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Update from the Focal Area |
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The drought in the region is allowing some massive
clearcutting in the focal area at unprecedented rates. We can’t survive without
these ecosystems – let’s get out there and save them!
Unfortunately it seems that many logging companies are taking
advantage of the current drought, getting into wetland areas that are usually
inaccessible and cutting down the hardwood trees. There is a particularly brutal example of
this in the White Marsh area just outside Whiteville. What locals tell me used to be a beautiful
swamp teeming with wildlife (and which would noticeably create a cooler
microclimate in the summer) is now a vast clearcut. Whether and when the swamp will be able to
recover is a subject up for debate; wetlands take much longer to recover from
disturbances than do other forests, especially in extreme cases like
clearcuts. And as more and more land is
developed, the remaining wetlands become increasingly necessary for wildlife
habitat, a natural water filtration and purification system for agricultural
runoff and other human-caused pollutants, a carbon sink to mitigate climate
change, and a place for us humans to care for our sanity, reconnect with the
natural world and get away from the madness of consumer culture.
All in all, I consider myself pretty lucky to have the
opportunity to experience all these amazing places and speak with the folks
working to protect and restore the land.
The contrast between these remarkable ecosystems and the sterile pine
plantations I drive through to get to them is also quite striking. As I approached International Paper’s
Riegelwood mill, I noticed more and more logging trucks converging on the mill
from all directions. But it wasn’t until
I actually drove up to the mill and watched the endless procession of trucks
full of logs entering the monstrous facility that I fully realized the extent
of the wholesale extermination of southern forests. Our life-giving forests and wetlands are
literally being sacrificed on the altar of disposable consumerism.
We can’t survive without these ecosystems –
let’s get out there and save them!
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