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The
Land Trust for the
Little Tennessee
88 East Main Street
P. O. Box 1148
Franklin, NC 28744-1148
Phone: 828-524-2711
Fax: 828-524-4741
Email: LTLT |
Sustainable
Forestry Project
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From The Land Steward, Spring/Summer 2002
LTLT Coordinates New Sustainable-Forestry Partnerhip
The LTLT
is joining with Western Carolina University, Duke University,
The Conservation Fund, and the Region A Council of Governments
in an initiative to research and promote sustainable-forestry
practices and to conserve private forestlands. The Doris Duke
Charitable Foundation and the National Forest Foundation have
provided significant grants to assist the partners in launching
new programs to help communities protect their mountain forests
from inappropriate development.
A major
thrust of the project will be a program of outreach and education
aimed at landowners, community leaders, foresters, loggers,
and other forestry-industry representatives. The project will
establish sites throughout the basin to demonstrate sound
timber-management practices in a setting that is accessible
to both private landowners and forestry professionals.
These
demonstration sites will also provide a venue for student
interns and graduate students from both Western Carolina and
Duke to further their practical education. They will describe
and document the current forest conditions and evaluate the
effects of sound timber-management practices from both a biological
and a business perspective. |
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The
Forestry Five (left to right): Dennis Desmond, LTLT project
coordinator, Norm Christensen, Duke University, Dan Tinker
and Peter Bates, Western Carolina University, Paul Carlson,
LTLT executive director
(Photo by Deborah Thomas) |
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| Through
the diligent efforts of the partners and the involvement of
the community within which they work, the Little Tennessee Sustainable-Forestry
Partnership hopes to create a more stable upland environment
surrounding the Little Tennessee River basin by ››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››› |
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Forestry
Program Coordinator Hired
Dennis
Desmond has joined LTLT as coordinator for the Little Tennessee
Sustainable-Forestry project. He began his official duties
on May 13th.
Dennis
has an MS in Forestry from NC State University. He comes to
Franklin from Abingdon, VA, where he was lead forester for
Appalachian Sustainable Development. Previously, Dennis led
community forestry projects in both Ecuador and Bhutan.
In his
new role, Dennis will coordinate the project’s various
forest-management, conservation, and education initiatives,
which are aimed at developing sustainable forestry alternatives
for local forestland owners.
LTLT
Co-Sponsors Ecological Restoration Seminar at WCU
Using
fire to shape the landscape is one of the oldest techniques
in man’s quest to manage open space. To better understand
how – and why – fire was used by native peoples,
LTLT recently co-sponsored a seminar at Western Carolina University
entitled, “Ecological Restoration with Native Communities
and Their Lands”.
The seminar
was presented by Drs. Thom Alcoze and Sally Oran of the Restoration
Institute at Northern Arizona University. Their work focuses
on the use of fire in ecosystem restoration and traditional
knowledge systems of Native Americans in fire management.
Drs. Alcoze and Oran spent two days with LTLT viewing the
historic landscape of the upper Little Tennessee basin and
discussing the role of prescribed fire in the restoration
of habitat. |
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From The Land Steward, Summer/Fall 2003
Interim Report on the Little Tennessee
Sustainable Forestry Partnership
by
Dr. Peter Bates, Professor of Forestry, WCU |
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Promoting
working-forest conservation easements as a voluntary means for
conserving private forestland |
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Demonstrating
practical, efficient,
and sustainable
forest-management techniques |
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Educating
the next generation of natural-resource managers |
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Raising
community awareness of the importance of maintaining a flow
of clean water, quality timber, intact wildlife habitat, and
stunning views from the forested highlands surrounding the upper
Little Tennessee basin. |
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| The informal
collaboration between LTLT and Western Carolina University’s
Natural Resources Management Program, which began with the hardwood
thinning at Little Ellijay, has evolved into an impressive partnership
that is improving land management throughout the region. The
partnership is using a 3-pronged approach to promote sustainable
forest management as an important conservation tool in the Little
Tennessee Basin ››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››› |
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| One of
the most exciting components of this project is the intern program
the partnership has established at WCU. Currently, eight undergraduate
students are employed year-round to actively conduct sustainable
forest management activities. The students gain valuable hands-on
experience and the project benefits by having an effective field
crew that is able to perform a wide range of management activities.
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Back
to Top |
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We
are demonstrating sustainable forestry at nine sites in Macon
and Jackson Counties; |
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We
are educating the community on the principles and application
of sustainable forest management; |
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We
are researching, documenting and evaluating the efficiency of
carious forest-management techniques. |
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