This Land, Your Land

A plan meant to guide management of the 50,814-acre Uwharrie National Forest for the next 15 years includes the objective of improving an average of 10 combined miles of substandard hiking, bike, horse or OVH trails each year until the maintenance backlog is depleted.

The U.S. Forest Service released the 140-page revised Uwharrie National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan earlier this week. The major themes of the plan are restoring the forest to a more natural ecological condition, managing cultural resources better, and providing outstanding and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that include excellent trails and facilities, according to a news release.

The first focus of work pertaining to outdoor recreation will be on "correcting long-standing problems with the trail systems in the Badin Lake Recreation Area to reduce impacts to water quality and cultural resources, and provide a better experience for users of the horse and OHV trails," the plan says. "Another recreation priority is completing the Uwharrie National Recreation Trail as opportunities become available."

The Badin Lake Recreation Area comprises five family-style campgrounds (including a horse camp), and five day use sites that offer access to the 5.6-mile Badin Lake Trail, 17 miles of OHV trails, picnic and swimming areas, a boat ramp and a shooting range.

The 20-mile Uwharrie National Recreation Trail offers a variety of scenery, streams and rocky terrain, and encompasses the 11.5-mile Dutchman's Creek Trail, a loop alternative to the longer footpath.

Improving the trail system is seen as a means of supporting growth of local tourism. The forest serves a growing area with a population of 6 million, and officials expect "more pressure from increasing recreational use in the future compared to other national forests in the region." In the meantime, forest officials hope to encourage more consistent use of existing facilities in the Uwharrie, including on weekdays, the plan says. Some facilities are full on weekends, but remain sparsely used during the week.

When improving trails or mitigating adverse impacts from trails throughout the forest, planners suggest creating loops through reroutes or connectors as a means of improving user experience and safety. "As trails are maintained, existing vistas should be maintained where appropriate to provide long-distance views, and opportunities for new vistas should be considered," the plan says.

The plan also looks at the 5,160-acre Birkhead Mountains Wilderness at the northern end of the forest, and calls for completing one condition assessment of the trails and dispersed campsites in the wilderness area over the course of the planning period. Objectives include developing a site-specific wilderness management guide, an emergency response plan, and a fire plan for the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness.

Other highlights of the plan, taken directly from the news release, include:

  - Restoring 100 acres of longleaf pine trees annually. The longleaf pine tree is native to the piedmont region of North Carolina. These restored acres will add to the Uwharrie National Forest's 3,000 acres of existing longleaf pine.
  - Restoring 200 acres of oak-hickory forests annually.
  - Restoring longleaf pine and oak-hickory forests will result in loblolly pine harvests that support the local economy.
  - Improving diversity and habitats for open woodland species such as the endangered Schweinitz's sunflower through increased use of prescribed fire. Prescribed fire is also critical for restoration and maintenance of longleaf pine woodlands.
  - Requiring equestrians and mountain bikers to stay on designated trails, after an initial collaborative trail-system design phase. Off-highway vehicles are currently restricted to designated trails. This will promote forest health by reducing erosion and sedimentation in streams as well as the impacts to rare species and archeological sites.
  - Sustaining stream systems and protecting water quality and aquatic biodiversity, including a goal to reintroduce endangered aquatic species. New standards for trails and an objective for road closures would reduce the potential for stream sedimentation from these sources.
  - Recognizing 34 unique or rare botanical, geological, archeological and/or recreational sites for special management of their rare attributes.
  - Mitigating vulnerability to a changing climate by restoring resilient native ecosystems including longleaf pine and oak-hickory forests, and reduce existing stresses like non-native species.

"People who work, play, or live in or near the Uwharrie NF were invited to participate in a series of public meetings and field trips," to help develop the management plan, the plan document says. Some who responded were interested primarily in conservation of native ecosystems, while others see the forest as a place to enjoy the variety of recreation available. Some look for ways the forest can provide economic benefits to local communities.

"It is a challenge to provide the kind of experience recreationists want while minimizing impacts to other forest resources and other forest users," the plan says.

The plan takes effect in about 30 days. An appeals process is outlined here (.pdf).

A prescribed burn at Hanging Rock State Park in the next couple of months will protect the endangered Schweinitz's sunflower, the Division of Parks and Recreation said this morning.

The burn in 2.5 acres containing the Schweinitz's sunflower is scheduled for this winter or early spring, as weather permits.

The Schweinitz's sunflower is endemic to the Piedmont of North and South Carolina, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is a perennial herb that grows from 1 to 2 meters tall from a cluster of tuberous roots (see below).

Regular fire cycles are necessary for the flower to survive, the state parks news release says, and the burn is to remove competing Virginia pines and other shrubby vegetation shading the sunflowers.

Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii)