Participation Type
Roundtable
Presentation #1 Title
Forests: Repairing the Past, Defending the Future
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
A century after the final, brutal deforestation of the Appalachian Mountains, the sedimental journey continues. Eroded soils are “typically 2 to 14 feet thick along valley bottoms in the Mid-Atlantic region,”[1]and “will remain a water quality problem for centuries to millennia.”[2] Decades of regrowth now obscure the reduced fertility, but centuries of leaf fall, root growth and protection are needed to regain it.
Composed largely of hardwoods capable of living 4 to 6 centuries, Appalachian woodlands are poised to reach their greatest carbon sequestration prowess -- if allowed to age into old growth. Old forests are well-documented as sequestering and storing by far the most carbon of any forest stage or natural ecosystem.[3] But most forests are privately owned by individuals/families, cover less than 100 acres, and are dwindling further every year, degrading possibilities for addressing climate change, the deeply related biodiversity crisis, and even deeper sources of drinking water.
The only realistic (if historically ironic) hope for the landscape-scale, long-term forest conservation required to address climate change sprawls across six million acres in eight national forests. If public pressure induced the U.S. Forest Service to adopt carbon forestry, i.e., mimic old-growth forest structure and protect soil from disturbance, this would have both regional and global implications. Not only would it repair the past by rebuilding soil and rare habitats, but it would also defend the future through carbon sequestration and stability of ecosystem services like clean water.
[1] Water Science Institute, “Legacy Sediment Virginia State NRCS,” PPT Nov. 8, 2018.
[2] Karl Wegmann, Dept. of Marine, Earth, & Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, PPT n.d.
[3] Wirth, C., et al. Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2009. Barton, A. and W.S. Keeton. Ecology and recovery of eastern old-growth forests. Washington: Island Press, 2018.
Discussion was part of the Roundtable: Global Climate Commons and the Appalachian Forest.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Chris Bolgiano is a retired university librarian, a 100+ acre forest owner, and the author of several prize-winning books about forests and forestry.
Forests: Repairing the Past, Defending the Future
A century after the final, brutal deforestation of the Appalachian Mountains, the sedimental journey continues. Eroded soils are “typically 2 to 14 feet thick along valley bottoms in the Mid-Atlantic region,”[1]and “will remain a water quality problem for centuries to millennia.”[2] Decades of regrowth now obscure the reduced fertility, but centuries of leaf fall, root growth and protection are needed to regain it.
Composed largely of hardwoods capable of living 4 to 6 centuries, Appalachian woodlands are poised to reach their greatest carbon sequestration prowess -- if allowed to age into old growth. Old forests are well-documented as sequestering and storing by far the most carbon of any forest stage or natural ecosystem.[3] But most forests are privately owned by individuals/families, cover less than 100 acres, and are dwindling further every year, degrading possibilities for addressing climate change, the deeply related biodiversity crisis, and even deeper sources of drinking water.
The only realistic (if historically ironic) hope for the landscape-scale, long-term forest conservation required to address climate change sprawls across six million acres in eight national forests. If public pressure induced the U.S. Forest Service to adopt carbon forestry, i.e., mimic old-growth forest structure and protect soil from disturbance, this would have both regional and global implications. Not only would it repair the past by rebuilding soil and rare habitats, but it would also defend the future through carbon sequestration and stability of ecosystem services like clean water.
[1] Water Science Institute, “Legacy Sediment Virginia State NRCS,” PPT Nov. 8, 2018.
[2] Karl Wegmann, Dept. of Marine, Earth, & Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, PPT n.d.
[3] Wirth, C., et al. Old-Growth Forests: Function, Fate and Value. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 2009. Barton, A. and W.S. Keeton. Ecology and recovery of eastern old-growth forests. Washington: Island Press, 2018.
Discussion was part of the Roundtable: Global Climate Commons and the Appalachian Forest.
