Dismal Swamp's woes could inspire forest restoration

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SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A small logging operation to save a sliver of Atlantic white cedar trees could be a prelude to the most significant forest-restoration effort in the 30-year-history of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

Since late winter, refuge officials have overseen logging on about 100 acres of white cedar forest that Hurricane Isabel twisted and snapped to the ground. The tree's shallow roots leave it particularly vulnerable to high winds.

The felled trees are a wildfire threat and smother any chance for seeds to sprout into new, globally rare Atlantic white cedar.

The refuge's 13,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar represent about 5 percent to 10 percent of the world's total, said refuge manager Lloyd Culp. The refuge covers 111,000 acres.

The logging to date has touched only a fraction of the nearly 2,000 acres of Atlantic white cedar that were severely damaged by the hurricane.

"If we don't do anything, this cedar acreage will be lost," Mr. Culp said. "If lightning strikes in one of these downed stands, we'll have a wildfire like we've never seen here before."

Before logging roads, railways and ditches were built and the trees were cut down, the Great Dismal Swamp featured an extensive Atlantic white cedar forest, said Brian Van Eerden, director of conservation programs for southeastern Virginia for the Nature Conservancy.

Even though much of that forest is lost, the swamp remains important for the trees.

"If you're looking for the best and largest stands of Atlantic white cedar in the Mid-Atlantic, you go to the Dismal Swamp," Mr. Eerden said. "Unfortunately, Isabel was a tremendous blow. If the refuge were to do nothing, which operationally would be the easiest thing to do, more than likely that acreage of Atlantic white cedar would be lost forever."

Much of the wind-torn forest lies deep in the southern part of the refuge, beyond the reach of regular equipment, and might need to be hauled out by helicopter, Mr. Culp said. That could cost several million dollars, but would be paid for by the high commercial value of the Atlantic white cedar timber, Mr. Culp said.

If the value of the timber doesn't support logging by helicopter, which would be the most sensitive method, Mr. Culp said refuge officials would still likely try to clear the land with conventional equipment.

Forests of the spindly, flagpole-straight cedar once lined the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida in freshwater wetlands. Scientists estimate more than 90 percent of the pre-European settlement white cedar forest has been wiped out.

The tree needs a certain peat soil and a high water table to thrive, Mr. Culp said.

Early loggers drained swamps and altered those conditions, often prohibiting white cedar regeneration.