Jim Savory, former refuge manager, Feather Phillips, 

 executive director ofPocosin Arts; and David Kitts, 

 deputy refuge manager, are happy planters. 



Wendy Stanton, PLNWR biologist, believes 

 Atlantic white cedar can make a comeback on 

 refuge land. 



In celebration of the Millennium Forest's final planting 

 Alan Earnhardt, of the Carolina Raptor Center, returns 

 a juvenile bald eagle to the wild. 



Efforts to reintroduce red wolves into the wild may 

 help limit deer populations. Deer browsing is the 

 largest threat to juniper seedlings. 



not familiar with deep peat wetlands in North 

 Carolina. 



"If they were more aware, they'd be 

 begging us to restore it," Wicker says. 



STRUGGLING TO TAKE ROOT 



The project is a long-term effort with 

 many challenges — including awareness, 

 funding and restoration. But some point to the 

 high population of deer on the refuge as the 

 biggest problem — a deer can chew a 4-foot- 

 tall seedling down to just inches. 



"They make it like a little bonsai tree," 

 says Bill Pickens, silviculturalist with the N.C. 

 Division of Forest Resources (DFR). "There are 

 way too many deer in eastern North Carolina 

 where white cedar is found." 



In efforts to find ways to protect seedlings 

 from animal damage, Eric Hinesley of NC 

 State's horticultural department has worked 

 with USFWS at the refuge and the DFR. They 



have tested tree shelters, wire cages, electric 

 fences and other devices, but the overall costs 

 exceeded the benefit for large-scale plantings. 

 The best defense for the refuge, according to 

 Stanton, may be the recent introduction of the 

 red wolf back to the area — the only natural 

 predator left to control deer. 



Restoration also has been thwarted by a 

 scarcity of cedar plants. 



Two years ago, DFR was producing about 

 20,000 plants per year — barely enough to 

 support restoration in Pocosin Lakes. Current 

 demand is much greater. 



'There's been a lot of interest in restoring 

 white cedar," says Hinesley. "Longleaf pine is 

 an excellent example of a tree that has come 

 back because of efforts to restore it and replant 

 it, and I think the exact same thing can be done 

 with white cedar." 



By experimenting with Atlantic white 

 cedar plants in a nursery setting, DFR, in 



collaboration with Hinesley, now provides 

 several hundred thousand good quality, 

 containerized seedlings to university, industry, 

 private and government personnel for planting 

 and regeneration each year. 



"We've been working hard to find the best 

 way to grow containerized white cedar, and I 

 think there will be a lot more plants available in 

 the future," Hinesley says. 



JUNIPER OFTHE MILLENNIUM 



In the late 1990s, Feather Phillips, 

 executive director of Pocosin Arts Folk School 

 and Gallery, envisioned "a project of millennial 

 proportions" that would suit small Tyrrell 

 County and places like it on the North Carolina 

 coast. 



Touted as "unspoiled, uncrowded, 

 uncomplicated," Tyrrell is the least populated 

 county in the state, according to the 2000 

 census. The county is home to three protected 



WORLDWIDE MODEL 



The Millennium Forest is a model for 

 restoration efforts across the eastern United 

 States and worldwide. 



Last summer, the Pocosin Arts Folk 

 School and Gallery was invited to the annual 

 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington 

 D.C. to present a 1 0-day exhibit on the 

 Millennium Forest. The exhibit was part of a 

 tribute to mid-Atlantic maritime communities, 

 with topics including the eastern oyster, 

 American shad and Adantic white cedar. 



"There are people who come to this part 



14 EARLY SUMMER 2005 



of the world to see Atlantic white cedar because 

 it's such an amazing tree," explains Feather 

 Phillips, director of Pocosin Arts. 



Also, this spring, the Tate Gallery in 

 London is offering a retrospective of Joseph 

 Beuys' life and work, and is interested in sharing 

 information about North Carolina's 7,000 

 Juniper project. Working with the Tate Gallery 

 "underlined the global connections this small 

 local project has made," says Phillips. 



Check out the Tate Gallery site online at 

 www.tate.org.uk/ and click on the link "Joseph 

 Beuys: Actions, Vitrines,..." 



To leam more about the Millennium 

 Forest, contact Phillips at Pocosin Arts by 

 e-mail at info@pocosinarts.org or visit the Web 

 at www.pocosinarts.org. 



For information on Atlantic white 

 cedar restoration at Pocosin Lakes National 

 Wildlife Refuge, contact Wendy Stanton at 

 252/796-3004, extension 224, or wendy_ 

 stanton@fws.gov. 



Visit the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife 

 Refuge headquarters and Walter B.Jones, 

 Sr. Center for the Sounds, located on the 

 Scuppernong River, off U.S. 64 in Columbia. 



