Report shows Smokies 'beginning to die' [ Our Forrests

Winston-Salem Journal ^ | Thursday April 15, 2004 | Associated Press

[DuncanWaring]

...you can't see through the trees anymore at the scenic overlooks.

Are you saying one ... ummmmm ... "can't see the forest for the trees"?

[Exton1]

You must be a tree hugger. NOT TRUE. The beetles live in dead trees. If you do not log the trees in a timely manner, the bugs WILL spread to and infect healthy trees nearby. The problem in the west is that there is about a two year window in order to harvest dead trees, and of course the I HATE AMERICA crowd files suite on ALL logging. After two years the trees are so far gone that they are not salvageable and turn the forest into a major forest fires waiting to happen. The next place to burn will be the Lake Tahoe area. When it goes blame the tree huggers and the environmental Nazis.

[Exton1]

The reason they are UNDERFUNDED is that lumber companies use to buy and cut timber. Gee when the Environmental Nazis stopped that they stopped the source of funds. That is why they are now charging for what use to be free to the average person. Want to blame someone blame the tree huggers who know about as much about trees as they do about fornicating.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

At about the turn of the century, RR ties were cut from the pines that grew extensively in the Missouri Ozarks. Trees by the thousands were cut and floated to the many saw mills which supplied the growing railroad industry thought about 1930. The last bit of this pine forest is in SE Missouri in the Mark Twain National Forest areas. When the Pines were removed, the oaks took over and this has presented a new opportunity (at least for white oak timber) for the barrel stave industry. Oak barrels from Missouri are sent around the country and the world for wine and whiskey. The red oaks are good for firewood, mostly.

[Little Ray]

Dunno about the acid rain, but the non-native pests part is true. Saw that last time I visited. Some sort of European borer beetle is killing a lot trees.
Probably in revenge for the Nazi raccoon invasion.

[NorthGA]

I too have enjoyed the fir trees (hemlocks, spruces, etc) since the time you also have enjoyed them. But in forests, hardwoods will eventually replace fir trees - as the firs are less hardy. This is sad for those of us who love forests of fir trees, but it's natural progression.

Visit the Cradle of Forestry visitors center outside Brevard in the Pisgah Natl Forest on the east side of the park. It is similar to the Sugarlands center and is an excellent stop. This is where Vanderbilt started a school of forestry when he bought all the land and began building the Biltmore mansion.

[Axenolith]

Loss from ridgelines would seem to indicate that gypsy moths had made it there. Ozone is a product of the photochemical reaction of hydrocarbons and sunlight. Seeings as that net hydrocarbon levels produced by man have fallen over time, we need to figure out another source. My bet would be on the terpenes from coniferous trees reforesting former agricultural lands.

Forested land in VA went from ~15-20 to ~70+% from 1900 to present and I'd be willing to bet that area is close to the same. The initial tree type to repopulate old ag fields are cedars and pines which emit a lot of terpenes in hot weather...

[Axenolith]

So what did they do to bring it back? Limestone gravel it?

[Twinkie]

We started going to the Smokies 35 yrs. ago. At
that time, Pigeon Forge was about one souvenir shop,
but now it's about like another Las Vegas. I think
the numbers of people coming to the park annually now
are in the millions and the exhaust fumes from all the
cars are impacting the air quality. Gatlinburg is a
very small place that has to accommodate a huge number
of tourists. 35 yrs. ago, Gatlinburg wasn't a whole lot
more than Pigeon Forge. That area has had to absorb a
lot of stuff in a very short time, so I can understand
they do have to deal with environmental things in a
realistic way. Just the upkeep on the mountain roads is
unbelievable. So many cars run bumper to bumper through
Cades Cove alone that the area is adversely affected by
pollution from sheer overwhelming volume. I guess the
new road can't help but impact the place, but I would
say they'll do whatever is necessary to fix the problem
because people aren't going to quit coming there.
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge used to close down for the
winter, but now with milder winters the tourist season
runs year round pretty much. Everyone should see the
mountains in early October when the leaves are at their
peak. I don't think there's any ulterior motive in these
observations; no one wants to lose the tourist moolah.

