FORESTS AND FOREST CONDITIONS IN THE SOUTHERN 



APPALACHIANS. 



By H. B. Ayres and W. W. Ashe. 



The Southern Appalachian Mountains extend from Vir- 

 ginia southwestward into Alabama, and lie between the 

 Piedmont Plateau on the southeast and the lowlands of 

 East Tennessee on the northwest. That this is preemi- 

 nently a region of mountains is well illustrated by the fact 

 that the mountain slopes occupy 90 per cent of the total 

 area; and probably the combined area of the vallej's and 

 gentler slopes (of less than 10 degrees — about 2 feet in 10) 

 will not aggregate more than 15 per cent of the whole. 



Before the advent of man the entire region, save the tops taUi"regtoi^^rf^- 

 of a few high mountains — the grassy "balds" — was cov- "g'J^^^^ "^"^ 

 ered with forest, mainly hard wood. (See PI. XXXVIl.) 

 Then, as now, the forest varied as to density and vigor 

 of growth, but a far larger portion of that existing then 

 is resembled by the best of to-day on such tracts as are 

 found in the most favored situations and have been pro- 

 tected from fire and severe culling. 



A total area of 5,400,000 acres has been examined in 

 connection with this investigation, and of this 4,050,000 

 acres, or 75 per cent of the whole, are still in forest. Of 

 this total area in forest about 7.4 per cent, or 303,000 

 acres, is still in primeval condition, i. e., has never been 

 culled at all. The remainder of this wooded area has been 

 culled to a varying extent. (See PI. XXXVIII. ) A limited ^ Nature andex 



" ^ _ tent of the clear- 



portion of that near the railway lines has been robbed of 



nearly everything of commercial value, while the remote 

 areas have had only the walnut, cherry, and figured woods 

 cut. From the intervening areas, far the larger part of 

 the vvhole, a varying proportion of the most valuable 

 trees have been removed, but large amounts of commer- 

 cial timber still remain. The clearing and culling of a 

 century have made considerable inroads into these forests. 

 The woodland connected with the farms has been largely 



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