CONSERVATION CORNER
Significant Damage To Forests From Katrina
by James L. Cummins

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service recently reported that Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed approximately 19 billion board feet of timber estimated at a value of $5 billion in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. A board foot is the unit of measurement for lumber. A board foot is one foot long, one foot wide and one inch thick. The Forest Service has conducted surveys of the South's forests for more than 70 years.

This is our Nation's largest single loss of timber and our greatest loss of wildlife habitat.

The USDA Forest Service is working in concert with its state partners, such as the Mississippi Forestry Commission, to accurately assess the extent of damaged and destroyed forest land from Hurricane Katrina. While this early assessment suggests a potential significant loss of timber, the next step will be to determine what is salvageable. Recovering the usable timber will help to diminish the economic loss as well as to prevent damage from insects and disease and to reduce the risk of fires.

If removed quickly, storm damaged wood can be salvageable for various products. According to Forest Service researchers, down and damaged wood (trees with broken tops, uprooted or leaning trees, and trees that are bent, broken or splintered) can be sufficient to produce 800,000 single family homes and 25 million tons of paper and paperboard.

The initial assessment indicates that the damage to the timber is spread across five million acres of lightly to heavily damaged forest land both public and private in the three states. However, the majority of the forest land affected is under private ownership. Forest inventories indicate one third of the timber damaged is concentrated in eight counties of southern Mississippi. Nearly 90 percent of all forest land damaged is within 60 miles of the coast and predominantly in Mississippi.

"The extraordinary scale of the hurricane's impacts will require solid coordination at federal, state and community levels to restore these forested lands," said Southern Group of State Foresters Chair Leah MacSwords.

Nearly 60 percent of the damage occurred to softwoods predominantly pines with the remainder of the damage occurring to hardwoods. The damaged acres may require additional treatment to reduce the risk of fires posed by downed trees and limbs.

Scientists from the Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis unit are using historical inventory data and modeling tools with Hurricane Katrina's storm track data to estimate the extent and amount of damage to forest land.

For more information on the timber damage and tips to remove the damage, go to www.wildlifemiss.org.

James L. Cummins is Executive Director of the Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Foundation in Stoneville, Mississippi. Known as "Wildlife Mississippi," the Foundation is a non-profit, conservation organization founded to conserve, restore and enhance fish, wildlife and plant resources throughout Mississippi. Their web site is www.wildlifemiss.org.