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Founded in 2009, the Catoctin Forest Alliance (CFA) is a non-profit (501c3) organization whose mission is to “preserve and promote the health of the Catoctin Mountain forest for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.”
CFA is the primary Friend’s Group for Catoctin Mountain Park (CMP) and is also partnered with Cunningham Falls State Park (CFSP). One of the best ways that CFA preserves the forest is through education and more specifically the education of children, the future stewards of the forest.
- The SUCCESS program brings at risk youth from the Frederick County School system to Catoctin Mountain Park (CMP) and Cunningham Falls State Park (CFSP) each week during the school year to learn how to use woods tools, perform trail maintenance, learn teamwork and leadership skills.
- Seasons 101 brings students to the parks four times a year where they adopt a tree and measure and observe the tree during the whole year, comparing it to their own growth and noting the changes with the seasons. They also learn outdoor skills such and hiking, trail work and camp cooking.
- The First Bloom program brought students from the inner city to CMP to plan, plant and document a wild flower garden in front of the Visitor’s Center (see photo on front page). The students were part of a nationwide program that included a contest for the best documentation of the experience. The group that came to CMP won first prize.
- CFA also works with adults to benefit the forest through the Artist in Residence Program. Artists from all over the US come to either CMP or CFSP for 1-2 week residencies. During their time in the parks, the artists created art inspired by the forest and donate one piece of art to CFA.
Your donations to CFA help to support education,cultural and recreational programs in the Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park.
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COPYRIGHT
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Although the Catoctin Forest Alliance site includes “links” providing convenient direct access to other Internet sites, Catoctin Forest Alliance does not endorse, approve, certify or make warranties or representations as to the accuracy of the information on these sites.
Catoctin Forest Alliance will make reasonable efforts to include accurate and up-to-date information on catoctinforestalliance.org, but Catoctin Forest Alliance makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy. All users agree that all access and use of catoctinforestalliance.org and the content thereof is at their own risk. Neither Catoctin Forest Alliance, nor any party involved in creating, producing or delivering information and material via catoctinforestalliance.org, shall be liable for any direct, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages arising out of access to, use of or inability to use catoctinforestalliance.org, or any errors or omissions in the content thereof.
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PRIVACY & TERMS
The Catoctin Forest Alliance is committed to respecting and protecting your privacy rights when visiting any page of our Website, catoctinforestalliance.org. To protect your Personal Information, the Catoctin Forest Alliance has created the guidelines outlined below, which explain the kinds of information the website collects, how it is used, the conditions under which it is made available to third parties, how information is maintained and our compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Act. Your use of the website indicates your acceptance of and agreement with the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.
INFORMATION COLLECTED
While visiting the website, we may ask you to provide information that personally identifies you ("personal information") for purposes of interacting with the website, obtaining a service or making a purchase. Such personal information may include, but is not limited to, your name, phone number, street address and e-mail address, age and gender. On any page that collects personal information, we will specifically describe what information is required in order to provide you with the product or service or enter you in the promotion you have requested, as well as respond to your inquiry or comment. This personally identifiable data is collected by means of form interfaces on our website, into which the user must voluntarily enter the information requested. If you place an online order or enter a commercial transaction at this website, we will collect additional personally identifiable information, including billing address and credit card information. We may also collect personally identifiable information through purchase forms, surveys, contests, emails we receive from you and your other interactions with our website. You may browse the website without registering or providing any personally identifying information.
IP ADDRESSES
This website also collects anonymous data that is not indicative of and cannot be traced to an individual without the cooperation of their Internet Service Provider. This data includes information about the user's remote IP address, referral data (which page "linked" to the present request) and the browser software's user-agent string. This information is accepted passively from the HTTP headers that are sent from the user when requesting any file from the server. Catoctin Forest Alliance does log IP addresses for systems administration, troubleshooting purposes and to determine website usage.
COOKIES
The website uses "cookies", which are elements of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your system. This element of data is a piece of text, not a program. The website can only access the information from a cookie sent by the website. We cannot access other cookies sent by other websites or the information contained therein. Additionally, we cannot learn your e-mail address or any other information about you through the use of a cookie. The only way we would learn such information is if you specifically and voluntarily submit that information to us, for example, through a registration system, by entering a sweepstakes or promotion, etc.
WHY DOES THE SITE USE COOKIES?
Catoctin Forest Alliance uses cookies to track usage of the website and further personalize your experience when you are visiting the Website. By tracking usage, we can best determine what features of the website best serve the users. Overall, the use of cookies helps to give you a more personalized experience at the website. The information is used to keep our website fresh and relevant to you, the user. Cookies also allow you to avoid retyping your e-mail address on the website. The information stored in a cookie is used to allow us to personalize your experience on the website.
