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- Assisted in theassessment and stewardship of more than 20,000 acres of forested land
under diverse ownerships in western North Carolina.
- Organized and supported stakeholder dialogue and biophysical assessment
of three municipal watersheds in the region. Each of these watersheds was
subsequently placed under a conservation easement that guarantees their
protection in perpetuity.
- Provided management services and expertise to conservation-friendly
developers who desire to maintain resource stewardship on their property.
- Trained over 3 dozen undergraduate and graduate student interns in
the application of effective, sustainable resource management practices.
- Co-hosted more than a dozen tours and workshops for resource professionals,
practitioners, landowners, and policy makers
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This 120-acre property had been farmed for generations, leaving the land devoid of trees and with severely eroded soils. The family began a program of forest restoration in the 1940’s and 50’s by planting white pine to stabilize soils on ridges, and letting the old fields revert to early successional hardwood forests dominated by yellow poplar. The family sought assistance when they observed many of the then-mature white pines were being attacked by pine beetles. After examining the property, we proposed and implemented a commercial thinning across the property. The purposes of the thinning were to (1) open up the stand so that the remaining trees would have more light, moisture, and nutrients, which would increase their vigor, growth rates, and resistance to insect attacks, and (2) to release well-formed trees of species other than poplar (primarily oaks and ash), which would increase habitat diversity and the future commercial value of the forest. In addition, we created small openings in areas where the existing trees were either dead or were poorly formed, due either to pine beetles or being overgrown by vines. Our goal was to create patches of natural forest regeneration in these openings to improving structural diversity and aesthetics. These goals were accomplished while generating a modest profit for the landowners, providing several months of employment to a family logging company, and providing wood products to several local mills.
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The 8600-acre Waynesville watershed is one of the largest tracts of undeveloped, non-federal forest land remaining in western North Carolina. Forest Stewards has been assisting the town of Waynesville since 2002 as they have sought to protect this property in perpetuity by placing it under a working forest conservation easement. Initially we worked closely with town officials, conservation groups, and potential easement holders to develop a strategic set of forest management guidelines that would satisfy all of the parties to the easement. This strategic forest management plan was filed as an attachment to the conservation easement. Since that time, Forest Stewards has completed a detailed forest assessment and stewardship plan for the property. The plan is the result of collaborations with leading experts in forest management and watershed science, an inclusive process for stakeholder involvement, and a multi-year effort to collect and summarize biophysical data for the watershed. The plan can be viewed at www.egovlink.com/waynesville/docs/menu/home.asp
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A common trend in our region is the conversion of large tracts of private forest land to high-end residential development. Increasingly, developers are seeking to balance the needs of their clients with the ecological needs of the forest – a concept that is easier to market than to implement. Balsam Mountain Preserve is a conservation-based development that retains large expanses of undeveloped forests amidst low-density residential development. Forest Stewards has been working with Balsam Mountain Preserve since 2003 to design and implement sound resource management strategies on their property. We have performed a small commercial thinning to educate the residents in the principles of sustainable resource management, and to demonstrate the visual impacts associated with good forestry. We have also initiated a series of crop tree release treatments in the dense 30 year old stands that regenerated following large-scale clearcutting operations that were performed by the previous landowner. These treatments have accelerated crown differentiation, increased habitat diversity, and improved aesthetics. Finally, we are integrating forest and other biophysical data from throughout the property into a GIS system that will guide the residents in developing and implementing a forest stewardship plan for the property and its resources.
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