[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Silent spring in the coastal plain



We are currently reviewing an assessment of the effects of wood chip mills
on the economy and environment of North Carolina.  One part of the study is
a prediction of future private forest conditions based on current forest
trends.  The researchers predict the following changes for the coastal plain
of NC:  

812,000 acres of new pine plantations will replace existing natural forests
(for reference, the entire Croatan National Forest is 161,000 acres).

332,000 acres of lowland and upland hardwood forests will be converted to
pine plantation; late successional lowland hardwood forest will decline 49%
in the northern coastal plain and 24% in the southern coastal plain.

293,000 acres of natural pine forest will be converted to pine plantation;
late successional natural pine forest will decline by 58% in the northern
coastal plain and 43% in the southern coastal plain. 

If you have spent much time birding a mature hardwood swamp forest or
natural pine savannah in the Spring and compared that experience to birding
a loblolly pine plantation, you will know what this means.  A preliminary
assessment concludes 22 of the highest conservation priority bird species in
the coastal plain will be significantly harmed by these forest changes:

Red-cockaded Woodpecker
Black-throated Green Warbler
Bachman's Sparrow
Swainson's Warbler
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Cerulean Warbler
Wood Thrush
Hooded Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow-thorated Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Red-headed Woodpecker
Chuck-will's-widow
Acadian Flycatcher
Carolina Chickadee
Kentucky Warbler
Yellow-throated Vireo
Summer Tanager
Bald Eagle

Three priority species will benefit:  

Prairie Warbler
Northern Bobwhite
White-eyed Vireo

Those of you in surrounding states take note:  the rate of cut and
conversion of native forests to pine plantations is slower in NC than the
overall rate in the Southeast.

If you are interested in opportunities to comment to responsible federal and
state agencies on this issue, please send me an email and I will inform you
when such opportunities arise.

Please note new address

Derb S. Carter, Jr.
Senior Attorney
Southern Environmental Law Center
200 West Franklin Street, Suite 330
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
919.967.1450
fax 919.929.9421
mailto:derbc@selcnc.org
http:\\www.southernenvironment.org