49 



USFWS 



USFWS 



Fig. 45. Bottomland wetlands are being channelized, clearcut and converted to agricultural uses in many areas of the Southeast, (a) channeliza- 

 tion and (b) clearcutting. 



Besides improved regulation, acquisition of bottom- 

 land hardwood forests in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial 

 Plain is needed to protect the remaining wetlands. Accel- 

 erated acquisition efforts by the Service, the State of 

 Louisiana, the Nature Conservancy and others are impor- 

 tant steps to preserving these forested wetlands. 



North Carolina s Pocosins 



Along the Southeastern Coastal Plain, numerous ever- 

 green forested and scrub-shrub wetlands called "poco- 

 sins" are found (Figure 46). Pocosins lie in broad, flat 

 upland areas away from large streams. Their vegetation 

 consists of a mixture of evergreen trees including pond 

 pine, loblolly bay, red bay and sweet bay with shrubs, 

 including titi, zenobia, fetterbush, wax myrtle, and leath- 



Fig. 46. Most of the Nation's pocosin wetlands occur along the coastal 

 plain of North Carolina. 



erleaf. Seventy percent of the Nation's pocosins are in 

 North Carolina, where they alone comprised about 2.2 

 million acres or half of the state's freshwater wetlands in 

 1962 (Richardson, et al. 1981). 



Although pocosins are not essential for any wildlife 

 species throughout its range, they do provide important 

 habitat for many animals, especially black bear along the 

 coast (Monschein 1981). For example, the Dismal 

 Swamp is reported to be the last refuge for bears in coastal 

 Virginia. More importantly, pocosin wetlands in coastal 

 North Caroliita are closely linked with the riverine and 

 estuarine systems (Richardson 1981; Street and McClees 

 1981). They help stabilize water quality and balance sa- 

 linity in coastal waters. This is especially important for 

 maintaining productive estuaries for commercial and re- 

 creational fisheries. 



Historically, forestry and agriculture have had impor- 

 tant influences on pocosins. During the past 50 years, 

 forestry uses of pocosins have increased and today about 

 44% of North Carolina's pocosins are owned by major 

 timber companies (Richardson, et al. 1981). While some 

 pocosins were drained and converted to pine plantations 

 or agriculture prior to the early I960's. most of the com- 

 mercial development is more recent (Figure 47). Since 

 1970, timber companies have transferred nearly 500.000 

 acres to large-scale agriculture. Agricultural drainage has 

 focused on the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula where large 

 corporate farms own 400.000 acres of pocosins. In addi- 

 tion to land clearing and extensive ditching, fanning in 

 these former wetlands requires adding fertilizers and 

 lime. For example, 4 to 8 tons of lime must be added to 

 each acre of new agricultural land, with one additional 

 ton added every three years to keep former pocosin soils 

 fertile (McDonald, et al. 1983). Runoff from these farm- 

 lands degrades water quality of adjacent estuaries. 

 Changes in nutrient loading and salinity patterns of adja- 

 cent estuaries have been ob.served (Barber, et al. 1978). 

 These changes may adversely impact fish nursery 

 grounds. 



