Southern Forests

The South is blessed with an amazing diversity of forests, from the cove hardwoods of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the long leaf pine forests and cypress stands on the coastal plain. These forests - some of the most biologically diverse in the world - have sustained the region for generations, providing timber, tar, clean water, game and fish, and increasingly, income from the booming outdoor recreation industry.

Today, the South's natural forests are in peril. About 90 percent of our forests are on private land. Unfortunately, economic forces and tax policies provide greater incentives for development and logging than for wildlife, clean water and other conservation purposes, making these lands vulnerable to urbanization and conversion to mono-culture pine plantations. If current trends continue, the South could lose about one-third of its natural forests by 2040.

The picture for our publicly owned national forests and national parks is not much better. These lands harbor some of the finest examples of the South's forest ecosystems, and offer the best hope to preserve them intact. But rollbacks in federal protections and mismanagement by government agencies that focus too much on roadbuilding and logging threatens to rob future generations of their natural heritage.

SELC is at the forefront of efforts to protect these forests, on both public and private lands. Our aim is to ensure that the our magnificent natural forests remain a vital and vibrant part of the South for generations to come.

• Protecting Southern Appalachian National Forests
• Conserving the Cumberland Plateau
• Promoting Stewardship of Privately Owned Forests

• Defending the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An SELC Online Tour