West Virginia Highlands Voice

By EMILY GALLAGHER, Times-West Virginian

FAIRMONT, W.Va. — West Virginia is known as the Mountain State, but what do people know about the trees covering those mountains?

There are seven state forests and one national forest in West Virginia. The state forests are Seneca State Forest, Kumbrabow State Forest, Greenbrier State Forest, Coopers Rock State Forest, Camp Creek State Forest, Calvin Price State Forest and Cabwaylingo State Forest. The Monongahela National Forest is the only national forest in the state. Randy Dye, director and state forester with the West Virginia Division of Forestry, said West Virginia is the third most forested state in the nation.

“Seventy-eight percent of our total acreage is covered in forest, which means 12 million acres are forested,” he said.

Dye said of the 12 million acres, 87 percent are privately owned or owned by companies.

Dye said there are about 5,998 million trees covering the state.

“That means there’s 33,000 trees for every individual in the state,” he said.

Dye said each forest in the state helps provide for residents in the state, whether it be with jobs, resources, recreation or a nice view.

“Forests provide the highest quality of water,” he said. “And they’re the scenic beauty of the state.”

There are several types of trees in the state’s forests, including yellow poplar, red maple, black cherry and spruce.

“Black cherry is the most valuable because they’re the most desired for furniture,” he said. “They only grow in the Appalachian region.”

He said each forest also has unique qualities.

Seneca State Forest is the oldest of West Virginia’s state forests. It is located in central Pocahontas County and provides 14 miles of hiking.

After the Civil War, the forest provided timber to a wood products industry. Areas within and surrounding the forest were removed of white pine trees during this time, which changed the character of the land. This led to large fires taking over the land.

In 1924, most of the forest was purchased by the state of West Virginia with the top priority being protection from fire. Since then, white pine trees have made a steady comeback to Seneca, and with management practices the volume in white pine and oak is said to have increased.

Kumbrabow State Forest played a vital part in timber harvesting in the 1880s. The forest provided red spruce to companies like the Alexander Boom and Lumber Co. and the J. Natwick Co. Most of the forest now is covered with black cherry trees.

The forest is unique because after it was purchased by the state, it was named after three men who were responsible for the purchase: Gov. Herman G. Kump, Spates Brady and Hubert Bowers. The first three letters of their last names were put together to name the forest Kumbrabow.

Greenbrier State Forest is located in southeastern Greenbrier County and consists of many steep, rocky, parallel ridges and valleys. One of the more known mountains in the forest is Kate’s Mountain. It was named after Kate Carpenter, who survived an Indian raid by hiding with her infant in a hollow log.

Mature timber in the forest show scars and decay from years of repeated burning from early settlers and farmers who burned the forest for agricultural benefits. When the settlers stopped burning, fires were caused by trains trying to slow down coming off the steep grades.

Coopers Rock State Forest, located near Bruceton Mills, is the largest state forest in West Virginia at about 12,747 acres.

Around 1798, low-grade iron ore was discovered in the area. Many iron furnaces were constructed in the area, like the Henry Clay Iron Furnace in 1834.

Out of the total acreage, 7,068 acres were leased to the Board of Governors of West Virginia University in 1959 for 99 years. The forest is used by the university for research and teaching and is known as West Virginia University Research Forest.

Camp Creek State Forest, located in Mercer County, is 5,269 acres, with 487 acres of the original forest made a state park in 1988.

The forest played a part in development of northern Mercer County. Camp Creek was the name because troops in the Civil War considered the area good for camping.

The forest is known for its fishing and hunting. Camp Creek is stocked with trout every spring and has small game, deer and turkey for hunting.

Calvin Price State Forest is the most recent forest to be added to the West Virginia State Forest system. The forest is located in Pocahontas County and was purchased by the state from the New River Lumber Co. in 1953.

Calvin Price is unlike most of the forests in the state because it has no developed recreational areas. That’s because the forest is located close to Watoga State Park, which is one of the state’s largest recreational parks.

Cabwaylingo State Forest is named after the counties it covers — Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln and Mingo. The 6,196-acre forest was purchased by the state in 1933, and additional purchases have expanded the size to 8,150 acres.

The forest, like others, has experienced destructive forest fires. They were caused by arson, debris burning and moonshining.

Monongahela National Forest is the only national forest in the state. It was established after the 1911 Weeks Act passed. The act authorized the federal purchase of the land.

The forest covers more than 919,000 acres in 10 West Virginia counties.

What’s unique about the forest is the different elevations it contains because it’s so large. The lowest part of the forest is about 1,000 feet above sea level and the highest is 4,863 feet above sea level.

There are at least 75 tree species throughout the forest and more than 225 species of birds with eight federally listed as threatened or endangered species of birds, bats, salamanders and plants.

