The Chattooga River watershed is unique and biotically rich. Its descent through a pronounced elevational gradient and numerous geological types, its inholdings of riparian, rocky outcrops, seeps and bogs, forest interior and other habitats, all provide for a great diversity of plants and animals with origins in tropical, temperate, and northern regions. Local researchers have established that the Chattooga River watershed is a unique ecotone for the temperate deciduous forest -- a transitional area providing habitats for both northern boreal and southern tropical species in one drainage basin (Bruce et al., 1995).

What is the Native Forest of the Chattooga River Watershed?

Historians and scientists generally agree that prior to human settlement, and certainly prior to European settlement of the area, forests covered a larger percentage of the land area of the Southern Appalachians than they do today. An issue of investigation has been the specific quality of that forest before the time of the Native Americans, during their predominance here, and after European settlement.

Recent studies have shed some light on the question, and generally support a "common sense" understanding of the area's ecological history. One study completed under the auspices of the U.S.D.A. Forest Service's "Chattooga River Basin Ecosystem Management Demonstration Project" offers new evidence of historical conditions in the watershed from which we may draw some conclusions about the quality of the forest in years gone by--in years when humanity's effect on its composition was entirely absent or less significant than in recent history. This study shows that large-scale natural disturbances that significantly affect the stand structure and species composition of the forest are a relatively rare phenomenon--perhaps once a century, or less--and would generally occur in the more southern reaches of the watershed (Meier and Bratton, 1995) or in rigetops and summits where natural disturbances occur at relatively greater rates. In less exposed areas, conditions would encourage the development of what many peoples imagine to be a typical forest--grand and majestic, and dominated by old hardwoods. Indeed, researchers estimate that such a "mixed mesophytic" forest dominated the region long ago (Meier, personal communication), especially in the protected coves where a relative lack of disturbance would promote the development of the huge trees now found in remnant stands like those of the Joyce Kilmer Forest in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

In the more recent past, "...these forests have been classified as part of the oak-chestnut association. Early settlers saw that in many areas the canopy was dominated by the American Chestnut" (Horn, 1995). After the chestnut blight virtually eliminated this species from the canopy, a significant change occurred in the forest community where the chestnuts were previously dominant. "Other species which are taking their place include white oak, chestnut oak, several species of hickory, and red maple" (Horn, 1995). The trend seems to suggest that if the forests of the Southern Appalachians were generally left to their own development, they would be dominated by hardwoods, and further, that the age of these deciduous forests would be generally older than what dominates today.

Further evidence for the historical structure and composition of the landscape of the Chattooga River watershed and the region is provided by a critical look at the status of its living biological resources. Much research has been devoted over the past 20-30 years to the investigation of plant and animal species found here and the habitats upon which they depend. The "indicator species" approach has helped, when the proper species are chosen, to determine large scale changes in habitat types. In the southern Appalachians, most of the terrestrial species listed as threatened or endangered are associated with deciduous forest, especially older stands (Noss and Peters, 1995).

The scientific evidence supports the "common sense" understanding of the history of Southern Appalachian forests: in the not-too-distant past, the area was more dominated by majestic, older hardwoods than is the case today. Natural disturbances at small and large scales helped to maintain a heterogeneous mix of species over the landscape, but many forest plants and animals were more common, because they had relatively more older, deciduous forest habitats in which to live and flourish. In order to conserve and restore the ecological integrity of the area and provide viable habitat for species in decline, we must allow more of our forest to mature toward its typical historical condition: generally mature and majestic hardwoods largely undisturbed by humans.

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