Private Lands: The Next Reforestation Boom?

Huge parts of the American Southeast are privately owned. That’s good news for reforestation efforts.

Biodiversity Extreme Weather American Southeast Reforestation

Ask a biologist why trees love growing in the American Southeast, and you might be surprised at the answer.

“We are a disturbance-based ecosystem,” says Lisa Lord, Conservation Programs Director at the Longleaf Alliance. “Whether it’s wind events, hurricanes, fire...所有这些干扰和独特的海岸影响创造了加拿大28回水木喜欢的“小气候”.

But for centuries, the American Southeast has been facing other disturbances, too — not from Mother Nature, but people. 早期的定居者砍伐森林来建造房屋、轮船和铁路. 它们还抑制了森林渴望新鲜养分的低强度火灾.

考虑到破坏的严重程度，美国东南部的森林已经成功地卷土重来. This time, humanity is to thank. 具体来说，家庭森林所有者努力让他们的加拿大28回水木为子孙后代茁壮成长. But the disturbances they face today — extreme weather, urbanization, financial strain — are putting Southeast forests in jeopardy.

Of the 39,320,000 acres of land suitable for reforestation in the American Southeast, an estimated 97% is privately owned. 优先考虑植加拿大28回水造林对保持一个地区的生态环境至关重要 US Forest Service has called “part of a strategy to slow global warming.”

美国东南部是大量依赖健康森林的濒危物种的家园.

An essential ecosystem

Forests are iconic to the American Southeast, ecologically and culturally. 加拿大28回水木可以自然地吸收碳，减轻气候变化的影响. They provide rich habitat for keystone and at-risk species, like an endangered tortoise whose population returned in recent years, thanks to conservation efforts.

美国东南部的森林对该地区的水供应也很重要. In the Southeast, forests filter the water supplied to 14 million people. Without healthy forests, water filtration costs rise, aquifers aren’t recharged as easily, and flooding damage can run rampant. A healthy water supply requires healthy forests.

从历史上看，森林也是该地区家庭的可靠收入来源. 可持续的森林管理需要定期间伐(考虑战略性的加拿大28回水木移除)，以防止虫害和疾病，并减少极端火灾风险. 然后，土地所有者可以将木材出售，制成地板和家具等产品.

In short, 美国东南部的森林对生态系统健康和社区福祉至关重要.

Mounting threats to historic forests

Southeast family forests often go back generations. But as today’s landowners consider what’s next, they face a choice: preserve their forest for family to inherit, 或者接受其中一个无止境的有利可图的提议，将其转化为农业或城市化. It can be a gut-wrenching decision.

48% of family forestland is owned
by people 65 years or older

For one, preserving a forest is expensive. 它通常需要聘请外部顾问来执行对森林生存至关重要的维护工作. Tasks like reducing fire risk, controlling invasive species and pests, managing the thinning process, and planting new trees must be done right. If not, forestland will become totally uncontrollable, and more likely to be lost to urbanization or agriculture. 换句话说，它对野生动物毫无用处，对碳去除的潜力为零.

Cost of reforesting after a hurricane

isometric animation
飓风过后重新造林的费用让许多私人土地所有者望而却步.

虽然植加拿大28回水有助于应对气候变化，但其影响已经导致森林消失. 为了保持一片森林，你需要高质量的幼苗来生长，这并不便宜. 为了负担得起这些费用，土地所有者至少部分依靠砍伐木材的收入. But with climate change making hurricanes more intense and longer lasting, a single storm can wipe out 15 years of income in one day. Reforesting after a hurricane is costly — up to $1,000 per acre to clean up and another $300 per acre to replant.

Before After

飓风“迈克尔”前后佛罗里达州卡尔霍恩县的卫星图像.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael hit the panhandle of Florida, destroying three million acres of forest, and causing more than $1 billion in timber losses. Will Leonard, a forestry consultant with Timberland Solutions in Florida, remembers the cost being too great for his clients to pay out-of-pocket.

“In a normal situation, 土地所有者将从收获的收益中拿出一部分，用这些收益来支付重新造林的费用. A disaster scenario like this, even if a producer was fortunate enough to salvage their timber, they receive pennies on the dollar for it.”

Grants, like those administered by the Arbor Day Foundation, 帮助弥合土地所有者的贡献与森林恢复所需之间的差距.

Inheritance can be sticky, too. If you’re new to the land, hiring a forester, making a sustainable forestry plan, and conducting low-intensity burns can be pretty intimidating.

“我们越来越多地看到年轻的土地所有者——他们可能一辈子都没有踏足过土地——从父母那里继承土地, and they don't know what to do,” says Carol Denhof, President at the Longleaf Alliance. 该联盟成立于1995年，其明确目的是将私人土地所有者与资源联系起来，以维护他们的森林.

If that new landowner decides they’re in over their head, they may decide to sell, and the forest will likely be lost.

In some cases, multiple siblings inherit the land. Two may decide to sell while another decides to keep it in the family. 它造成了林地和非林地的拼凑，破坏了生态系统(野生动物不关心地产线)。.

当土地从森林转为住房开发或农业用地时, it loses its carbon sequestration potential, animals lose their habitats, and a regional culture of forestry is erased even further.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Species in American Southeast forests

  • Black Spotted Newt
  • Houston Toad
  • Gopher Frog
  • Florida Bonneted Bat
  • Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Alone, 土地所有者可能会面临资源匮乏和向何处寻求财政援助的困惑, education, advice, and camaraderie. But together, they represent the forest’s best hope for restoration.

Arbor Day Foundation partners like the Timberland Solutions, Longleaf Alliance, Partnership of Gulf Coast Land Conservation, 乔治亚州林业委员会正在将土地所有者与他们所需的教育和资金资源联系起来，并将他们彼此联系起来. As a result, 他们正在帮助增强拥有林地的自豪感和保持森林繁荣的信心.

How the Arbor Day Foundation is helping

大自然母亲不知道私有土地和公有土地的区别, so the Foundation works on both. 我们采取“以上所有”的方法来建立一个网络，以重新造林东南部. By forming relationships with landowner groups, as well as professional consultants in the area, 更多的土地所有者获得了恢复土地所需的基本资金.

And by providing financial support, the Foundation is making it easier for landowners to stay in the game, whatever challenges lie ahead.

A prime region for impact

尽管土地所有者面临挑战，东南部仍然是一个令人难以置信的种植加拿大28回水木的地区. 气候和自然天气模式为巨大的增长创造了理想的环境, according to Leonard. 此外，还有一群积极参与保护林地的家庭土地所有者, forestland, and it’s an area with incredible potential for impact.

“东南部的重新造林项目比其他任何地方都有更多的机会,” Leonard says.

The American Southeast in Focus

We plant trees around the world, but focus our efforts on key regions where trees can do the most good. In the American Southeast, 我们正在支持大规模恢复长叶松和其他本地物种的努力. Since most of the land is privately owned, 植加拿大28回水节基金会正在与土地所有者和公共实体合作，进一步努力重新造林.

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