The project will use commercial timber sales to provide important young forest habitat and produce more oak and hickory trees over time. It will also use prescribed burning to promote the unique Serpentine Barrens and aim to improve water resource conditions through stream improvement projects. 

Removing patches of older trees gives young trees access to sunlight and water, allowing them to sprout and grow. In these openings fruit, nutritious leaves and flowers attract pollinators and other insects and support small mammals that are prey for larger animals. Nearly 70 percent of the forest in the project area is over 81 years old, and the trend toward older trees is increasing such that in 50 years nearly half of the forest will be comprised of trees older than 130 years, with only 0.5 percent of the project area made up of trees less than 10 years old. 

The Buck Project will leave 96 percent of the 20,638-acre area untouched and will not use clear cutting. Instead it uses a silviculture treatment called “shelterwood with reserves” that leaves some large trees behind. In 30 separate stands over an area of 795 acres, most large trees will be cut to make room for young trees to grow. The average opening in each stand will be 26 acres.

“To do this work we need to harvest timber in areas that don’t currently have roads and that has created some controversy,” said Tusquitee District Ranger Andy Gaston. “This is one of the few places in this part of the Tusquitee Ranger District where we can create the young forest that’s needed because the analysis area is bordered by wilderness and roadless areas. We’ve reduced the risk of sedimentation to streams through several measures, including reusing old road beds wherever possible.”

Other changes to the proposed project based on public engagement and interagency coordination include protections for sensitive areas, old forest communities, rare plants, seeps, stream and boulderfields.

The Buck Project includes 17 stream improvement treatments to restore stream habitat quality and connectivity and reduce sediment to streams. Additional treatments include thinning and prescribed burning to improve ecological conditions in fire-dependent plant communities like the serpentine barrens, a unique community that has more than 20 state-listed rare plants and four state-listed rare butterflies.

 Work in the project area could begin in 2020 and will continue for 5 to 7 years.

The environmental analysis follows a deliberative, science-based approach with input from a wide spectrum of stakeholders. The Buck Project was introduced to the public in 2017 through the National Forests in North Carolina website, by mail and at a public meeting at the Hinton Rural Life Center on November 2, 2017. A draft environmental assessment was released for a 30-day notice and comment period on April 10, 2019.

More information is available at https://go.usa.gov/xV3Ew.