These suggestions are intended for the swamp as a whole, but 

 especially for the portion south of Lake Drunmond, including the 

 North Carolina State Park lands. The Gates County tract has been 

 less affected than these sections to the north and northeast, but 

 here too, water level should be raised enough to stop type 

 conversion and to initiate return to the original conmunities. 



If management objectives are to preserve existing remnants of 

 the original vegetation of the Dismal, the best alternative would 

 be to close all the ditches and raise the water table until water 

 is ponded in the topographic lows. Ponding would serve as an 

 indicator of the proper level at which to set spillways. 



The result, of course, would not be an entirely natural 

 situation, since the aquatic community was probably rare in the 

 undisturbed swamp. It would, however, be a first step in healing 

 the past century's scars by reinitiating peat formation in the 

 ponded areas and protecting the remaining peat highs from further 

 oxidation and deep peat burns. 



This would be the most ethical course of action and would 

 acknowledge the disturbance nature of much of the present 

 vegetation and topography. Reflooding the burned-out lows would 

 create excellent waterfowl habitat for a century of two while 

 these areas undergo peat filling and succession from aquatics to 

 white cedar. The healing process could be a central interpretive 

 theme for the Refuge and a subject for research. 



Without some such management 5 prospects for the Dismal are 

 more burns, continued loss of peat by oxidation and continued 

 conversion to loblolly pine and red maple. Because of the depth 

 of the ditches, and of organic matter, these processes could 

 continue for centuries, until exhaustion of the peat. 



Since pine and maple would not be expected to survive in the 

 wetter areas if the water table were raised, it might not be 

 objectionable to harvest these in some areas. Some tracts should 

 be left for study. 



Should survival of the National Wildlife Refuge system become 

 contingent upon production of income at some time in the future, 

 it might be desirable to maintain a portion of the swamp in 

 loblolly pine. However, for esthetic, scientific and educational 

 purposes, some large portion of the swamp should be managed in 

 the manner suggested. 



80 



