Scientists Give Enormous Importance to Old Growth Forests
In the early 1900s, nearly all forests in Maryland had been cut down and the land was denuded. The resulting erosion filled many streams with sediment and killed many native fish. Deep water ports like Anacostia silted in and were then closed to deep draft vessels. Large animals like elk, bear, cougar, wolves, deer, beaver, and bobcats were nearly exterminated, and only a few species like bear, deer, and beaver ever recovered in any numbers. Although the fate of large animals and birds have been closely monitored and their demise recorded for history, the fate of smaller animals like salamanders, beetles, and bacteria is largely unknown. Many plant species like ferns, lichens, herbs and fungi were also largely overlooked.
In the last 100 years, many of these forests and streams have slowly recovered. New forests now appear on nearly 43% of the land surface in Maryland, but none of these forest are considered old growth forests by scientific standards. Even though the forests have never recovered to anything near their original stature, about 71% of the Maryland forests are now considered by the lumber industry as sufficiently aged to be worth cutting again. Out of all this forest, only about 12% belongs to the State, and most of the remainder is owned by the forest industry or private individuals.
With only 12% of the forests in Maryland belonging to its citizens, there is limited public land on which to pursue recreation or spend leisure time. The forest land is in great demand not only for people, but for its wood products and for wildlife and plant species. Only small portions of the forest are set aside today for recovery of the many native species that disappeared or are endangered. Remnants of endangered species are found surviving in isolated pockets of land or forests. Although scientists have determined ancient forests are vitally important to recovery of many diverse plants and animals, forests in Maryland have not themselves recovered sufficiently to support the old growth characteristics needed for recovery of many other species. Scientists think some species will recover only when there is sufficient biomass available on the forest floor to encourage regrowth. This will never occur in forests continually harvested for their trees.
Studies have shown forests must be 150 to 200 years old before the appearance of some species of lichens. Certain herbaceous plants require from 40 to 150 years to rejuvenate, and will never recover in a forest with a logging cycle of 100 years or less. Studies done on forests 90 years after a major event, such as a clear-cut, have found no evidence of the recovery of vernal herbs normally expected in the area. Many plants disperse at extremely slow rates, and once they are eliminated from an area, it may take thousands of years, and the right habitat, for them to return.
Salamanders are found in abundance on forest floors in the east, but clearcutting of forests have been shown to completely eliminate populations of terrestrial salamanders, and severely reduce the populations of semi-aquatic salamanders. Its been estimated more than 120 years may be required for their complete recovery.
Old-growth forests provide an abundance of food and shelter for wildlife. Denning animals lose less heat if they can den in a tree instead of on the ground. This is often the difference between survival or death during a long, cold winter. Animals can only den in trees when the tree is large enough to provide a cavity for their bodies. Young stands of trees simply can’t offer this. Older trees also provide a source of high-energy food like acorns and beechnuts for animals, and are essential for animals about to go into hibernation if they expect to survive the winter. Beech trees often do not produce seeds until they’re 40 or more years old, and when old oaks and old beeches are cut down, wildlife loses one of its primary source of food. Wildlife can’t wait around for 40 to 60 years for the forests to rejuvenate sufficiently to again produce seed.
Bird populations find old growth forests very important not only for food supplies like beech seeds, but for nesting and shelter. Certain species of birds are found twice as often in old growth as they would be found in newer forests. Some species, like the red-cockaded woodpecker, are completely dependent on old pines and their soft heartwood for both food supplies and nesting requirements. During the more demanding winter months many bird species, who often live in newer forests, frequent old growth forests to sustain them until spring.
When compared to Maryland Forests, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which has been protected primarily as a wilderness since 1934, is a botanical paradise. The count of flowering species is around 1,800 and the count of fungi species was over 2,000 back in the 1960s. At that time 350 types of mosses and liverworts had been identified as well as over 230 species of lichens. There are at least 27 species of salamanders, 23 species of snakes, 7 species of turtles, and more than 70 species of fish known to exist within the park. Of the 130 species of trees in those mountains, most reach record proportion. Several species live to ages of over 500 years. At least 10 species of trees reach heights of over 150 feet and at least 5 have historically reached girths of over 20 feet.
Maryland State Forest practices dictate a cutting cycle of from 50 to 100 years in "General Management Zones". This means the average age of trees in these zones are around 25 to 50 years old. A forest of this age does little to enhance biodiversity recovery or provide the habitat needed by an abundance of creatures and plants. Intense forest management is practiced in about 50% of each State forest with the other 50% being somewhat protected in "Special Management Zones". The 50% that is protected in this manner appears to be protected only as long as DNR and the forest manager thinks it should be. Special protection areas have been known to be suddenly redesignated and immediately become available for cutting by the timber industry. Only small portions of each State Forests is designated as a "Wildland" which seems to provide it some permanent protection under the laws.
State Forest logging revenues are split between Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the local County Government where the logging operations take place. This gives both DNR and the counties a great incentive to continue the intense logging in state forests. The timber industry continues to be a small but powerful voice in determining how state forests are managed, and the real victims appear to be the public who owns the State Forests and the plants and animals which will never recover. An observant person might question why DNR continues to be in competition with the private sector as a wood supplier when the public has many other important uses for these forests.
The best use for state forests would appear to be watershed conservation, tourism, environmental benefits of clean air and water, along with providing the habitat needed for recovery of native wildlife and plants. Incentives used by DNR should be changed to make protection and recovery of indigenous aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna their primary objective -- not supplying wood products. An alternative means of funding state parks and state forests, that doesn’t require cutting of timber in state forests, is an important need of DNR.
While some forests owned by the private sector might eventually recover sufficiently to function as old growth forest, this cannot be guaranteed. Only on state lands can we dictate how forests will continue to operate and be used. Under current practices, only half of the State forests have any chance of returning to their earlier function as old growth forests. This amounts to no more than 6% of the forests, or only 3% of the total land mass in Maryland and isn’t nearly enough for recovery of native species. Increasing protection for forests in Maryland as well as providing wildlife connections to forests in adjoining states should be a priority mission of DNR.
Bob DeGroot
President, MAGIC