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/news/episodes/bu-01-2013/story2/index.html

by Kristin Haider

In a 1925 article in the Scientific Monthly titled “The Vanishing Spruce,” referred to the high elevation red spruce (Picea rubens) as a “lost tribe.” The lost tribe of red spruce the authors were referring to found refuge in the high elevations in the central Appalachian region during a warming period that took place after the Wisconsin glaciation—part of the last Ice Age, which ended approximately 10,000 years ago. Historically, red spruce was common in both the peaks and valleys of the Appalachians, but as temperatures climbed, the species was forced to retreat north towards New England and southeastern Canada, and to islands of suitable habitat in the high elevation areas of the central Appalachians.

This “lost tribe” metaphor paints a picture of a species that is stranded—disjunct in time and space from the rest of its kind. However, despite its limited range, the species thrived on ridges and peaks, which are cooler and wetter than the valleys around them. These spruce forests have provided important habitat for many rare plants and migratory bird species, and have acted as a stronghold for the federally endangered West Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) and the federally threatened Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi). Unfortunately, in the late 1800s these high elevation red spruce forests were threatened by a growing nation’s demand for resources.

Prior to the 19th Century, there were over 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares) of high elevation red spruce forests in West Virginia. Sadly, most of the timber on these acres was harvested for paper products. Appalachian red spruce was also prized for the use in creating fine instruments such as fiddles, guitars, and pianos, and for shipbuilding.

Read more…

White Grass Ski Touring Center and Cafe  in Canaan Valley and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy invite you to join them for the 10th annual Evergreen Wreathmaking Workshop.  Its an afternoon of fun in a beautiful place with friendly people and it’s now officially a tradition!  Learn how to make your own evergreen wreath. Bring a hand-prunner and any decorations such as pine cones, berries, ornaments or bows, that you would like to adorn your wreath with. We will have all the materials you’ll need including a variety of fresh-cut firs. We’ll get started around 1 pm and be around all afternoon. Please RSVP daves@labyrinth.net

White Grass is a long-time partner with the Highlands Conservancy’s and Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge’s spruce restoration efforts.  They have helped organize volunteers, build fence, collect cones, plant trees and feed the volunteers. 2012 marks the 10th year of this holiday season tradition.

Some photos from past wreath making workshops

By Dave Saville

The Upper Greenbrier North project, a large project area at over 80,000 acres, has been designed to be implemented over a longtime period, ten years. While the project area is large (landscape (watershed) scale), activities planned in the project will touch only 10%of this area. Analyzing the entire watershed allows the agency to do a better job on cumulative and watershed effects. It does not meanthat the entire area will have projects occurring. The project has been broken up into three parts to make it easier to understand and planfor. 1- Watershed and Recreation, 2-Timber, 3-Spruce restoration.

The first decision (watershed and recreation) was signed August 15th. The timber and spruce restoration portions are to follow. The Highlands Conservancy has been partnering with the Forest Service on the spruce restoration planning and the decision for that part of the project has not been made yet. We do not think what the Forest Service is planning is unwise. In fact, most of what the project is proposing is fully supported by the WVHC including recreational improvements, road decommissioning, spruce restoration, wildlife habitat improvements and more.

The timber decision is planned to be made later this year, but the project does not plan to log in any northern West Virginia flying squirrel sites. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for protecting the squirrel, was consulted on the project and has concurred with the plan. While some WVHC members may object to the relatively small amount of logging that will take place in this project over the next ten years, the agency is doing its job by implementing the Forest Plan, which the Highlands Conservancy was intimately engaged in developing, and did not appeal or challenge, when it was developed. The Forest Service manages the National Forest for “multiple-uses” which includes timber, as mandated by Congress. Compared to historical standards, the timbering component of this project is minimal.

The Forest Service personnel developing this project are dedicated professionals and include wildlife biologists, recreational planners, soil scientists, ecologists, fisheries biologists and others. This planning team has been working for over 6 years to study the area, gather input from the public, and develop this proposal. They are very interested and receptive to the public’s concerns and would welcome anyone to help monitor or be involved with the project. I suggest that anyone interested in learning more contact Jack Tribble, the Greenbrier District Ranger, who is the Forest Service official responsible for developing and implemneting this project. I am sure that he would be happy to discuss the project or even take you for a site visit to look over the actual areas. He can be contacted at 304-456-3335 ext. 116 or at mailto:mjtribble@fs.fed.usail. The agency encourages the public to get involved and we need you to care!!

PHILADELPHIA (Sept. 5, 2012) – In a settlement announced today by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, JPMorgan Chase Bank has reimbursed the federal government $1.28 million for costs incurred by EPA in cleaning up the Browning Lumber Company Superfund Site in rural Bald Knob, Boone County, W.Va. Under the Superfund law, past and current owners and operators of a Superfund site are responsible for the cleanup costs.

Cleanup of the Browning Lumber Co. site was completed earlier this year and included extensive cleanup by EPA prior to cleanup work performed by JPMorgan Chase — the corporate successor to a former site owner. The site will be eligible for appropriate re-use as part of West Virginia’s voluntary cleanup program, which encourages voluntary clean-ups of contaminated sites as well as redevelopments of abandoned and under-utilized properties.

Starting in 1976, Charleston National Bank, owner of the site as trustee of the Shepard Trust, leased the property to the Browning Lumber Co., which harvested timber and used part of the property for wood-treatment. Charleston National is now merged with JPMorgan Chase.

The site became contaminated after decades-long wood-treating activities using chromated copper arsenate (CCA). CCA contains the hazardous substances chromium, copper and arsenic. Although the facility ceased operations by 1998, hazardous substances, primarily arsenic in soil, continued to pose a threat to human health and the environment.

Following a fire, EPA first investigated the site in late 2005 and later conducted a cleanup in 2006 and 2007 that included decontamination of the old wood-treatment facility, stabilization of a large area of contaminated soil, and proper disposal of 100 cubic yard of soil contaminated with arsenic and chromium and 43 drums of liquid and solid hazardous wastes.

For more information on this Browning Lumber Co site, visit http://www.epaosc.org/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=1961

Dave Saville

For over 10 years we have been working on a corridor along the Blackwater River in Canaan Valley.  Much of it is on the National Wildlife Refuge but important parts are on private properties that adjoin the Refuge.  This year, we partnered with the Timberline Association, the homeowners group that holds common lands they call their “Conservancy.”  Some of these lands are along the Blackwater River in the area of our planned corridor. Connecting the many patches of remnant spruce is the goal of this corridor and, on a landscape scale, we partner with a diverse array of public, private and corporate land owners.  The Blackwater River corridor through the southern Valley is nearly complete.  A final link was completed with this volunteer planting event we held April 21 & 22 celebrating Earth Day!

We had a great turn out, and also, to our surprize, weather!  A beautiful, somewhat cloudy day on Saturday, 80+ folks planted about 4,000 trees.  The site was along the Blackwater River on the “Beall Tract,” and an equal area across the River on the “Timberline Conservancy.”  We split the large group in two.  The Davis & Elkins College students went to the Timberline side to work with the folks from Timberline.  The WVU students,led by Jim Kotcon, from the Society of Environmental Professionals and the Student Sierra Coalition, went to the Refuge side of the River along with the rest of the group.  Because there was a much larger group on the Refuge side, we finished up planting all 2500 trees by lunch (Sirianni’s Pizza and Whitegrass brownies) at 1 pm.  After lunch a group of us walked to the old Timberline bridge to cross the River and helped the Timberline group.  By this time it was raining, we finished up planting about 1800 trees on that side of the river leaving about 700 to plant on Sunday.  Along our walk, we passed 3 stages of plantings from previous years.  In one place the trees were all 4-5 feet tall, real bushy, and had a huge presence.  Another place they were 3-4 feet tall from a different year’s planting.  It was amazing to see the results.  We have constructed a serious red spruce corridor along the Blackwater River for many miles.

Sunday was a little cooler.  Russ McClain brought another group of 16 Davis & Elkins College students and a dozen or so of the WVU students came back so we had about 40 people.  The volunteers on Sunday included the WV DNR”s Ecologist Elizabeth Byers, Sam Lamie, Forest Service GIS guy, and the new Forest pathologist, Danielle.  We got the remaining 700 trees planted and had lunch at the Refuge Headquarters.

Thanks to Highlands Conservancy President, Cindy Ellis, for coming along Saturday, and to Marilyn Shoenfeld for organizing the Timberline portion of the project.  Great cooperation, organizing and logistical work from the Wildlife Refuge Staff including the newly hired Wildlife Biologist (and acting Manager), Dawn Washington, who headed up things for the Refure both days, and long-time biologist Marquette Crocokett who handled and arranged logistics with the help of several AmeriCorps volunteers.  Evan Burks, US Forest Service, helped with a lot of the planning, organizing and overall coordination as well as helping to get a lot of trees in the ground.  Chip Chase, White Grass Ski Touring Center, helped plant trees, delivered Pizzas and generally entertained everyone, not to mention taking dozens of great pics.  Cindy Phillips, new Visitor Service Ranger at the Refuge helped and took pics too.  Ashton Berdine (TNC) brought his family to help plant trees on Saturday. Thanks to everyone!!  An over-all amazing weekend.

View Photo Gallery

April 11, 2012

Why Trees Matter

By JIM ROBBINS

Helena, Mont.

TREES are on the front lines of our changing climate. And when the oldest trees in the world suddenly start dying, it’s time to pay attention.

North America’s ancient alpine bristlecone forests are falling victim to a voracious beetle and an Asian fungus. In Texas, a prolonged drought killed more than five million urban shade trees last year and an additional half-billion trees in parks and forests. In the Amazon, two severe droughts have killed billions more.

The common factor has been hotter, drier weather.

We have underestimated the importance of trees. They are not merely pleasant sources of shade but a potentially major answer to some of our most pressing environmental problems. We take them for granted, but they are a near miracle. In a bit of natural alchemy called photosynthesis, for example, trees turn one of the seemingly most insubstantial things of all — sunlight — into food for insects, wildlife and people, and use it to create shade, beauty and wood for fuel, furniture and homes.

