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Georgeson Botanical Garden begins forest succession project

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is working to expand the garden’s public area with a path winding through a newly planted forest, providing visitors with a tranquil nature trail. 

The expansion represents the beginning of a long-term vision to transform an 8-acre piece of land into a native boreal forest. This fall, staff at the garden, which is located on the ����TVExperiment Farm on the Troth Yeddha' Campus, took the first steps by planting 300 white spruce saplings, with plans to plant 300 birch trees in 2026.

“We aim to continue to plant native trees over time and allow nature to take its course,” said Lacey Higham, directing manager of the Georgeson Botanical Garden. 

Classes from Barnette Magnet School and Watershed Charter School and a group of volunteers helped plant the 300 trees.

The trees are being planted in the triangular piece of land between the existing garden, Tanana Loop and West Tanana Drive. The area was used for agriculture and livestock grazing for much of the last century, but has not been farmed recently.  

The addition of a bike path along West Tanana Drive and a drainage ditch made the area inaccessible to farm equipment. After numerous conversations between Higham and Kieran Gleason, the Fairbanks Experiment Farm manager, the decision was made to restore the land to forest. Jodie Anderson, director of the ����TV Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension, approved the plan in spring 2025. 

The project will double the Georgeson’s currently managed acreage. The path will be accessible from the pavilion located just above the maze. 

Higham plans to open this new path to the public in 2026. Over time, garden staff will install benches, two bridges and signage so visitors can learn about the rich agricultural history of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

Higham cautioned that saplings are marked with flagged stakes that may be hidden in snow.

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