The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy (WVHC) as part of its commitment to the preservation and conservation of West Virginia's natural heritage is undertaking a crucial, and indeed urgent, step in preserving a unique sub-species of balsam fir found only in West Virginia. West Virginia's balsam is in serious decline. Most stands found scattered around the highlands have exhibited 80 percent or higher mortality in the last five years. Without human intervention, we may soon witness the functional extinction of this unique gene pool from the forests of West Virginia.

Abies balsamea, balsam fir, is generally considered to be a northern species. A relict of the ice age, this fir once covered the mountains over a much broader area, well into the southern Appalachians. During the last Ice Age, climates in the southeastern United States resembled those of Canada today. As the glaciers receded north the climate gradually warmed, and this northern species migrated northward along with them. High elevations in the southern and central Appalachians allowed pockets of the fir to persist. While once a single species, it is believed that these isolated pockets furthest south developed their own unique characteristics gradually over tens of thousands of years,. These have been described as a separate species. Botanists have named this southernmost species, Abies fraseri, or fraser fir (also called southern balsam). Fraser fir is native to some of the mountainous areas of western North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Western Virginia.

The isolated pockets of fir that persisted at high elevations in West Virginia, in Canaan Valley, and as far south as Blister Run on the Upper Shavers Fork River, are still considered to be the northern balsam fir. However, because of their isolation, these trees also developed unique characteristics sufficient to be given the sub-species name, phanerolepis.

The few remaining pockets of balsam fir found in West Virginia primarily consist of mature trees only. They re-seeded, or were left, following the logging boom of the earlier part of the century. Not being a long-lived tree, stand regeneration depends on a vigorous re-population of seedlings from its abundant, periodic seed crops. In West Virginia, we have not seen this happening. Because of the location of these firs in places where there are dense populations of white tailed deer – places like Canaan Valley – seedlings have not been allowed to reach maturity due to over-browsing. Balsam and red spruce often grow side-by-side, but deer seem to prefer the balsam.

If one were to have visited the many stands of balsam around the state over the years, one would find out that young trees are a rarity. Unfortunately, if a tree hasn’t gained sufficient height to prevent a deer from browsing its leader, it never will have. The bulk of the balsam growing now in West Virginia grew up before the population explosion in the deer herd. If you look down in the grass you might find some balsam seedlings. Take a closer look. They probably have stems bigger around than your thumb, but are only a few inches high. They may be 10 years old but have never outgrown the grass sufficiently because of annual deer browsing. Rarely, a young balsam might grow up in the center of a clump of Alders, out of deer’s reach.

Aside from these browsed trees, nearly the entire balsam fir population in West Virginia is in the 30 to 70 year old range. Many have reached maturity and are dying. Compounding the problem, there are some exotic and native insect pests that attack these older, less vigorous trees, hastening their demise. The alarming problem here, is the total lack of any young trees growing up to take their place. Overall there is a serious, rapid decline in the natural stands of balsam. It is possible that within three to five years balsam may be essentially extirpated from the state.

In the earlier part of the twentieth century white tail deer were not common in the mountain counties of West Virginia. Consider these figures: During a 16 year period from 1917 to 1932 only 19 deer were killed in Tucker County (where most of West Virginia’s balsam is located). That’s just over one deer per year. Even as late as 1961 only 207 deer were killed in Tucker County. Compare this with the hunting records of the numbers killed in Tucker County for 1995: 1,691 bucks, 1,218 antlerless, 337 muzzleloader, 884 archery. And the numbers are rising. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, at the turn of the century there were estimated to be only 500,000 white tail deer in the entire nation. Today it has risen to over 18 million.

Recently, an important step in protecting this species was taken by the Dalen Family of Franklin, WV. The Dalens own a very unique property known as Blister Swamp. Blister Swamp gets its name from the "blister pine," a local name for the balsam fir that grows there. The natural stands of balsam in Blister Swamp, as elsewhere, are in trouble. Found there are thirteen rare plant species, two of which are uncommon in the world-at-large. Blister Swamp is also an important bird breeding site. Unfortunately, the Swamp has also been significantly altered by deforestation, livestock grazing, and the influx of aggressive non-native species over the past 100 years. Because of the foresight and appreciation of the uniqueness of their land, the Dalen Family has initiated a conservation and restoration project at their Blister Swamp property.

As John Dalen stated, "The primary objective of the project is preserving and restoring the unique plant life and balsam fir and making a sanctuary for the fir."