For all of that, the unbroken forest that once covered much of the continent is now shot through with holes.

Humans have cut down the biggest and best trees and left the runts behind. What does that mean for the genetic fitness of our forests? No one knows for sure, for trees and forests are poorly understood on almost all levels. “It’s embarrassing how little we know,” one eminent redwood researcher told me.

What we do know, however, suggests that what trees do is essential though often not obvious. Decades ago, Katsuhiko Matsunaga, a marine chemist at Hokkaido University in Japan, discovered that when tree leaves decompose, they leach acids into the ocean that help fertilize plankton. When plankton thrive, so does the rest of the food chain. In a campaign called Forests Are Lovers of the Sea, fishermen have replanted forests along coasts and rivers to bring back fish and oyster stocks. And they have returned.

Trees are nature’s water filters, capable of cleaning up the most toxic wastes, including explosives, solvents and organic wastes, largely through a dense community of microbes around the tree’s roots that clean water in exchange for nutrients, a process known as phytoremediation. Tree leaves also filter air pollution. A 2008 study by researchers at Columbia University found that more trees in urban neighborhoods correlate with a lower incidence of asthma.

In Japan, researchers have long studied what they call “forest bathing.” A walk in the woods, they say, reduces the level of stress chemicals in the body and increases natural killer cells in the immune system, which fight tumors and viruses. Studies in inner cities show that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in a landscaped environment.

Trees also release vast clouds of beneficial chemicals. On a large scale, some of these aerosols appear to help regulate the climate; others are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral. We need to learn much more about the role these chemicals play in nature. One of these substances, taxane, from the Pacific yew tree, has become a powerful treatment for breast and other cancers. Aspirin’s active ingredient comes from willows.

Trees are greatly underutilized as an eco-technology. “Working trees” could absorb some of the excess phosphorus and nitrogen that run off farm fields and help heal the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In Africa, millions of acres of parched land have been reclaimed through strategic tree growth.

Trees are also the planet’s heat shield. They keep the concrete and asphalt of cities and suburbs 10 or more degrees cooler and protect our skin from the sun’s harsh UV rays. The Texas Department of Forestry has estimated that the die-off of shade trees will cost Texans hundreds of millions of dollars more for air-conditioning. Trees, of course, sequester carbon, a greenhouse gas that makes the planet warmer. A study by the Carnegie Institution for Science also found that water vapor from forests lowers ambient temperatures.

A big question is, which trees should we be planting? Ten years ago, I met a shade tree farmer named David Milarch, a co-founder of the Champion Tree Project who has been cloning some of the world’s oldest and largest trees to protect their genetics, from California redwoods to the oaks of Ireland. “These are the supertrees, and they have stood the test of time,” he says.

Science doesn’t know if these genes will be important on a warmer planet, but an old proverb seems apt. “When is the best time to plant a tree?” The answer: “Twenty years ago. The second-best time? Today.”

Jim Robbins is the author of the forthcoming book “The Man Who Planted Trees.”

The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) is a partnership of diverse interests who share the common goal of restoring the red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem across the high elevation landscapes of Central Appalachia. This ecosystem, which supports many species that are rare in the region, was decimated by exploitative logging a century ago and is now making a slow recovery. Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative is comprised of private, state, federal, and non-governmental organizations that recognize restoration of this ecosystem as imperative for maintaining the ecological integrity of the Central Appalachians.

Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative includes the following partners: West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture (AMJV), Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI), Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge (CVNWR), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), The Mountain Institute (TMI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Trout Unlimited (TU), U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station (NRS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Forest Service Monongahela National Forest (USFSMOF), West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR), West Virginia Division of Forestry (WVDOF), West Virginia State Parks, and West Virginia University.

The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative partnership began as a small working group that was formed to conserve the endangered West Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus), which depends on the red sprucenorthern hardwood ecosystem. As the partnership grew, it broadened into a multi-faceted ecosystem restoration effort that seeks to address such issues as plant diversity, wildlife diversity, climate change, spruce regeneration, recreation, aesthetics, pollinator recovery, public education and interpretation, soils, private land timber restoration, and connectivity between public and privately owned habitats. The thread that connects all members of Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative is the determination to restore the red spruce ecosystem and the diversity of plants and wildlife it supports. Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative partners developed this mission statement to sum up the purpose of the group:

Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative envisions a functioning red spruce-northern hardwood forest ecosystem restored across portions of its former range on both public and private lands, with the scale, connectivity, maturity and other features that provide habitat to sustain and enhance the viability of the many species and natural communities dependent on this ecosystem.

In 2010, the CASRI partners developed a strategic action plan to guide restoration efforts over the next decade (CASRI Action Plan). This action plan lays out a series of goals, objectives, and key actions that are designed to work toward the CASRI vision. To complement the action plan, CASRI partners developed a technical document that outlines restoration objectives and methods in various sprucenorthern hardwood habitats (Restoration Approach).

