of primitive camping supports our efforts. We are excited to host different organizations including offering the use of our Retreat to different scouting programs.
If you would like to make a monetary donation to our non-profit you can donate directly by following this link: