Martell Forest
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Martell Forest is in the Central Till Plain in Tippecanoe County. It contains a total of 424 acres with 370 acres of forest. The property is 8.5 miles from the Purdue University, West Lafayette campus. Martell forest is used for research and teaching by forestry students and students from other disciplines. It is named for Dr. Eldred R. “Shorty” Martell, who was head of Purdue's Department of Forestry and Conservation, now known as the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, from 1940 to 1957.
Martell Forest is the site of the John S. Wright Forestry Center, a research , teaching and conference facility. In addition to the Wright Center, Martell Forest is home to the Van Camp Arboretum, a collection of 100 trees native to Indiana provided to the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources as a gift from the family of former faculty member John L. Van Camp.
The equipment used to manage the FNR properties includes several large tractors; a small, Bobcat tractor (with bucket, auger, forks and backhoe attachments); tillers; discs; a planting machine; mowers; spray rigs; whole-tree chipper; self-propelled high lift (extendable to 75 ft); gooseneck trailer; several large pick-up trucks; and a fire pumper.
John Lloyd Van Camp Arboretum
Aerial photo
Property photos (link)
Maps
Management plan (link)
Research projects
Major research at the site consists of walnut culture and genetics, oak regeneration, herbicide efficacy, biomass plantation establishment and management, forest inventory, water quality, fish habitat and diversity, nitrogen fixation, and soil compaction. There is also ongoing research investigating the occurrence and abundance of acorn weevils in fragmented landscapes and effects of landscape pattern on animal-mediated acorn dispersal and seedling recruitment.
Property manager
Burk Thompson
Phone: 765-583-3507
Cell: 765-427-7679
Email: thompsbb@purdue.edu