2011 proved to be another successful year for the growing restoration initiative. CASRI partners helped raise an additional $16,547.00 for on-the-ground projects in 2011, adding to the $145,794.00 raised since 2006. CASRI partners planted 56,100 seedlings, received $36,230.00 in in-kind services, and recruited over 2,175 volunteer hours. Acres planted totaled 165 acres for 2011, adding to the over 550 acres planted since 2006. Over 160 acres of red spruce were released from the understory by commercial and non-commercial cuttings. Over 1,400 acres of potential spruce habitat were protected through land protection projects and conservation easements.

The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative has now done a report summarizing the restoration activities in which CASRI partners have engaged since the inception of the partnership six years ago. The activities are cross-referenced to the applicable goals, objectives, and key actions from the action plan. Only one year into the decade covered by the action plan, CASRI has made substantial progress toward achievement of several goals and objectives. However, much more work remains to make the CASRI vision a reality. View the entire report at www.restoreredspruce.org.

Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative partners would like to thank all of the hardworking volunteers that support our projects. This restoration effort would not exist without the countless hours volunteers dedicate! CASRI would also like to thank all of the generous organizations that have contributed funding to support onthe- ground efforts.

By Dave Saville

The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) is a partnership of diverse interests with a common goal of restoring historic red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystems across the high elevation landscapes of Central Appalachia. It is comprised of private, state, federal, and non-governmental organizations which recognize the importance of this ecosystem for its ecological, aesthetic, recreational, economic, and cultural values.

CASRI partners have had an active year full of successes. The past year’s highlights include:

Partnership Liason
After volunteering for CASRI for 2 years, one as a VISTA, and one as an AmeriCorps Volunteer, Evan Burks has landed a full time position with the Forest Service at the Monongahela National Forest as “Partnership Liason.” Evan brought considerable experience working with the CASRI partners, and is now getting paid to coordinate its efforts. Congratulations to Evan and thanks to the Forest Service!

Evan Burks paddling on the Blackwater River

Website: WWW.RESTOREREDSPRUCE.ORG

Our website has become the central location for disseminating information about the history, ecology and research being done about the red spruce ecosystem. There are news stories and information about projects and volunteer opportunities. This is a great resource to anyone interested in learning more about, or getting involved with, the CASRI efforts. We continue to actively add news, events and other content so please visit often. www.restoreredspruce.org

Barton’s Bench Ecological Restoration Project.
The Barton Bench area is a 90 acre parcel of land mined for coal in the 1970s prior to becoming part of the National Forest system. It is a portion of the 40,856 acres acquired by the US Forest Service in the late 1980s that has become known as the “Mower Tract.” The federal standards followed by the coal companies for the cleanup operation left the area in a less than desirable condition. The soils in the project area were degraded and heavily compacted. In addition, the area was planted with predominately non-native grass species, resulting in a dense grass mat as the only vegetation, inhibiting native species recolonization. This is a permanent condition referred to as “arrested succession” and was unlikely to correct itself without intervention.

Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Area

There are approximately 2,500 acres of previously mined land on the Mower Tract and 1,800 acres are in a similar vegetative state as the Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Project Area. This high elevation area was a red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem prior to mining activities. A remarkable 240 rare species have been documented in the surrounding red spruce ecosystem. The entire project area falls into Management Prescription 4.1 under the 2006 Forest Plan. This Management Prescription calls for restoration and management of red spruce and spruce-hardwood communities in the Central Appalachians.

Project goals include:

a. Short term – provide early successional habitat for wildlife species dependent on this type of habitat; b. Long-term – restore watershed conditions and native red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem within the project area; and
c. Use the results of this project to move forward with largescale native species restoration across the previously mined areas of the Mower Tract.

Visit www.restoreredspruce.org for a complete report from the Forest Service detailing all the work that was completed in fiscal year 2011. In a nutshell, over 20,000 seedlings were planted, 135 wetlands were constructed, treated 15 acres of spotted knapweed, entered into an agreement with Canaan Valley Institute to decommission approximately 8,000 feet of old roads, restored approximately 600 feet of unstable stream, and restored or created an additional 3 wetlands within floodplain of the stream. WV Department of Environmental Protection funding was used to leverage over a $100,000 of matching contributions. Good stuff and many thanks and congratulations to the Forest Service for their collaborative, cooperative work, accomplishing great things.

Results from this project will be used to guide the planning for the next project on Lambert’s Run, just south of the Barton’s Bench project area. This is a 2,667 acre project area with over 1,000 acres of coal surface mined area.

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The Nation’s 500th National Wildlife Refuge has been a leader in CASRI’s efforts to restore the wildlife habitat associated with the red spruce ecosystem. For over 10 years now the Refuge has been planting red spruce and balsam fir seedlings on the refuge and engaging in other restoration activities. Tens of thousands of trees have been planted and thousands of man hours have been volunteered. Using students from local colleges and universities, Boy and Girl Scout troops, local school groups, with the support of local residents and businesses, our efforts are paying off big-time!

Dave Saville & Kyle Hayes plant red spruce in Canaan Valley.

