This Week's Feature

Cypress: Demand for High-End Garden Mulch Threatens a Precious Resource

©Beth Young

Spreading a bagful of mulch on your garden can help conserve water, hold down weeds, and add organic matter to your soil—all good things. But check the label. If you’ve bought cypress mulch, you may be speeding the decline of one of the South’s most precious resources.

All along the southern coast, cypress harvesting has been pushed to unsustainable levels by a surge in demand for decorative garden mulch. In the past, cypress mulch was made from lumber scraps, but now, whole wetland forests are being clear-cut and chipped to make this high-end product. In fact, cypress timbering has nearly doubled over the last half-dozen years due to increased mulch production.

Cypress swamps are among our region’s ecological treasures. They filter pollutants, provide a first line of defense against coastal storms, and support an abundance of wildlife, from alligators to sand hill cranes. Cypress trees can live up to 1,500 years and grow 25 feet in girth, but with the explosive demand for cypress mulch, timber companies are harvesting younger and younger trees—some no more than a foot in diameter. And due to dams, impoundments and other disruptions of natural water flows, a cypress swamp that’s been cut down may never grow back.

With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SELC is conducting an in-depth assessment of stresses on cypress forests in Georgia, including not only the mulch industry, but also mounting development pressures along the coast. With the results of our study, which will be completed later this year, we will craft conservation strategies we and other groups can use to defend and save this dwindling ecosystem.

>>Read more about SELC's fight against illegal cypress harvesting ...

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