acidity is reduced, and ammonia, phosphates, and 

 chlorides increase via subsurface routes. The 

 greatest overall impact is created by direct runoff. 



Agriculture . The draining of swamp lands for 

 row crop agriculture and damming to either flood 

 cranberry bogs or fill reservoirs generally result in re- 

 placement by drier forest species (Little 1950; Lader- 

 man, unpubl.). Cultivation and draining level the 

 hummock and hollow topography and may per- 

 manently and irreversibly destroy the soil microstruc- 

 ture (see Section 4.3). 



Silviculture has exerted profound effects on 

 forest composition, ranging from the complete local 

 extirpation of Atlantic white cedar to the production 

 of pure cedar stands. The results of clearcutting, 

 selective harvest, post-harvest treatment, etc., are 

 explored with "harvest" elsewhere in this chapter 



Nnn-point source load . Both agriculture 

 and suburban development add significantly to the 

 nutrient, heavy metal, total solids, and non- 

 biodegradable content of the wetland water and soil 

 into which they drain. Peat acts as a sink for DDT and 

 for other similar non-biodegradable adsorbable 

 molecules (Gorham 1987). Fertilizer, pesticide, her- 

 bicide, and animal and human wastes contribute to 

 the non-point source load of ground and surface 

 water. 



Roadways . The long-term effects created 

 by roadbeds are not fully comprehended. Extensive 

 stands of cedar are flooded or drained by the crea- 

 tion of roads throughout the cedar's range. It is clear 

 that they temporarily act exactly as any dam which 

 floods adjacent areas and prevents the free flow of 

 water and nutrients downstream. In addition, the ef- 

 fect on water quality of roadbase materials and runoff 

 must be considered (Craul 1985 examines the im- 

 pact of roadways on soils). Damage due to deer 

 browse, winterkill, and windthroware exacerbated at 

 road edges (Little 1950; T Dilatush, pers. comm.), 

 where the growth of competing subcanopy vegeta- 

 tion is stimulated by the additional light and nutrient 

 inflow. 



On the other hand, increased light and heat 

 favor the germination and rapid growth of cedar see- 

 dlings immediately adjacent to road cuts, and the 

 local increase in moisture due to the channeling of 

 water has a similar effect. Thriving, dense, even- 

 aged, monotypic Chamaecyparis stands often line 

 drainage ditches that accompany cedarforest roads. 



The complex hydrological effects of 

 drainage ditches (illustrated diagrammatically in Fig- 

 ure 30) have a major overall impact on Atlantic white 

 cedar forests. Normal water retention and slow sub- 

 surface sheetflow are replaced by rapid channelized 



surface flowthrough of water made virtually unob- 

 tainable to the wetlands. This problem is examined 

 in the case study of Dare County, NC (Chapter 7). 



6.2 MANAGEMENT 



It would be expected that definitive 

 guidelines for management of a tree that has been 

 harvested since the first Europeans settled on the 

 continent would have been developed long ago, yet 

 this is not so. As with many other plentiful resources 

 in the early days of development, the supply of cedar 

 seemed endless. When all cedar that was easy to 

 remove was gone, the operators moved on. If less 

 desirable cedars remained, they were commonly 

 taken for fence posts, shingles, or even firewood. 

 Fast-growing hardwoods often replaced cedar, and 

 the nature of the forest changed. 



In this century, the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture kept records of the amount of wood 

 being produced and wood available for harvest. As 

 the units used were too large for all but the most ex- 

 tensive Atlantic white cedar stands, Chamaecyparis 

 thyoides was lumped with red cedar {Juniperus) and 

 northern white cedar {Thuja), in effect leaving no 

 records for the species (Ward, unpubl.). Even these 

 records were written in strictly merchandising terms: 

 board feet and stumpage rather than numbers of 

 trees or percent cover Then came a time when At- 

 lantic white cedar was less important; western red 

 cedar, easier to lumber and in greater supply, largely 

 supplanted its eastern swamp relative (Ward, un- 

 publ.). Ironically, the advent of the conservationist 

 ethic signaled senescence for protected cedar lands, 

 while unprotected swamps were, with the toss of 

 nature's dice, given some chance for renewal as 

 cedar stands. Early in the 20th century, fire suppres- 

 sion became not only the forestry imperative, but a 

 national ethic as well. As discussed earlier, fire or 

 other catastrophe makes the regeneration of cedar 

 stands possible. On managed lands, every effort 

 was made to prevent and suppress wildfire. 



Current real estate and silvical economic 

 practices discourage the regeneration of lands now 

 in cedar Few lands commercially lumbered for At- 

 lantic white cedar are owned by the harvester. 

 Private landowners and the State and Federal 

 governments lease out the lumber rights, generally 

 on a 20-year basis, to timber companies. They rent 

 the right to take out the timber for a set period ; there- 

 after they have no interest in the land. At present, 

 there are no regulations governing the condition in 

 which the land is to remain. Commonly the only 

 leasing stipulations and restrictions refer to the con- 

 dition of roads and ditches (R Garrett, pers. comm.). 

 The timing and manner of harvest, handling of slash. 



I 



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