Tag: Virginia

Water Supply from Southern State and Private Forest Lands

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Forests provide the most stable and highest quality water supplies among all land uses. A report by the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service quantifies the role of state and private forest lands (SPF) in providing drinking water supply across the southern United States. About half of the South’s land area is forested,…  More 

Appalachian-Cumberland Meeting Addresses State and National Forest Partners’ Research Needs

by Teresa Jackson, SRS Public Affairs  • 
In early March the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station hosted its first joint State Line and Green Line Meeting. Approximately 60 state and national forest partners attended the two-day meeting held in Johnson City, Tennessee to learn about a variety of SRS research topics relevant to their specific needs and the Appalachian-Cumberland region. SRS…  More 

Southern Silvopasture

by Megan Bequette, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
Viewed over the span of human history, the current separation of agriculture and forested lands is a recent construct. However, integrating forestry and agricultural practices offers opportunities for benefits. Combining forests and pastures, for example, allows trees and livestock to be raised for profit on the same plot of land, and the trees offer shade…  More 

How I Joined the Wood-in-the-Water Choir

by Andy Dolloff, research fishery biologist  • 
Not everyone knows from an early age what they want to do when they grow up. I did. Raised in a small coastal Maine town that was home base for marine and estuarine research and with an affinity for the outdoors, I knew I was destined to pursue a career in marine biology. Right out…  More 

Post-Fire Mortality for Southern Hardwoods

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Drive down Highway 7 in northern Arkansas, winding through the Ozark National Forest, and you may glimpse evidence of recent fire: scorched grass, darkened tree bark, maybe even a lingering wisp of smoke. Traces of prescribed burning can be seen throughout the South. Prescribed fire is a critical tool for forest restoration. A new study…  More 

Carolina Hemlock Populations: Isolated and Imperiled

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
Hemlocks are under attack. U.S. Forest Service scientists and their partners are working to save the native conifers from the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), an invasive insect from Japan. Carolina hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) trees can survive HWA infestation for a decade or more but often die within four years. Carolina hemlocks grow in tiny, isolated…  More 

Unexpected Pest of Chestnut Trees

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
SRS research entomologist Bud Mayfield was relieved to find that defoliation on an American chestnut planting site was not as severe as expected. Mayfield and SRS research forester Stacy Clark are coauthors on a paper in the Journal of Insect Science that describes a study they conducted with Ashley Case, an adjunct lecturer at the University…  More 

Bottomland Hardwoods of the Mid-Atlantic

by Jennifer Moore Myers, SRS Science Communications  • 
A new U.S. Forest Service report characterizes the status and trends of bottomland hardwood forests across the mid-Atlantic region of North Carolina and Virginia. These forests are located in floodplains, bogs, swamps, and other lowland areas. SRS scientists Anita Rose and Steve Meadows summarized Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data from 2002 to 2014 for…  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 

Increasing Our Knowledge of Small Woody Biomass Harvesting

by Zoё Hoyle, SRS Science Delivery  • 
U.S. Forest Service research helped the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests move forward in implementing a new forest plan by setting up studies to address stakeholder concerns about the effects of harvesting for biomass feedstocks. The Lower Cowpasture Restoration and Management Project proposed for the Warm Springs Ranger District and the George Washington and…  More