Through a cooperative agreement with The Mountain Institute’s Appalachian Program, The Nature Conservancy, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and others, 40 acres of the wetland have been fenced off to exclude livestock and deer. During the summer of 1998, John and Andrea Dalen; Alton Byers, director of the Appalachian Programs of The Mountain Institute; Rodney Bartgis, conservation director for the West Virginia Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and myself, gathered some balsam fir seed from some of the few remaining healthy trees producing cones that year. The seed is being grown by a professional, commercial grower in Minnesota. There are currently 800 seedlings nearing transplant size to be transplanted to their native location in the newly fenced off portion of the wetland.

The WVHC is taking an important "next step" in preserving the species. Balsam fir produces a seed crop only once every 5 years or so. This year we see an abundant cone crop for the first time since 1996. Because of the rapid rate of decline of the natural stands of balsam, this may well be the last chance to collect seed from the remaining seed trees. It is feared that there may be few seed trees left alive by the time there is another crop.

The WVHC has organized a concerted effort to assist in the rescue of unique gene pool of abies balsamea, var. phanerolepis. In cooperation with The Mountain Institute’s Appalachian programs, The US Forest Service, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Plant Materials Center, we will undertake an effort to collect significant quantities of balsam seed this summer from all of the major stands of balsam found in the state. The NRCS Plant Materials Center in Alderson, WV has agreed to act as a repository for the seed. While some seed will be stored in environmentally controlled storage units, some will also be germinated and grown at the facility to be replanted in the areas where the seed was collected.

Phase One of the re-introduction process will take place on the upper Shavers Fork River. As part of the WVHC’s involvement with the "Healing the Headwaters" agreement [page 1, June "Voice"], seedlings will be grown from seeds collected from the southernmost natural stand of this unique balsam at Cheat Bridge. These seedlings will be used in watershed restoration efforts on the upper Shavers Fork River. The promise in this effort lies in the fact that there is a considerably less dense population of white-tailed deer in this region than in other areas where the balsam grows. Partners in the "Healing the Headwaters" agreement, including the Mountaineer Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Shavers Fork Coalition, The Mountain Institute, the WVHC and others have already undertaken significant steps in restoring this watershed from the degradation of past mining and logging activities. Future restoration efforts will use the balsam seedlings in streambank stabilization, stream shading and other re-vegetation components of the effort.

To accomplish our ambitious seed collection goals, we are organizing a volunteer effort the weekends of July 29&30, and August 19&20. We will travel around the highlands to collect cones from as many stands of fir as possible. We are still negotiating with the various land managing agencies to get permission to collect seed. There are necessarily many hoops to jump through. So far, we have permission to collect seed from the Shavers Fork stand at Cheat Bridge – Ken Rago, Ranger on the Greenbrier District of the Monongahela National Forest, has been very cooperative and supportive of our efforts. We also have tentative agreement with Canaan Valley State Park, where there are several remaining stands of balsam. We are still looking into the possibility of collecting seed from the Freeland Run stand on the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge and a beautifully healthy stand on Dolly Sods. All the seeds collected from the various locations will be kept separate, and will one day be grown and replanted at the same or nearby sites. Of course the scope of this project is very long term – growing and replanting plans will be developed as time passes and additional research is conducted.

Fir cones are unique in that they stand upright on top of the branch, differing from other coniferous genera. The cones are found only in the highest branches of the tree. When they ripen in the summer, the seeds and scales dislodge from the central axis of the cone and shower to the ground. The whole, intact cone never falls off the tree. Years after the seed crop, cone axes can still be seen on the branch. Gathering seed from trees requires the use of extension ladders to climb the tree and pick each cone individually. Some of the trees will be readily accessable, others will require hiking various distances. The success of our effort will depend on how much help we get. If we can put together several teams, we will be able to get to more stands of trees. The window of opportunity is very small between when the seeds ripen and when they dislodge and fall to the ground.

We need volunteers the weekends of July 29&30 and August 19&20 – folks who would be willing to climb, carry ladders and equipment and haul cones out of the woods. We also need funds to help defray costs involved. If you would like to help, or would like more information, please e-mail Dave Saville at <daves@labs.net> or call (304) 284-9548. If you would like to make a contribution to this effort, you can send a check to WVHC, PO Box 306, Charleston, WV 25321, and earmark it for the balsam fir rescue effort.

Didn’t someone famous once say, "the most important part of intelligent tinkering is to save all the pieces?" In our ever-increasing manipulation of our natural ecosystems, it is important to protect the species that makes West Virginia’s forests among the most diverse on earth. Although West Virginia’s balsam is not an important tree to the timber industry, it does have considerable value to the horticultural and Christmas tree trades. Besides that, anyone who has seen the steeple-like spires or smelled the heavenly scent of balsam would agree that this species is worth keeping as a part of our natural heritage. In the mean time, research goes on as to the exact reasons for the balsam’s decline and how to reverse the trend. At least we will have saved the pieces.