Page 10 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - First Quarter 2021

Acres Treated
in the 18-county region surrounding the national forest do not procure timber products from the forest due to the lack
of a robust and functional timber sale program that generates U.S. Forest Service timber sales. In turn, this puts additional strain on the wood basket in surrounding North Carolina counties.
Moreover, the lack of forest management on the Nantahala and Pisgah over the last several decades has resulted in a significant decline of important pollinators, game species, and songbirds. Some conservation groups that may not always agree with
the NCFA’s views have recognized the need for more forest management on the landscape to sustain the very things they are interested in.
In 2014, the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests started the process to revise the current management plan. The existing plan for the forest was completed in 1987 and has been amended many times. Revised Forest Service policies, congressional direction, court decisions, new or updated conservation agreements and recovery plans, and new scientific findings have all highlighted that the current plans are outdated and need to be revised. For several of our members
in the western part of the state, this revision process gives the forest sector
an opportunity to change the current management paradigm to one that incorporates more forest management
Total Thinning and Clearcut Acreage for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests, 1988 to 2019
FIGURE 1
In 1960, the Multiple-Use Sustained- Yield Act (MUSY) was passed by Congress and directed the Secretary of Agriculture to “manage national forests under principles
of multiple use and to produce a sustained yield of products and services and for other purposes.” At the time MUSY was enacted, the federal treasury enjoyed receiving millions of dollars into the public coffers from timber receipts. In fact, timber receipts from national forests steadily increased
from the 1940s to a peak of over $3 billion in fiscal year 1979. Timber harvest levels continued to increase on national forests across the United States until the late 1980s. After that, public, statutory-administrative, biological, and market influences all contributed to the decline in timber harvests on national forests. As seen in Figure 1,
the total acreage thinned and clearcut on
the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests followed the national trend.
Multiple adverse impacts are associated with a lack of management
on the Nantahala and Pisgah. For the forest sector, this lack of management has put a strain on wood-processing facilities located in close proximity to the Nantahala and Pisgah. Wood-processing facilities depend on a predictable and economical supply of forest products
in order to meet customer demands
and remain profitable. Current owners cannot continue to make investments in
their facilities without a predictable and economical supply of forest products. Likewise, future investors will not
be interested in the purchase of such facilities without the assurance that a long-term, economical supply of raw materials is available in the immediate market area. Many of the facilities located
This increasing demand trend for forest products is important in that it shows
that there is more demand for local products if made available, because they are produced from sustainable practices, using a renewable resource and resulting
in recyclable products, many of which serve as a source of long-term carbon storage.
8 ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2021