PROJECT: Back to the Charles C. Deam Wilderness: Fifty Years Later
After a week buried under a foot of snow and a meeting with friends at the Limestone Post, it seems I am still taking to heart the most profound quote I’ve elicited from anyone in my 50-year career as a journalist, photographer, and author:“
Every second is an opportunity for extraordinary depth and fulfillment of purpose.” – Andy Mahler
I will be returning to my roots in 2026, hiking through and photographing the Charles C. Deam Wilderness for a series of Limestone features, as well as an Andy-style coffee table book on Jeff Stant and the largest block of unbroken hardwood forest in the Lower Midwest.
Nearly every second that I have for purpose and fulfillment this year will be devoted to help make happen what Jeff Stant and I know is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – more than doubling the Deam’s acreage to 28,253 and surrounding it with another 29,382-acre National Recreation Area (NRA).
