The Power of the Forest

A tree is a wonder of nature; a forest is an army of trees protecting nature.  Trees cleanse the air by pulling carbon dioxide and other toxins, and storing the carbon for their lifetime.   Trees provide a shade canopy reducing ground temperatures.  Trees provide homes and food for animals and birds.  Trees filter water, clearing contaminants which are harmful to drinking water and healthy aquatic habitats.  Finally, trees protect against erosion of valuable top soils.

The footprint of the Tennessee River Valley is pure Appalachia, with mountains and forests in the highlands of the east and grasslands and savannahs in the west.  As business commerce moved into the Valley, extraction, timbering, and farming greatly impacted the landscape of the region.  All three industries built economies of the surrounding communities, but these industries also created scars that negatively impacted the health and wellbeing of those same communities. 

In the early days of TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), the agency focused on reforestation of reclaimed lands that were strip cut for timber or farmland.  Run-off of water on these lands washed away top soil leaving rocky, subsoil which was not suitable for sustaining farms or tree regrowth. Over a period of years, TVA replanted almost 1.5 million acres of land.

In modern days, the Appalachian Region Reforestation Initiative (ARRI), in partnership with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is being challenged to reclaim thousands of acres of abandoned coal mines by encouraging restoration of the land by planting high-quality forests. Both TVA and ARRI look to practices that improve the survival of seedlings.  Best practice looks to first growth tree production to supports wildlife and mitigate soil erosion, while second growth trees provide high commercial value. 

Collaboration among agencies is the key to preserving our forest lands.  OSMRE Forester, Clifford Drouet reached out to us and asked for help to raise awareness for the ARRI program.  Here are some facts that he shared about their work:

• Most of the land that the ARRI program is restoring throughout Appalachia is privately owned. Project sizes can range from 10 ac to 1000+ acres. 

• The ARRI program works with multiple partners in each state including federal and state agencies, non-profits, for profits, academia, and foundations to coordinate restoration efforts and resources.

• Established in 2004, ARRI has a long successful history throughout the Appalachian region and is now assisting other states with reforestation.

• While the ARRI program is not carbon credit certified at this time, it is being evaluated as a volunteer carbon market program and should be certified soon in addition to existing federal and state tax credits.

• The project sites are hand- planted by professional planting crews, but there are also scheduled volunteer planting events to observe Arbor Day & Earth Day (on small plots.)  All ARRI partners and local media are invited to attend so ARRI volunteers can demonstrate the “5 W’s” behind restoring old mine sites (aka=moonscapes) and promote the program.

Conservation, sustainability, and resiliency are at the core of caring for our forests, which are “caring” for us.