Inspired by this single tree, Nolde set out to create a "luxury forest" to be a source of family pride and pleasure.

He bought about 500 acres (200 ha) of future timberland in Cumru Township in 1904 and continued to acquire the land that would become Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center until his death in 1916.

This land had been either farmland that had lain fallow for a number of years, or scrubby deciduous forest just beginning to recover from being stripped to make charcoal by colliers for the nearby iron furnaces.

Kohout was a master forester from Austria, who had attended forestry schools in Bohemia and Saxony and received a degree from the University of Vienna.

Nolde Forest offers hands-on opportunities to these students and their teachers with a "discovery and problem solving" approach.