With the successful completion of the Refuge’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP), the Refuge staff can get busy actually implementing it. For the first time, restoring red spruce ecosystem is officially part of the Refuges management goals.

The Refuge continues to work with surrounding land-owners and have active, ongoing, projects with the neighboring Monongahela National Forest on both Cabin and Canaan Mountains, both Canaan Valley and Blackwater Falls State Parks, Canaan Valley Institute, and other local landowners. A new cooperative agreement with the Timberline Homeowners Association will allow us to complete a critical link along our Blackwater River corridor on both sides of the river in 2012.

The US Department of Interior has recognized the work of CASRI on the Refuge by highlighting it in a recent report to Congress. President Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” initiative establishes a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda to reconnect Americans to the outdoors. In the report, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recognizes the Refuge as one of the best investments in the nation to support a healthy, active population, conserve wildlife and working lands, and create travel, tourism and outdoor-recreation jobs. It was identified for its potential to conserve important lands and build recreation opportunities and economic growth for the surrounding communities. This recognition was accomplished as part of close engagement with Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and the state of West Virginia, as well as private landowners, local elected officials, community organizations and outdoor-recreation and conservation stakeholders.

The report states, “Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge West Virginia is the heart of the Central Appalachians, home to one of the healthiest, most biologically diverse temperate forests on Earth and some of the largest intact forest blocks in the eastern United States. These forests shelter cool headwater streams that deliver clean water to larger rivers, like the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and ultimately millions of people. They also are at the doorstep of the urban East Coast – within one day’s drive of Washington, Baltimore, and New York City. Collaborative conservation efforts to connect federal, state, and private land are essential to protecting critical wildlife-migration corridors and ultimately to sustaining a network of healthy land and waters that will provide the full range of benefits to people. ”

Blister Swamp

At the very headwaters of the East Fork of the Greenbrier River, Blister Swamp is a very remote, high elevation wetland. Privately owned, it is adjacent to Forest Service lands. Cooperating with the land-owner, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy and The Mountain Institute have made extensive accomplishments in protecting and restoring this special place. Fence has been constructed to keep livestock out of sensitive areas, seed has been collected from the namesake “Blister Pines” (balsam fir) and a program of seedling production and planting has been implemented.

Seed Collection/Seedling Production

Red spruce and balsam fir, as well as most species, do not regularly produce a seed crop. Balsam firs have regularly produced cones on a 5-year cycle, other species are periodic. 2011 has been the best year we have seen for red spruce and balsam fir cones as well as with several small trees and shrubs associated with the highelevation red spruce ecosystem. This year, with the help of hundreds of hours of volunteer labor, we were able to collect seeds from nearly 30 different species. Besides the usual fir and spruce seed, we were able to get significant quantities of Service Berry, several viburnums, mountain ash and many more. Restoration projects, especially on formerly surface mined lands, can use as many pieces to the ecosystem as we can provide.

Seedlings of both balsam fir and red spruce are available for sale. Visit www.restoreredspruce.org to learn more

Red SpruceCones

Tucker County High School Greenhouse

The Tucker County High School, with funds from the National Forest Foundation, has constructed a 30 foot x 72 foot greenhouse and classroom. They plan to grow species associated with the red spruce ecosystem for restoration purposes.

The Barton Bench area refers to a 90 acre parcel of land mined for coal in the 1970s prior to becoming part of the National Forest system (Figure1). This tract is a portion of the 40,856 acres acquired by the US Forest Service in the late 1980s that has become known as the Mower Tract. The federal standards followed by the coal companies for the cleanup operation left the area in a less than desirable condition. The soils in the project area were degraded and heavily compacted. In addition, the area was planted with predominately non-native grass species, resulting in a dense grass mat as the only vegetation inhibiting native species recolonization. This is a permanent condition referred to as „arrested succession? and was unlikely to correct itself without intervention. There are approximately 2,500 acres of previously mined land on the Mower Tract and 1,800 acres are in a similar vegetative state as the Barton Bench Ecological Restoration Project Area. This high elevation area was a red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystem prior to mining activities. The red spruce ecosystem of the Central Appalachians is characterized by exceptionally high biodiversity and is a regional priority for conservation and restoration. A remarkable 240 rare species have been documented in the surrounding red spruce ecosystem in West Virginia including one federally-listed endangered species (Cheat Mountain salamander), a recently delisted endangered species (West Virginia northern flying squirrel), and rare birds such as the northern goshawk, golden eagle, and saw-whet owl. In addition, at least five highly valued game species (white-tailed deer, black bear, ruffed grouse, snowshoe hare, and woodcock) inhabit these limited spruce forests.

Read full report…

By Don Gasper

For many years I have believed that the policy of the United States Forest Service on clearcutting in the Monongahela National  Forest was unwise. I have engaged in an ongoing dialogue on the topic, contending that the practice was hydrologically damaging to stream channel recovery.

That dialogue included a letter dated November 14,2011, which I received from the Forest Service. In the letter, it repeated its support for clearcutting.

That letter included these paragraphs, offered in response to my questions or assertions (reproduced in bold).

