Tag: South Carolina

The Santee Experimental Forest

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
In 1934, the U.S. Forest Service allocated 6,100 acres (2,470 ha) of the Francis Marion National Forest (Francis Marion) near Charleston, South Carolina, for the Santee Experimental Forest (the Santee). By the 1930s, much of the site had been heavily used for centuries, the upland cleared to raise livestock and produce naval stores (tar, pitch, turpentine, and…  More 

Santee Experimental Forest Chosen for U.S.-China Climate Change and Forests Initiative

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station scientists and the Santee Experimental Forest (Santee) located in the Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston, South Carolina, have been chosen to participate in the U.S,-China Climate Change and Forests Initiative, a new program  of the U.S.-China Climate Change Working Group sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. The U.S.-China…  More 

The Calhoun Experimental Forest

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Until the middle of the 20th century, forest researchers were mostly concerned with what could be done above the ground — growing trees, protecting them from insects and diseases, maximizing productivity, and regenerating stands after harvesting. It was not until 1947, when the Calhoun Experimental Forest (Calhoun) was established on the Sumter National Forest in…  More 

Helping African American Rural Landowners Keep Family Forests

by Adapted from article by Josh McDaniel in February 2016 Issue of Leaves of Change  • 
After the Civil War, African Americans were deeded or bought property across the South, but at that time they often lacked the money for — or were denied access to — legal resources. As a result, much of this land was passed down through the generations without the benefit of a written will or title and…  More 

Life in a Treehouse: How Rafinesque’s Big-Eared Bats Choose their Roosts

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Delivery  • 
In the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, Rafinesque’s big-eared bats often roost in tree hollows throughout the year. “Bats spend a good portion of their lives in roosts,” says U.S. Forest Service scientist Susan Loeb. “Roosts protect bats from predators, and are where bats interact socially, mate, and raise young.” Rafinesque’s big-eared bats are declining…  More 

First Release in the Carolinas of New Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Predator

by Bryan Mudder, SRS Forestry Technician  • 
On Friday last week, U.S. Forest Service scientists with the Southern Research Station and Forest Health Protection released just over 1200 Laricobius osakensis beetles on eastern hemlock trees in North and South Carolina. Reared at University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Lindsay Young Beneficial Insects Lab, the predator beetles are natural enemies of the hemlock woolly adelgid, an…  More 

Study Shows How Coyotes Help Manage Deer Populations in the Southeastern U.S.

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Coyotes have become a force in the southeastern U.S. that can no longer be ignored in deer management, according John Kilgo, a Forest Service research wildlife biologist. He and his colleagues arrived at that conclusion after spending the last decade studying coyote-deer interactions in South Carolina. Coyotes, a species native to the western U.S., gradually colonized…  More 

Longleaf Pine at a 50-Year High in South Carolina

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
Efforts to restore longleaf pine forests in South Carolina are proving quite successful, according to data published by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) unit. Longleaf pine forests now occupy less than three percent of an original range estimated at around 92 million acres that once stretched across the coastal plains of…  More 

Susan Loeb Awarded Grant for Research Related to White-Nose Syndrome in Bats

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
On September 29, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced $2.5 million in grants for research, management, and communication projects related to white-nose syndrome, the fungal disease that’s killed millions of North American bats since 2007, when it was first documented. White-nose syndrome is caused by a cold-loving fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), that infects hibernating…  More 

The Future of the Francis Marion’s Coastal Forests

by Emrys Treasure, Eastern Forest Threat Assessment Center; Mary Morrison, Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests; and Sealy Chipley, Chipley Consulting  • 
When Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of South Carolina in September of 1989, the Francis Marion National Forest (Francis Marion) suffered a devastating blow. Sixty percent of its pine trees sustained moderate or heavy damage, and its bottomland hardwood trees fared even worse: 43 percent were broken and 43 percent were uprooted. At that time,…  More