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Over 2000 kinds of plants thrive here, including over 130 species of trees -- more than are found in all of Europe. The region boasts 700 vertebrate species, among them 50 varieties of salamanders, more than in any area of comparable size on the planet, and around 150 species of nesting birds. Thousands of invertebrate species contribute to the region's remarkable natural life.
The superlatives do not end here, though. The Southern Appalachians, which stretch across parts of five states from Georgia to Virginia, contain the greatest concentration of federal public land and the largest remaining expanses of wilderness in the eastern United States. North Carolina's Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests alone comprise over a million acres of the region's 3.7 million-acre federal public estate. The balance is found in two important units of the National Park System -- the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- and in its four other national forests: the Cherokee in Tennessee, the Chattahoochee in Georgia, the Sumter in South Carolina and the Jefferson in Virginia.
Not surprisingly, the Southern Appalachians contain the greatest remaining acreage of old-growth forest in the eastern U.S. They offer a range of unusual habitats, such as beech gaps and mountain balds, hardwood coves and spruce-fir stands.
These mountains lie within a day's drive of upwards of a third of the nation's people and have become a magnet for outdoor recreation in virtually all its forms: white water boating; hunting and fishing; hiking and camping; bird-watching; and, the search for quiet and solitude. The famous Appalachian Trail winds through the heart of the region, traversing much of its spectacular high country. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most heavily visited in the entire National Park System with over 8 million annual visitors each year. Visitation to the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests dwarfs that number with around 35 million visitors.
What brings visitors in every-increasing numbers to this land? At the threshold, it is the simple fact that it IS our public land and is OPEN to the public. For many, it is the opportunity to enjoy the unspoiled scenic beauty and to escape from the pace of life in more developed places into quieter, more natural surroundings. For some, it is secure habitat that sustains wildlife for hunting, angling and simply watching.
Others are drawn by that magical word: wilderness. And that attraction grows. In fact, demand for wilderness recreation is expected to increase steadily in the Nantahala-Pisgah and there is not enough wilderness to meet today's demands, let alone tomorrow's. The U.S. Forest Service calculates that demand for wilderness recreation will be double the available opportunities by 2030. Of the one million acres within these two national forests, a scant 66,500 have been designated wilderness, less than 7 percent of the total. |
