US Forest Service plans tree felling and herbicide spraying in Nantahala National Forest
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public comment on a proposal to perform non-commercial vegetation management activities such as tree felling, applying herbicides, vine removal and planting of native species in the Nantahala National Forest, a plan that has concerned some environmentalists.
Public comments will be accepted through Feb. 26 on the project that would be in place for the next 10 years.
According to the scoping letter for the environmental assessment that would authorize the stand improvement project “designed to restore and maintain healthy and diverse forest vegetation communities,” the treatments would take place on national forest lands in Cherokee, Clay, Jackson, Graham, Macon and Swain counties through 2031.
Steverson Moffat, team leader for the Nantahala National Forest NEPA (National Environmental Policy ACT) planning team, said this is routine work done across the forest to ensure that younger tree stands – those that are between 21-50 years old – have the best chance to have the natural mix of species when they mature.
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Certain species such as white pine, yellow poplar and red maple tend to grow faster than oaks, hickories, ashes and wild cherry, which produce nuts and berries essential for wildlife, Moffat said.
Because these trees grow faster, they can squeeze out, or outcompete the oaks and hickories. In cases where these trees’ crowns touch, they would be treated with “crown touch release,” by cutting them down and leaving them on the forest floor, or cutting and spraying the stumps with herbicides to prevent them from resprouting.
Moffat said the number of acres involved in the project would vary by year.
“Similar work done between 2011-2017 ranged from 117 acres of crown touch release work to just under 2,000 acres of vine control treatments. Future stand improvement projects are projected to fall within that range moving forward,” Moffat said.
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This site-specific and acreage uncertainty has some concerned, considering the Nantahala National Forest, at more than a half-million acres spreading across Western North Carolina, is the largest of the state’s four national forests and contains beloved areas including mountaintops, waterfalls and hiking trails.
“Generally after the Forest Service cuts timber, they return 10-20 years later to basically weed the garden – take out the weedy species and leave the desirable species to grow to be the next mature forest. That’s pretty standard and we don’t have concerns about that portion,” said Josh Kelly, public lands field biologist with the Asheville-based environmental nonprofit MountainTrue.
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But, he said, not listing any specific areas within such a vast amount of land is troubling.
“As an example the Forest Service proposes to be able to give themselves permission to do natural regeneration through slashing where they would cut down forests that were damaged, degraded or poorly stocked … but those areas are not well defined,” Kelly said.
He said the Nantahala National Forest’s stand base shows 102,000 acres that are tagged as damaged, degraded or poorly stocked.
“Because it’s not site-specific, this decision would mean they could go almost anywhere in the forest and do that, outside of wilderness areas. So it could be steep slopes, it could be sensitive viewshed areas, it could be any number of special settings,” he said.
“MountainTrue cannot support this proposal. There’s just way too many acres of forest that can be included. There are way too many sensitive places that are going to need site-specific analysis.”
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Moffat said even though no specific sites have been identified for the treatments, the plan includes detailed parameters:
Work can only be done in forest stands between 21-50 years old; there will be no commercial harvests; no treatments in wilderness areas, roadless areas or other areas where active management is not permitted, such as the Appalachian Trail corridor or the Trail of Tears corridor, which is a site sacred to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
All the work would be done by hand – for example with chain saws – to improve wildlife habitat and forest health, he said, with no work being done in areas frequented by the public. No trails would be closed.
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“There will be no ground disturbance. The average person wouldn’t be able to tell we were there,” Moffat said.
“It really is an ecological treatment to ensure these younger stands are on the right trajectory to make sure they are representative of their vegetation communities. We’re trying to ensure that we get these oaks and hickories into the canopy and producing these nuts to compensate partially for the loss of chestnuts,” he said.
Chestnuts were once a dominate species in Southern Appalachian forests, producing timber and food for wildlife. They were wiped out during the chestnut blight in the 1950s.
Want to comment?
Submit comments by email text or attachment to: [email protected] by Feb. 26.
Send comments by mail to: Steverson Moffat, Planning Team Leader, Nantahala National Forest, 123 Woodland Drive, Murphy, NC 28906. State “Nantahala National Forest Stand Improvement EA” in the subject line when providing electronic comments, or on the envelope when replying by mail.
For more information, email Moffat at [email protected] or call 828-837-5152 Ext. 108.
Karen Chávez is an award-winning outdoors and environment reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and USA TODAY Network. She is the author of “Best Hikes with Dogs: North Carolina,” and is a former National Park Service ranger.
Reach me: [email protected] or on Twitter @KarenChavezACT
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