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You may decline to accept cookies sent by the website by selecting an option on your browser to reject cookies. However, some portions of the website may require cookies in order to provide you with the full set of features offered. Cookies enable our server to know that you are a registered user. In addition, our registration system may require that you accept the cookies from the website in order to access that portion of the website.
USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We believe in protecting your privacy and will not share personal information with third parties outside of the Catoctin Forest Alliance, except as described in this Privacy Policy. We believe that we can enhance your experience on our Website with the information you share with us. We use personal information about you to improve our advertising and marketing efforts, to statistically analyze website usage, to improve our content and product offerings and to personalize the website's content, layout, and services. We also may use your personal information, such as your e-mail address or mailing address, to contact you regarding products and/or services that may be of interest to you, to respond to an inquiry from you regarding the information that we have collected, to respond to your comments and suggestions and to fill orders and complete commercial transactions that you initiate with this website.
Catoctin Forest Alliance may match specific and/or aggregated personal information with third party data to provide you with product and content offerings that interest you and improve our advertising and marketing efforts. Catoctin Forest Alliance also may disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe our services to potential advertisers, partners, other third parties, our affiliate companies and for other lawful purposes. For example, we provide our advertisers with aggregate information about our users, such as statistics regarding the number of website users that view their advertisements.
As part of your experience on our website, you may receive communications from us related to products and services that might interest you. While we believe these services will enhance your experience at our website, you will at all times be able to opt out from receiving these communications, either by specifically opting out of these services or by deleting your profile from our database.
We have today, and will in the future, have arrangements with third party service providers, such as credit card processors, shipping companies, and fulfillment services, other third-party vendors, or any partner who assists in the operations and/or administration of this website.
When you sign up for a service we offer on the Website, we may be required to share personal information with that service provider in order to provide the service. These third party providers are not permitted to retain or use personal information for any purpose unrelated to providing the service.
We reserve the right to disclose personal information when needed to comply with the law or a legal process, cooperate with investigations of purported unlawful activities, to identify persons violating the law, to investigate or assist in investigations incident to misuse or abuse of this website, or in connection with the sale of part or all of Catoctin Forest Alliance.
PARTY COLLECTING THE INFORMATION
Information entered by website visitors is retrieved directly by the Catoctin Forest Alliance.
This Privacy Policy only addresses the use and dissemination of information that the website collects from you. To the extent that you disclose any information to other parties, whether through, for example, online auctions, chat rooms, personal ads, or the like, through third party services or promotions offered on or through the website or through other websites throughout the internet, different policies may apply and Catoctin Forest Alliance shall not be responsible for the use or dissemination of such information.
LINKS TO OTHER MATERIALS
Third party sites linked to and from the site are not necessarily under the control of Catoctin Forest Alliance. Catoctin Forest Alliance shall have no responsibilities or liabilities whatsoever for the content or privacy practices of any such linked site or any link or linking program at any time. Catoctin Forest Alliance does not necessarily endorse companies (or related products or services) to or from which the website is linked. If you decide to access any of the third party sites linked to the website, you do so entirely at your own risk. Catoctin Forest Alliance hereby disclaims any rights to trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, copyrights, patents, domain names or other intellectual property interests of third parties.
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”) applies only to websites of a commercial nature, and while Catoctin Forest Alliance is a non-profit organization, it considers COPPA to provide sound advice for any website that is intended for use by children. For this reason, Catoctin Forest Alliance does not knowingly collect or solicit any personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age without verifiable parental consent.
In the event that we receive actual knowledge that we have collected such personal information without the requisite and verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information from our database as quickly as is practicable. With respect to any form interface that appears on a web page at our website, no information will be knowingly collected from any user under the age of 13. Where “age” or “date of birth” is requested on the form interface, no information will be stored or transmitted unless the response indicates that the user is 13 years of age or older.
Providing personal information is never a prerequisite for accessing the basic content or resources on this website.
MAINTENANCE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
The personally identifiable information collected at this website may be indefinitely retained and electronically archived. Please keep in mind that information collected at this website may be different than that collected at or through other activities, events, or functions related to Catoctin Forest Alliance and the use and disclosure, if any, of such information may vary and are not covered under this policy.
OPTING-OUT
We respect your privacy and ability to choose whether to share information with us and any third party. You may choose to "opt-out" of sharing personal information in several ways. When choosing to use certain features or services on the website, you can choose whether to share optional personal information in connection with the feature or service. If you receive communications from us that you prefer not to receive, you may opt-out from receiving these communications, either by specifically indicating this preference in a communication to us via the Unsubscribe link or by deleting your registration profile from our database. You may also opt-out altogether from providing personal information to us by not registering on the website and thereby not providing personal information. You may also choose at a later date to have your name removed from our database. To do so, please follow the process described below. Certain portions of the website and certain services provided on the website, however, do require registration in order to access or use these areas and services. If you choose not to register or provide certain information, these areas will not be accessible to you.
