By Dave Saville

Balsam fir is a northern species of tree that reaches its southern continental limit here in West Virginia. Isolated pockets of this fir have remained at high elevations as remnants of the last ice age. The future of these trees is threatened by the lack of stand regeneration due to the over browsing by the seriously overpopulated herds of white tailed deer in West Virginia, and an exotic insect pest that is killing mature trees. The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has been working for several years to find ways to prevent the extirpation of balsam fir from the state.

The balsam wooly adelgid is a sucking insect from central Europe. It was accidentally imported into this country at the turn of the century. It has decimated the natural stands of Fraser fir found in the southern Appalachians and is now wrecking havoc on the few remaining stands of balsam fir found in West Virginia. Their presence in a stand of fir is devastating. Their infestation kills mature trees 20-30 years of age and older. Younger, more vigorous trees seem to fend off their deadly attack.

In the southern Appalachians, the mature trees in the stands of Fraser fir have all been eliminated. Because there is not a serious overpopulation of deer in the high elevations where the Fraser fir grows, a vigorous understory of younger trees has come up in their place. Fir trees reach sexual maturity at 10-12 years of age, when they begin to produce abundant, periodic cone crops. These cone crops only occur about once every 5 years. Therefore, a tree might be expected to produce only 2-3 crops of cones in its lifetime, before succumbing to the effects of the adelgid.

The few stands of balsam fir found in West Virginia are in serious decline. Some have had virtually all the mature trees eliminated. The future of these stands is threatened because, unlike the Fraser in the southern Appalachians, there is no stand regeneration. Despite abundant seed crops, there are no young trees replacing the older trees killed by the adelgid. With deer populations in West Virginia being as much as 100 times greater than their historical numbers, any balsam fir seedlings don’t stand a chance of surviving against the ravenous appetites of these herbivores. In the face of a wildlife management agency unwilling to manage the deer herd in a responsible way, without some intervention, we will watch this species completely disappear from our state in a few short years. Of course, it isn’t only the balsam fir that is adversely affected by deer overpopulation. Dozens of species of plants are threatened and even the overall forest ecology is being seriously altered from their over-browsing.

Last summer Highlands Conservancy volunteers made a serious effort to preserve this unique species by collecting and seed banking seeds from several stands of balsam fir found scattered around the West Virginia Highlands. Since then, we have redirected our attention to other ways of protecting this unique Mountain State native. In June of this year, a gathering was held at the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge to discuss the plight of these trees. Biologist Ken Sturm, and other US Fish and Wildlife Service staff, assembled over 30 individuals with diverse backgrounds to discuss the issue. Entomologists, ecologists, biologists, botanists, foresters, and other experts came from several West Virginia agencies, as well as researchers from West Virginia University, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Short term and long term conservation strategies were discussed. With the help of so much expertise, there is real hope that there is indeed a future for balsam fir in West Virginia.

Long-term strategies focused on finding solutions to the adelgid problem. Natural resistance, predators, and treatments are being researched by several institutions. In addition, concerned citizens must put increased pressure on the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources to reduce the deer populations. This agency has historically been reluctant to do this because they do not feel a responsibility to the citizens of West Virginia, but only to deer hunters that purchase hunting licenses, thus supplying them with a pay check. This unwillingness to manage the deer population responsibly has led us to a short-term strategy of erecting deer exclosure fences around stands of balsam fir to allow for natural regeneration.

Since there was an abundant cone crop in the summer of 2000, there is now a significant amount of seed germinating in the soil of these stands. In another 3-4 years, when we might expect another seed crop, there may not be any mature trees left to produce cones. There is therefore a sense of urgency to protect the seedlings germinating in these stands now. We hope to assemble some resources and volunteers to erect several deer exclosure fences in stands in several locations.

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