North Carolina forest at risk: Nantahala National Forest

“Nantahala” gets its name, which means “land of the noon day sun,” from the deep Nantahala Gorge, where sunlight only reaches in the middle of the day. This region’s deep valleys are pockets of priceless biodiversity sheltered by old-growth trees – but those trees are at risk of being chopped down for timber soon.

The threat to Nantahala National Forest

The “Southside Project” was finalized in 2018, but the first timber sale wasn’t issued until 2022. Today, it threatens 317 acres of old growth trees in Nantahala National Forest.

According to the Southside Project plan, only 20% of the tree volume in the area will be allowed to remain standing. And the trees being targeted are right in the heart of some of the southeast’s wildest places. Logging will proceed in three areas eligible for wilderness designation, and even in a forest designated by the state as a natural heritage area.

If we can’t protect these old growth trees first, logging is only set to expand here. The finalized 2022 Nantahala and Pisgah forest plan lays out a plan to quadruple logging levels and bulldoze 300 miles of new logging roads.

Nantahala National Forest is too precious to chop down

What makes these specific trees so special? Their remarkable age. Less than 1% of Southeast forests are old growth, meaning the remaining old growth trees of Nantahala National Forest are extremely precious.

Nantahala’s mature forest shelters amazing wildlife, and even plays an important role in protecting the climate we share. These old-growth stands hold more than a century of stored carbon in the trees, soil and surrounding plants.

This forest is also home to one of the most important remaining populations of the imperiled green salamander. This salamander species is in rapid decline – today, it can be found only in isolated areas on the Blue Ridge Escarpment.

Even if the proposed logging didn’t wipe out the salamanders directly, it would have a deadly impact on their habitat’s health. Logging on slopes near streams often causes erosion, flooding formerly clean water with sediment and making it less suitable for all kinds of freshwater creatures to live.

There are so few remaining old growth forests in this region, which is dominated by fragmented private lands. It’s important to protect the habitat we have left – if these trees are chopped down, the forest won’t ever be the same in our lifetimes.

How to protect Nantahala National Forest

The future of this important forest is uncertain. Under the most recent plan, almost 300,000 acres of mature and old-growth trees are targeted for logging.

Local efforts to stop the logging have been thwarted before. When the first timber sale was offered here, a local conservation group offered to beat any logger’s offer and pay the Forest Service to protect 37 acres of old-growth forest, but the agency sold the trees to loggers at slashed prices anyway. 

But all hope is not lost. We can still win protection for old growth forests like Nantahala at the national level. The U.S. Forest Service is currently considering creating first-ever protections for old-growth forests. A strong forest policy can keep our oldest trees safe and standing tall for future generations.