Hurricane Creek Restoration Project

Executive Summary

The Plan: We are proposing to harvest 12 A of loblolly pine at Hurricane Creek and thin the remaining pines. Harvests will be conducted using group-selection cuts to create three 3-A forest openings and three 1-A openings. Cuts will be circular in shape. Since the tract is 62 A in size, openings will be created on 19% of the area. Buffer strips (100 ft) of preserved forest will remain intact along Hurricane Creek and the Etowah River to reduce sedimentation and retain riparian species.  A contract will be bid by NGCSU with assistance from the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) after  we receive BOR approval for the sale. Harvests will be conducted in November 2009. The three 3-A openings will be planted with 8,000 seedlings of mountain long-leaf pine in October.  The three smaller openings will be allowed to re-vegetate naturally. Mountain long-leaf pine is a native tree that covered lower elevations in the north Georgia mountains at the time of European settlement. The current loblolly pine plantation was planted ~25 years ago.  Planting will be conducted by NGCSU students and staff. We received a cost-share grant from the GFC to partially offset the cost of seedlings and preparation of the site for planting.  A prescribed burn will be conducted next summer (2010) to stimulate the growth of seedlings and reduce fuel loads on the site. Planting and burning will be conducted with on-site supervision by the GFC. The eroding entrance road to the tract and culvert will be renovated by the timber company to allow access by their trucks. After expenses and cost-share, the timber harvest is expected to generate ~$10-15K in net income. We are requesting that the Biology Department be allowed to use this income to build a greenhouse to support education and research on native and heirloom Appalachian plants.

Purpose: The Hurricane Creek tract in its current state offers limited opportunities for education, research, or service. The proposed plan is designed with three purposes in mind. Foremost, it would create an experimental design on the landscape. Creating three larger openings and three smaller ones would provide the necessary replicated design to allow student researchers to explore meaningful questions about forest regeneration, wildlife habitat use, and exotic plant invasion. These questions are relevant throughout the Southeast as communities and government agencies attempt to balance harvesting this valuable natural resource with protecting soils, streams, and biodiversity.  Second, active management of the tract is needed at this time to reduce the potential of tree mortality due to southern pine beetles, liability associated with dead standing timber, and fire. Finally, the site can serve as a model for the broader community of north Georgia land-owners, if we can successfully develop it as an ecologically-sensitive showcase for restoration of timberland with mountain long-leaf pines. The latter are somewhat slower growing than the common loblolly pine, but they are resistant to southern pine beetles and well-adapted to drought and changing regional climates.

Potential alternatives: Other options include: (1) Maintaining the site in its current state. Upkeep of the site currently costs the Biology Department >$6,000 annually.  Given limited educational use, this expense cannot be justified. (2) Sale of the site. This generates short-term income, but eliminates future options for educational use. In all likelihood, new owners would clearcut the plantation portion of the tract for income. (3) Maintaining the tract in its current state and using Pine Valley as a biological field station. The latter assumes that Corps of Cadets activities, timber harvest, and permanent research plots are compatible; probably not the case. The Hurricane Creek site is relatively remote, reducing vandalism and public use. The Pine Valley site is much more accessible.