NORTH CAROLINA — More than 250 members of the western North Carolina community, including many forest landowners, gathered at Highland Brewery in Asheville on late December 2024 to discuss the challenges facing local forests after Hurricane Helene. 

USDA Forest Service public affairs specialist Christine Martens organized the event in collaboration with Lang Hornthal from EcoForesters. More than 20 local forestry organizations, including federal and state partners, non-governmental organizations, and consulting foresters, staffed tables and shared resources with attendees.

The event included a panel discussion with Tara Keyser from the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, Wesley Sketo from North Carolina Forest Service, Greg Cooper from Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Andy Tait from EcoForesters and Dan Callaghan from Wildwood Consulting.

“The idea for this event came from a visit with the Washington Post, where we showed reporters some of the worst-hit forests in our area. Local landowners invited us to see damaged forest on their land. They had lost almost every single tree,” explained Martens, “and they were desperate for answers on what to do.”

During the panel discussion, Sketo discussed the wildfire risk associated with the many downed trees, which would add substantial fuel to any fire. He suggested maintaining at least a 30-foot buffer around houses and opening access roads that could be used as fire breaks.

Due to the increased wildfire risk, landowners asked questions about how to remove downed trees. Callaghan discussed the possibility of salvage logging but noted that most salvage operations were not profitable. With limited loggers in the area, most jobs were being turned down.

Keyser discussed her research on creating biochar from small-diameter wood. This 

research began as part of a search for alternative markets after the 2023 closing of a nearby papermill. Biochar is an effective soil amendment, although the market for biochar is still small.

Experts and landowners are also worried about the proliferation of invasive plants, as they compete against native species for the newly available sunlight on the forest floor. Panelists suggested using herbicides to combat them, although forestlands with a significant loss of trees may become impenetrable with blackberry thickets for a few years.

Finally, every panelist had something to say on the topic of oaks: With the loss of so many trees, many of them oaks, how can we help the next generation of oaks succeed on the landscape? Oaks are beneficial for wildlife, including birds, insects and mammals. They consume about half the water as other species and produce valuable timber. Some of the suggestions for promoting oaks included prescribed fire and controlling other tree species, especially maple and tulip poplar.

During the table session, Southern Research Station scientist Steve Norman displayed a map of Hurricane Helene's impacts on forests in the area, using the HiForm (High-resolution Forest Mapping) tool that can detect forest changes across the landscape. The map clearly shows that in terms of forest impacts, the area northeast of Asheville was the most heavily hit.

Given the popularity of this event, both from the public and participating organizations, it is clear the dialogue on forest management post-hurricane Helene is just beginning.