What is your position on clearcutting?

Our position on clearcutting has not changed. Unless we are clearing an area to construct a road or well pad or building, we do not typically do clearcutting, which Is the removal of every tree In the activity area. We almost always leave residual trees on site in our timber harvests. We do use regeneration harvests, which are designed to remove most of the trees from a site In order to stimulate regeneration. Regeneration harvesting has been a successful tool in creating age class and habitat diversity.

There must be no clearcutting as it reverses channel recovery.

Research has shown that extensive clearcutting can have Impacts to stream channels, including changes to water yield and timing, and Increases in sedimentation. However, we are careful to schedule the timing and amount of regeneration harvests on the Forest so that these types of Impacts do not occur. In fact, Forest Plan Standard TR06 states: “No more than 20 percent of NFS lands within each prescription area unit shall receive regeneration harvest over a 10-year period.” We also have direction that limits timber harvest In streamside buffer zones, and we have many management requirements and mitigation measures that we apply to timber harvest that reduce the potential for Impacts to stream channels. Therefore, we are not seeing any harvest-related reversal of channel recovery on our Forest.

The term “regeneration cuts” is little more than a euphemism for clear cuts and we see them as such. In regeneration cuts the few trees left are cut a few years later.

The Forest Service is clinging to an indefensible position: if “no more than 20% will be clearcut over a 10 year period, then there will be no impact to stream channels. They mean 20% of the watershed above, and the canopy removed at the time of the clearcut will begin to function again within 10 years. They fail to realize this same 20% is 100% of the clearcut area. If clear cuts over 23% of the watershed will result a measurable increase in flow, surely 100% will.

Clearcuts remove the forest canopy and its interception and

evaporation of precipitation (rain and snow) and also the transpiration of soil water up and out of the leaves. If 58” of precipitation falls, as it does at the Parsons, West Virginia, U.S.F.S. research station, under forested conditions 27” is evapotranspired, and 24” runs off. If the area is clearcut then none is evapotranspired and all must run off. Runoff must now be 27+24 for a total of 51” until the canopy begins to function again. In the interim the stream channel immediately below, and within the clearcut, is likely to carry 51 inches. This is over twice as much flow as it has carried for the last 100 years! The channel erodes from within causing sediment that impacts the channel downstream-far off-site. Thus clearcuts destabilize stream channels, reversing recovery. These hydrological processes of destabilization are suggested to be the driving forces resulting from clearcuts.

The U.S.F.S. has not been able to deny these. It is suggested that on these special watersheds caution be used-and clearcuts banned.

This is about the “landscape conservation” the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) is doing.  Very exciting oportunity and incredible recognition for our Spruce Restoration work.

AMERICA’S GREAT OUTDOORS: Salazar Highlights Two Proposed Projects in West Virginia to Promote Outdoor Recreation, Conservation

Projects Will Be Part of 50-State Report

WASHINGTON — Just days before the release of a 50-state report outlining some of the country’s most promising ways to reconnect Americans to the natural world, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today highlighted two projects in the state of West Virginia that will be included in the final report — representing what states believe are among the best investments in the nation to support a healthy, active population, conserve wildlife and working lands, and create travel, tourism and outdoor-recreation jobs across the country.

Landscape conservation in the Canaan Valley and a partnership with the Boy Scouts to improve trails and other recreational facilities in the New River Gorge are among 100 projects nationwide that will be highlighted in next week’s report — two in every state — as part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative to establish a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and reconnect Americans to the outdoors.

The report is a result of 50 meetings with governors and stakeholders held by Salazar and other senior Interior officials to solicit ideas on how to best implement AGO in their states. These projects were identified for their potential to conserve important lands and build recreation opportunities and economic growth for the surrounding communities as part of close engagement with Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and the state of West Virginia, as well as private landowners, local- and tribal-elected officials, community organizations and outdoor-recreation and conservation stakeholders. The full 50-state report will be released in the coming weeks.

“Under the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, we are listening to the people of West Virginia and communities across America and working with them on locally-based projects that will conserve the beauty and health of our land and water and open up more opportunities for people to enjoy them,” Salazar said. “My staff and I have been asking each governor for the most promising projects to support in their states, and we will do all we can to help move them forward.”

The two projects in West Virginia highlighted by Salazar in the forthcoming report are:

Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge

West Virginia is the heart of the Central Appalachians, home to one of the healthiest, most biologically diverse temperate broadleaf forests on Earth and some of the largest intact forest blocks in the eastern United States. These forests shelter cool headwater streams that deliver clean water to larger rivers, like the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and ultimately millions of people. They also are at the doorstep of the urban East Coast — within one day’s drive of Washington, Baltimore, and New York City.

Collaborative conservation efforts to connect federal, state, and private land are essential to protecting critical wildlife-migration corridors and ultimately to sustaining a network of healthy land and waters that will provide the full range of benefits to people.

