Dying Hemlocks at Warspur Trail in Giles County
There are key differences between areas that are covered with trees. A close look at a forest can identify if it's a "natural" area... or perhaps should be classified separately as "commercial forest."
In the 1980's and 1990's, the Federal Geographic Data Committee struggled with the different proposals for mapping standards used to portray the national forests. Some people considered the commercial forest lands to be primarily agricultural, especially the pine plantations where trees were harvested every 7-15 years for pulpwood. According to their recommendations, the corn fields and pine plantations would be lumped into one category on maps. This category would be distinct from parks and wilderness areas.
Others advocated mapping forests by land cover rather than land use. According to that approach, areas covered in trees would be colored consistently on maps, lumping them in one category and obscuring the distinction between the commercial and non-commercial forest areas. (When the harvest rotation was every 100 years rather than every 7-15 years, the distinctions between the types of forests were much harder to define...)
Fire Ecology in VirginiaDesignated Forests in Virginia |
 cedars removed to enhance grassland habitat at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge |
Did you know... that House Joint Resolution No. 6 on January 11, 1956 designated the dogwood as the official tree of Virginia, and House Joint Resolution No. 5 authorized the creation of what is now George Mason University?
