I confess that I have sometimes suffered from well-meaning but uninformed sentiments. Blessed to have grown up outdoors, I have always been drawn to the “big” mountains of the Appalachias. Rugged terrain, mature hardwoods and jungles of rhododendron appeal to me in a way like no other. My love of such areas led me to the conclusion that logging, especially the dreaded “clearcut”, was bad, perhaps even immoral, an opinion I once held with conviction.
It was only after lamenting about the lack of wildlife in my beloved mountain forests that someone wiser than me said something that truly resonated; specifically, “Do you see more wildlife in those mature forests that look so appealing to you or around those dreaded clearcuts?” An objective consideration of the question could lead to only one conclusion, clearly the latter. What appealed so deeply to me did not have the same appeal to the creatures that lived there.
Having now studied wildlife and land management for years, I appreciate the reality that for most wildlife their world is no more than six feet tall, meaning their survival depends on them finding everything they need to survive within reach. Although mature forests may produce acorns or mast that fall to the ground, such short-term bounty does not create meaningful wildlife habitat, and what matters is the habitat available year-round within a few feet of the ground. Unfortunately, in most mature forests, very little grows on the densely shaded forest floor, and the few shade tolerant species that do survive provide little food or cover for wildlife. Thus, despite the visual appeal of big, mature woods, the reality is that these areas eventually become deserts for wildlife. Unfortunately, today more and more of our Virginia mountain areas are becoming wildlife deserts.
Historically, our mountain forests were much more dynamic and forest lands were typically used by their local, private owners as a necessary component of homesteading and farming. Small-scale logging, clearing and burning were widespread and prevented the forests from developing into a monoculture of mature trees. However, early in the last century, large blocks of Virginia’s woodlands were transferred to governmental ownership. Today, there are counties in Western Virginia where over half of the total land area is owned by the U.S. Forest Service.
Over the last hundred years, largely due to sentiments like the one I referenced above, much of these forests have been left untouched and meaningful management efforts thwarted by the desire of many for visually appealing forests of mature trees. Unfortunately, as more forest lands become monocultures of mature forests, wildlife numbers have plummeted and some species have all but disappeared. Without the manipulation of our forest lands to create early successional habitat, the type of habitat that provides meaningful food and cover at ground level, wildlife simply cannot survive, much less thrive.
Fortunately, there are many groups today that are pushing for change and advocating for efforts, both governmental and private, to reverse this trend. Groups such as the National Wild Turkey Federation, the Ruffed Grouse Society, Quail Unlimited and others have been striving to educate and advocate for the creation of early successional habitat, critical to almost all native wildlife. In addition to many of these national groups, the Appalachian Habitat Association was formed to specifically focus on the crisis of habitat decline in our beloved Western Virginia mountains. Through education and advocacy, these mountains could once again be places where wildlife can thrive, but only if the trend to allow these areas to stagnate into wildlife deserts is reversed. I urge anyone that is interested to visit Appalachianhabitat.org to learn more about this crisis in habitat decline. Well-meaning and informed sentiments can make a meaningful difference.