In West Virginia, the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge is one of several federal and state conservation areas. Others include the Monogahela National Forest, Gauley River National Recreation Area, New River Gorge National River, and Bluestone National Scenic River. The Appalachian Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture, and others are working cooperatively in an effort to develop a management strategy to enhance the natural and recreational values of these related sites.

New River Gorge National River

The New River Gorge National River offers an unparalleled opportunity to acquaint young Americans with some of the best natural environments in the eastern United States.

The Boy Scouts of America have purchased 10,000 acres adjacent to the New River Gorge National River for the permanent home of their national jamboree, as well as a High Adventure base camp. The Boy Scouts plan a sustained volunteer program to support the National Park Service and estimates that boys and girls attending the jamboree and camp could provide more than 800,000 hours of service annually.

The volunteer efforts would lead to further improvements in water quality and access to water-based outdoor recreation, including fishing and boating, to benefit not only park visitors but also support the outdoor programming of the Boy Scouts.

This proposed BSA-NPS partnership aligns well with the park’s new management plan and with AGO objectives for youth engagement and outdoor education.

The report will also include potential actions by Interior and its bureaus to support the projects identified. In West Virginia, for example, the Department could technical and financial assistance to acquire inholdings and buffers in the Canaan Valley and to create greater connectivity among protected lands.

Furthermore, the Department could work with partners and local, state, and federal agencies to conserve and manage public lands in this region more thoughtfully to enhance their natural and recreation values.

The Department of the Interior will work with each of its key bureaus — including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — to direct available resources and personnel to make these projects a reality.

“The America’s Great Outdoors Initiative turns the conventional wisdom about the federal government’s role in conservation on its head,” Salazar said. “Rather than dictate policies or conservation strategies from Washington, it supports grassroots, locally driven initiatives.”

For more information on the President’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, click here.

To view a map of the projects already announced, click here.

By Don Gasper

The current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest came out in September, 2006. Even at the time it came out I was dissatisfied about some of the provisions in the Plan. I have even spoken privately with some about challenging the plan and found them encouraging.

One of the problems with the plan is that brook trout streams receive no more protection than any other stream. They are not even adequately identified. A second problem is that there is hardly any emphasis on flooding. There may also be other problems (response to Acid Rain, a major Trout Unlimited concern).

Brook trout reach sediment fines were found to be at levels where reproduction would become reduced. As the canopy closes over small brook trout streams they become cooler. Brook trout can then occupy larger and lower summer water as the warmer water minnow competition/predation is reduced. When this happens brook trout are less susceptible to drought and predation by mink, raccoons, etc. The over-winter survival and after winter reset are more favorable.

Watershed disturbance (roads, logging, and development) causes higher peak flows. This results in more channel scour and the sediment generation that results. Ideally, the Plan would eliminate clearcutting. If clearcutting is not eliminated, the Plan needs a clear statement that the emphasis on clearcutting throughout the Plan will be limited to streams where brook trout are absent. In those areas, any timbering would use helicopter selective cutting instead.

Any stream channel recovery must be a top-down hydrological process in now destabilized channels. Recovery is perhaps occurring, barely noted over the last fifty years in a few places. With the right stewardship set forth in a better plan, however, recovery and reduced flooding would be more obvious to many citizens and landowners over the next twenty years.

A top-down recovery will benefit brook trout populations first. In fact they are recovering ahead of their channel reaches because of streamside shade; but below gravel and rubble choked channels cause channel bank scour and even “tree-topple”. Thus the channel is undermined from within. Here the water is warmed enough to favor the warmer water fish population, that with warmer temperatures itself, begins to limit brook trout habitation.

These recovering brook trout populations will respond readily to any channel recovery. The occupation of lower reaches will increase their connectivity. Brook trout populations will no longer be as isolated as they have been in the past. They have the potential–with active intelligent fish management in watersheds that are little disturbed and themselves recovering–to become a famous Monongahela brook trout fishery, a fishery that is no longer threatened. This is a real opportunity.

Clear cutting is hydrologic ally harmful. The science we particularly use is from the U.S. Forest Service research station at Parsons, West Virginia, within the Monongahela. There it gets 58 inches of rain and snow; 24 inches runs off and 27 inches is evapotranspired by the forest canopy. Immediately after clearcutting, stream channels must carry the 24 inches that normally runs off plus the 27 inches that, absent clearcutting, would have been retained by the trees until it evapotranspired. This total of 51 inches is twice as much flow as the channels have carried in the last 100 years! This causes channel scour and sediment. This prevents a top-down recovery of stream channels first through brook trout reaches and eventually producing flooding below.

The Monongahela National Forest contains over 80% of West Virginia’s trout streams. It is a partner in Trout Unlimited “Bring Back the Brookie” program. The brook trout is their “indicator species” of watershed health.

In spite of this, the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest uses clear cutting as its “preferred method” of timber harvest.

While the emphasis on clear cutting was a mistake in the current Plan, there is hope. The United States Forest Service has made a new forest planning rule. The new rule states that restoration is to be the driving principal in Forest policy. With restoration as its driving principal, it may be possible to rethink this emphasis on clearcutting and correct that mistake.