Southeast Regional Meeting PDF Print E-mail
  • November 7– 8, 2009
  • Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa (just east of Asheville), NC
  • Agenda
  • Register (advanced registration is now closed. Late registrants can register at the event)
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Join Forest Guild members and friends November 7–8 in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains on the beautiful campus of Warren Wilson College (WWC) in Swannanoa (just east of Asheville). The Guild’s Southeast regional meeting will begin on Saturday with a morning field tour of the forests of Biltmore Estate, home to the first large-scale experiment in forestry in America. This experiment ― envisioned and designed by George W. Vanderbilt and Frederick Olmsted― was implemented by Biltmore's first forester, Gifford Pinchot, and his successor, Dr. Carl A. Schenck. At the Biltmore Estate forest, we will look at some examples of early reforestation efforts, including 110- to 120-year-old plantations and natural forest stands. We will observe current management practices and how they relate to Biltmore's master plan and objectives, including examples of recent low-impact or "light touch" timber harvest areas. We will also discuss the challenges of controlling and eradicating invasive plants and insects, and wildlife management issues.

After lunch, we will tour the U.S. Forest Service Bent Creek Experimental Station and At Research forester Dave Loftus will lead a field tour of thinning, growth, and yield plots, mostly focusing on regeneration, but also on how regeneration relates to the station’s fire research. The overall theme will be understanding how species (and communities) are distributed across environmental gradients and appreciating why that understanding is important.

After leaving Bent Creek, we will return to the WWC campus to enjoy a pulled pork barbecue where a whole pig (raised, butchered, and prepared by Warren Wilson students) will be roasted.

Sunday morning Forest Guild member and WWC faculty member, Dave Ellum, assisted by WWC students will lead a tour of the WWC forest that will include horse logging, shitake mushroom cultivation, and a discussion amung participants of the past, present, and future of forestry in the southern Appalachians.

There will be an informal group dinner gathering for early arrivers on Friday, November 6. For more information, please contact Forest Guild Southeast region coordinator Nate Wilson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 
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Forest Wisdom Issue 14


Forest Wisdom #14 (fall 2009) explores issues related to managing forests for wildlife and biodiversity. Articles range from restoring meadows to maintain rare butterfly habitats in the forests of western Oregon, to safely returning fire to highly fire-dependent forest ecosystems in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, to identifying forest management objectives for a small group of “focus species” whose habitat needs are representative of a wide range of other wildlife in the forests of Maine. Though focusing on a wide variety of wildlife, all of the articles share a common goal of restoring and maintaining forest ecosystem health in order to provide a natural habitat for native species.