REVIEWING, CHANGING AND DELETING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
You may access all of the personal information that we collect from you online and maintain by e-mailing us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.
SECURITY
Catoctin Forest Alliance maintains industry standard encryption technologies to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of the personal information that you provide through the website. Please keep in mind, however, that no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit using our website, and therefore, it is important to remember that you transmit such information at your own risk. Catoctin Forest Alliance does not assume responsibility for use or disclosure of your information that are the result of unauthorized or illegal access to our systems or to those of our vendors or partners.
CONTACTING US
If you have any questions or comments about our Privacy Policy, please e-mail us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
EFFECTIVE DATE AND CHANGES
Understanding that Internet technologies are rapidly evolving, any changes to this policy will be promptly posted on this page, with an updated "effective date" posted below. Catoctin Forest Alliance reserves the right to modify the terms of this policy at any time and in our sole discretion, by posting a change notice to this page. Your continued use of the website following our posting of a change notice will constitute binding acceptance of those changes.
This Privacy Policy was last modified on December 17, 2018.
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Spring 2023 Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park Mr. Jeffrey Lockwood, a writer and PhD in entomology from Laramie, Wyoming, was the Catoctin Forest Alliance Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park May 9-23, 2023. During his stay in Catoctin Mountain Park, he wrote every day, hiked, and researched. He interacted with visitors to the park and did two public presentations at the Thurmont Library.
During the Adult Writing Workshop, Mr. Lockwood guided the participants to write minute memoirs. Each memoir was to have 6-10 words. He quoted a 6-word story by Ernest Hemingway as an example—"For sale, baby shoes, never used”. Each participant was given a topic and 5 minutes to create a memoir. It was a challenging and very enjoyable activity. As each person read their memoir to the group, it was pleasant to see how each was creative and unique. Each Artist in Residence donates something they created while in residence. Mr. Lockwood donated a written work entitled The Giving Place, about the Catoctin Mountain Forest and the Catoctin Furnace. It is a daily reflection of his experience in the park. Each day’s work is limited to 271 words to honor and remember the 271 Black men and women whose blood, sweat, and tears—along with the forest—fueled the furnaces (Mr. Lockwood’s words). In addition, each piece was catalyzed by a word having the prefix "re-" as Mr. Lockwood perceived the Catoctin Mountain Park to be interwoven with concepts such as repurpose, recover, reincarnate, restore and regret. You can read The Giving Place by clicking HERE.
It was always easy to spot Jeffrey in and around the park with his robin’s egg blue rental car.
Capture Art in a National Park Art has been part of the history of national parks since the 1860’s when Hudson River School painters captured the majestic Western landscapes that became our first iconic national parks. Their awe-inspiring works spurred Americans to preserve those lands for future generations. Artist George Catlin, during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest the idea of a national park. Catlin traveled extensively and noted that Indian civilization, wildlife and the wilderness were in danger unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government...in a magnificent park....a Nation’s Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature’s beauty!" Today, there are Artist in Residence (AIR) programs in more than 50 National Park Service units which preserve the connection between arts and the parks. Catoctin Forest Alliance (CFA) manages the local Artist in Residence program jointly with Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park. Selections for the program are made by a panel that includes art experts from local colleges. In addition to accepting a variety of visual media, the program in 2013 began accepting written media as well.
CFA was established in 2009 as a partner organization to Catoctin Mountain Park NPS and Cunningham Falls State Park MPS. One of the CFA founders was artist Elizabeth Prongas, who began the local AIR program here in 2010 to bring a new and diverse voice and constituency to the parks. Since the inception of the AIR program CFA has welcomed 31 artists to the Catoctin Mountains. They have come from California, Washington, DC, Kentucky, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Virginia. The artists include painters, photographers, poets, a writer, a videographer, cast metal artist, a wool felter, a journaling artist and this year, a fabric artist/quilter. The artists stay in an historic cabin in Catoctin Mountain Park for one to three weeks and produce art influenced by the mountain setting. After the residency, each artist donates one piece of the art they created during their stay to the CFA AIR collection.
The AIR art collection has been on exhibit at the Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, the Thurmont Library, the Emmitsburg Library and the Visitor Center in the Manor Area of Cunningham Falls State Park. The collection permanently housed in Catoctin Mountain Park. This year’s Artist in Residence is Susan Lenz, a fabric artist/quilter, will be in residence during September. She will be presenting free workshops at the following times and locations:
Adults and children are welcomed to hear her presentation and have the opportunity for hands on participation. The Artist in Residence program not only strengthens the bond between nature, art and the outdoors but the sale of the art produces funds to bring children to the parks for outdoor learning experiences. To learn more about the artist, visit her website at www.susanlenz.com.