[SC Swamp Fox]

SC Ping

FReepmail me if you want on or off this list.

[The KG9 Kid]

"... You must be a tree hugger. NOT TRUE. The beetles live in dead trees.

You must be misinformed.

You see, the beetles kill the live trees which makes them dead. Then, they fly to the living trees and kill them too.

Logging doesn't stop the beetles. Logging can only help prevent wildfires. What people were compaining about was the standing dead timber that logging companies weren't permitted to harvest, and it took an act of Congress to permit this activity.

Chainsaws don't stop beetle infestations. You're being obtuse and confrontational.

[Between the Lines]

Ground level ozone and acid rain "threaten the health of park visitors, staff, vegetation, soils and streams."
Air pollution has diminished visibility from an average of 113 miles from prime viewing locations to an average of 25 miles.

LOL. We in the Carolinas are blessed with an overabundance of natural ozone. Ozone is what give the Smokies their name. It is the ozone that makes them look "smokey".

Much of this naturally occurring ozone has been increased over the last century with the success of the reforestation efforts of which the Great Smokey Mountain National Park is an integral part of. In the 1800s total deforestation covered much of the Smokies and the Blue Ridge. Today there is an almost unending canopy of trees throughout both ranges and the abundance of ozone that comes with the forest.

Ozone is not a pollutant! If you want to get rid of the ozone, you have to get rid of the forest.

[uncitizen]

The real reason they don't want that road has more to do with tourist dollars than with pollution. I suspect the proposed road would direct tourist traffic away from Tennessee and into North Carolina. Following the money that's what i come up with.

[qam1]

So what did they do to bring it back? Limestone gravel it?

Well Honnedgada Lake is 4½ miles long and 185 feet deep so it would take a hell of a lot of lime to bring it back. It's actually both sad and eerie to see a Lake that big devoid of all life (Well except for the Blackflies which could probably live in pure vinegar)

There have been calls for liming but the NY DEC doesn't lime the lakes of the Adirondacks because of cost (There are 2500+ lakes in the Adirondacks and at least 100 of them are way bigger than Honnedaga Lake)and because the lakes in the Adirondacks don't naturally contain Calcium Carbonate (Which is why the Adirondacks are very susceptible to acid rain) and limeing them might actually end up killing them anyhow.

The lake "Came back" probably due to the drought in the late 1990's which allowed much of the really strong acid water to be drained out and with lower emissions the new rain water that filled it up isn't as bad. There is another possibility in that the NY DEC does have fish hatcheries of GMO trout that are resistant to acidic waters which it stocks in other lakes and streams so the Trout that are back in Lake Honnegada could be those GMOs or hybrids the somehow ended up there.

[qam1]

So what did they do to bring it back? Limestone gravel it?

Well Honnedgada Lake is 4½ miles long and 185 feet deep so it would take a hell of a lot of lime to bring it back. It's actually both sad and eerie to see a Lake that big devoid of all life (Well except for the Blackflies which could probably live in pure vinegar)

There have been calls for liming but the NY DEC doesn't lime the lakes of the Adirondacks because of cost (There are 2500+ lakes in the Adirondacks and at least 100 of them are way bigger than Honnedaga Lake)and because the lakes in the Adirondacks don't naturally contain Calcium Carbonate (Which is why the Adirondacks are very susceptible to acid rain) and limeing them might actually end up killing them anyhow.

The lake "Came back" probably due to the drought in the late 1990's which allowed much of the really strong acid water to be drained out and with lower emissions the new rain water that filled it up isn't as bad. There is another possibility in that the NY DEC does have fish hatcheries of GMO trout that are resistant to acidic waters which it stocks in other lakes and streams so the Trout that are back in Lake Honnegada could be those GMOs or hybrids the somehow ended up there.

[sergeantdave]

My in laws own property just outside the Smokeys. This land is not dying and the trees are fine. I guess the ozone and acid rain just misses their property and congregates on federal land.

[y2k_free_radical]

i have also for past 50 years