The Cumberland Plateau encompasses more than 12,800 square miles across northern Alabama and is one of the most significant forested landscapes for plant and wildlife diversity in the South. But wildlife in the region are in need of attention, threatened by loss of habitat. In fact, 58 species are already listed as threatened or endangered, with an additional 63 species on the candidate and petition list for the future.
Additional listings could significantly impact forests in the area, limiting owners’ ability to manage these forests, and the industry’s ability to meet global demand for wood products.
Family-owned forests, which make up more than two-thirds of the forests in the area, are key to ensuring habitat for these species. AFF, the leading forest conservation organization in working with forest landowners, is doing its part to ensure a future where wildlife is no long at risk because they have the needed forest habitat.
Sitting at the tail end of the Appalachian Mountains, the Cumberland Plateau is majority forested, with high-elevation grounds reaching 1,500 feet, down to shallow valleys with winding rivers and streams. Historically, the varying elevation has given way to a rich ecosystem of all pine and mixed pine-oak forests, home to a large number of wildlife, fish and plant species, some found nowhere else in the world.
A once rugged and uninhabited region, the Cumberland Plateau began changing after the Civil War as the area saw an influx of settlers, farmers, and free-range cattle grazing. Then in the 1940’s, with the introduction of Smokey the Bear, state and federal governments made a significant push to reduce natural fire, a key disturbance that aided in forest growth and habitat development. By 1974, there were only 2 million acres of the fire-dependent shortleaf pine habitat remaining in the upland areas.
From the American Forest Foundation: https://www.forestfoundation.org/cumberland-plateau?utm_source=HighRoad&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=partners