National Forests in the Southern Appalachians

THE FORESTS of the southern Appalachians have a great diversity of species. On a 30-mile trip from Marion, N. C., to the top of Mount Mitchell a traveler encounters more species of trees than he would in crossing Europe from the British isles to Turkey. He passes from the yellow pines, oaks, and hickories of the Piedmont through zones of white pine, hemlock, yellow poplar, oaks, and other hardwoods typical of the rich mountain coves and lower slopes; to high valleys and cool north slopes where grow buckeye, black cherry, sugar maple, beech,and birch; until finally he ascends to the dense forests crowning the highest peaks, whose spruce and balsam are suggestive of Canada. Since colonial times these southern mountains have been a Mecca for botanists, and they will be forever associated with the names of Bartram, Michaux, Asa Gray, Sargent, and Ashe, all of whom explored them.

It is probable that the first white men found an almost unbroken forest mantle covering the mountains. The only open spots were the natural grassy clearings, known as "Balds," on top of many of the mountains about a mile above the sea. Treeless, though anything but bare, are the rhododendron "slicks" or "hells" on some of the higher slopes, matted thickets so dense that only a bear can penetrate them.

Varied as are the trees, the diversity of the shrubs, vines, flowering herbs, and ferns is greater. Most famous are the rhododendrons, laurels, and azaleas, which here find their maximum development on the American Continent. Of the rhododendrons, the two most striking are rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum) which often reaches tree dimensions and is sometimes white-flowered, and the purple rhododendron (R. catawbiense) which occurs on mountain summits. Of the many azaleas, the most famous is the flame azalea (Azalea calendulacea) whose flowers range from lemon yellow to flame red and whose brilliance lights up all the upland forests in May and June.

From early April, when the pink of the redbud and the white of the dogwood, shadbush, and silverbell begin the floral display, through May, when yellow poplar, mountain laurel, mountain magnolia and buckeye, wild crabs and haws, and countless kinds of wild flowers bloom; into June and July, with their rhododendrons and azaleas; all through the summer and late into the fall when wild asters, gentians, and other late-blooming species are at their best, there is never a dull moment for the flower lover.

In mid-June purple rhododendron is in bloom. F—198282

In the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest: "A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed against the earth's sweet flowing breast." F—386654

The second great burst of color in the mountain forests comes with the frosts of late October. Then the ruby of the sourwood and gum, the crimson of the sumac, the oak leaves turned the color of ripe old port, the lemon yellow of the beech and poplar, the rich gold of the hickories, the orange of the sassafras, and the old rose of the dogwood are accentuated by the dark blue green of the pines and hemlocks, while over all the mountains hangs the blue haze of Indian summer.

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN region was too rough, too far from markets, to tempt the lumbermen until, in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, railroads began to penetrate the mountains and a few of the more valuable timber species came to have more than a local demand. In the years that followed logging railroads pierced deep into the forests, great sawmills sprang up, and exploitation of the timber went on apace with no thought of renewal, no idea of treating timber as a crop. And in the wake of lumbering operations came forest fires, great roaring conflagrations feeding on the debris left from lumbering, destroying mature timber and young growth as well, sometimes even burning down through the humus and soil to bare rock.

Congress in 1911 took the first step toward safeguarding the beauty and usefulness of the southern Appalachian forests by passing the Weeks law, authorizing, through the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture, Government purchases of lands for the protection of the headwaters of navigable streams. Supplementing this, the Clarke-McNary law of 1924 made possible acquisition of denuded lands and worn-out farms for timber producing purposes. Funds made available by these laws and later by emergency legislation have enabled the Forest Service, by purchases carried on steadily over a period of 27 years, to round out the five national forests in the southern Appalachians.

These national forests are much more than mere timber preserves. While it is true that they produce a wide variety of saw timber and other valuable forest products, other uses of the forests are equally important. In this great southern upland are born rivers that water the plains and provide sources of electric energy. Lands controlled by the Forest Service are never clear cut. Sufficient seed trees and young growth are always left to protect the steep mountain slopes against erosion and provide leaves and litter which serve as a sponge to hold the heavy rainfall and thus help prevent destructive floods and periods of low water.

When this mature white oak is cut, young growth will take its place F—221399

Conservative forest utilization: Mature yellow poplar and oak logs from a Government timber sale on the Chattahoochee National Forest. F—386648

Forests provide food, shelter, and proper habitat for wildlife, including song and game birds, deer, bear and smaller furred creatures, and such game fish as trout and bass.

The importance of forests for outdoor recreation cannot be overestimated, and here, as is true in the case of wildlife, recreational use need not materially conflict with other forestry objectives. Grazing, though not so important here as on many of the western national forests, is another of the multiple uses of forest land.

Finally, these southern mountain national forests serve as outdoor laboratories where problems whose solutions will benefit private landowners may be worked out, and as areas demonstrating the results of proper land and timber management. Students of several schools of forestry also pursue field work in these forests.