Rainforests feed waterfalls which tumble into river gorges. Precious ancient forests cloak backcountry ridges and coves. Walking through old growth forests in the Southern Appalachians, one may find as many tree species as all that occur in Europe, among them white oaks 400 years old and poplars 150 feet tall. Black bear hibernate in the heart of ancient, hollow trees. The forest floor is rich with ferns, mosses, and wildflowers.
Bird songs call from nests high in the forest canopy.
Southern Appalachia's public forests are a critical refuge for endangered wildlife and one of America's great ecological treasures. The public forests are also a refuge for the people who like to hike, camp, and fish in the Southern Appalachian mountains each year. They offer a sanctuary of solitude and sanity in an over-civilized country. In Trouble Industrial logging in the beginning of the 20th Century crippled Southern Appalachia's ancient forest communities, rendered many species extinct, and wounded the health of the land. Each day airborne pollutants from coal-fired plants and automobiles poison the mountain air, killing trees and acidifying streams.