Restoring Hardwood Forests

Driving down I-10 from Florida to Louisiana a few weeks ago, I had hoped to see some of the colors of fall. What I actually saw was miles and miles of pine trees dotted with the occassional oranges, reds and golds of the native hardwoods. In many places this overabundance of pines is the result of an attempt to reforest areas after the native hardwoods were logged. Pines seem a natural choice for this effort as they grow faster than most hardwood species and return an area to a shaded forest environment much quicker. But at what price? The loss in diversity not only extends to the species of trees in the forest, but to the wildlife as well. Native wildlife depends on the many different types of trees for their homes and food and replanting every forest that is logged with pines will force some species to either adapt or leave.

As long as people continue to use paper and build wooden houses, logging will be a part of life, and a lucrative business. I personally witnessed the anguish of landowners in Mississippi who lost most or all of the trees on their property during hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Many of these people considered the opportunity to log the timber on their land as a retirement plan and most of that timber was pine. Approximately 50% of the forest in all the southern states is held by private land owners who intend to log within the next 10 years. In the next 40 years, another 10-15% of those forests will be lost to urban sprawl.

Can anything save the native hardwood forest? I believe the air-pruning process can do just that. By accelerating the growth rate and improving survival, the air-pruning process can produce a diversity of native hardwood species that mature in the same or better time as a traditional pine tree. The tremendous initial growth and early fruiting of EMI trees means that a logged area could be returned to a suitable habitat with shade, food and shelter for many wildlife species much quicker. In fact, many federal, state and local agencies (DOT, EPA, NRCS) recommend air-pruned trees because of their many habitat friendly qualities. I would love to see areas replanted with their native hardwood species and keep pine trees planted where they are native.