Nancy Arbuthnot was our Artist in Residence (AIR) for 2020 and 2021. While in the park, she began work on a book of watercolor painting and haiku poems about Catoctin Mountain Park. The book is now complete and is available for sale at Remember Me Singing: a Catoctin Mountain Alphabet - Kindle edition by Arbuthnot, Nancy. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Catoctin Forest Alliance Virtual Artist in Residence
Nancy Arbuthnot, our Artist in Residence (AIR) for 2020 was unable to do her residency in the park due to COVID 19 and the park closure. Nancy was undaunted by the limitations of her residency and put together some virtual teaching materials to be used with school children. Because Nancy did not have the opportunity for a real AIR experience, we have invited her to come back in 2021 to complete her residency. Consequently we will not be accepting AIR applications for 2021. We encourage prospective AIR applicants to stay turned and submit applications for 2022. Nancy Arbuthnot is a poet, artist and teacher from Washington, DC, who enjoys creating work inspired by nature and teaching others how to convey their experiences with the natural world through art and poetry. She finds that her work as a citizen-scientist with the DC Department of the Environment is greatly enhanced by drawing and writing poems about the frogs and toads inhabiting the ponds in Rock Creek National Park, right outside her back door!
Nature Haiku Virtual Workshop by Nancy Arbuthnot Nature Haiku Guided Meditation by Nancy Arbuthnot
Catoctin Forest Alliance Poet in Residence Sarah McCartt-Jackson Sarah McCartt-Jackson was our Artist in Residence at Catoctin Mountain Park May 1-21, 2019. Sarah is from Lexington, Kentucky where she is currently a teaching artist for the Kentucky Arts Council. She also offers community workshops for writers of all backgrounds through several organizations including Louisville Literary arts, Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Fall of the Ohio State Park and others. While in residence at the park, Sarah hiked every trail in the park, chatted with many visitors and made regular trips to the Visitor Center to interact with staff and guests. She put up a message board in the Visitor Center and asked people to write down what they liked most about the park. With that information, Sarah wrote a collaborative poem entitled Catoctin Mountain. To hear Sarah read the poem with video accompaniment, click HERE.
Poet in Residency the Poet in Residence from September 9-22, 2018.
Carolyn Kizer said, “Mr. Reyes is one of our local and national treasures. His poetry is as clear and strong as his social conscience. One is always struck by his sensual and sensory qualities: the touch, taste, feel, color of things and his ability to capture a mood, a world in a handful of lines.” Mr. Reyes has written nine books of poetry. He has been a Yaddo Fellow, a fellow twice at the Fundacion Valparaise (Mojacar, Spain) and awarded a fellowship at the Heinrich Boll Cottage (Achill Island, Ireland). He has been a Poet in Residence at Joshua Tree National Park, the Sitka Island Institute, Sitka, Alaska, Acadia National Park and Devil’s Tower National Monument. While he was in residence at Joshua Tree National Park, he wrote a poem that was later displayed in the new visitor center at the park. While in residence at Catoctin Mountain Park, Mr. Reyes wrote 17 poems about the park and its structures. His whole two week stay was soaked with rain and his poems reflect that condition. He did a poetry reading at the park on September 20 and everyone there thoroughly enjoyed his work. He has a great talent for seeing what is around him and painting a verbal picture Below is one of the poems that Mr. Reyes wrote during his residency.
PAST Mist condenses, drips from trees A single drop from copper On a windless day the scent you think steam, you
CFA Welcomes Spring Artist in Residence
Mountain Pathway in Catoctin Mountain Park Photo by Jim Schlett
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During the Children’s Writing Workshop, he guided the children to write 5-line poems called cinquains that require counting syllables. The first line has 2 syllables, the second line 4, third line 6, fourth line 8 and line 5 has 2 syllables. The following is from Mr. Lockwood’s writing. One girl found a rock, named it Boris and wrote: “Boris / you are so old / you sound like a cello / and you taste like fresh, muddy dirt. / Content.” A tranquil stone? Indeed.
An Irish-American poet and translator, Carlos Reyes lives in Portland, Oregon when he is not in County Clare, Ireland or traveling to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Panama, or Spain, giving readings of his own work and connecting with poets in other countries.
Jim Schlett, a photographer from Reston, VA was in residence at Catoctin Mountain Park from May 6-19, 2018 . Jim and his wife, Gail, spent two weeks exploring the park and interacting with visitors and staff. Jim presented two nature photograpy programs, took photos of the park staff and took photos of all of our Artist in Residence artwork in addition to capturing the beauty of the park with his photos.
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Board Members
President -- Jim Robbins
Vice President - vacant
Treasurer - Kathy Byrne
Secretary - Jim Sundergill
Contact us using the contact form below or call 301-271-7270 or 301-693-9703