CI WATERSHED FORESTRY

 

Carla Hardy West Virginia Project CommuniTree(CTree)

Urban Tree Canopy Main Page

 

Visit this map to find CTree plantings in your community and read about completed plantings. 

 

Forestry Publications.  Check out reports on CTree and other forestry projects. 

 

Cacapon Institute has long been engaged in forestry for the purpose of improving watershed health.  Our seminal ecological baseline study of the Cacapon River concluded in 1993 that expanding the extent of forested riparian buffers was essential to protect our home river from pollution caused by development. 

 

Today CI supports forest protection, reforestation, and forestry throughout the Potomac Watershed as a core part of our mission to protect and improve water quality, as a member of the WV Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Team, as a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Forestry Work Group, and as Coordinator of the Potomac Watershed Partnership.  While our efforts are widespread, much our forestry work is focused on the Potomac Headwaters of West Virginia.  Best Management Practices to protect forests and trees in the Potomac Basin provide many benefits.

 

According to the 2007 Chesapeake Watershed Forestry Strategic Plan; “Forests are the most beneficial land use for protecting water quality due to their ability to capture, filter, and retain water, as well as absorb pollution from the air. The Bay watershed is currently 58% forested and contains some of the most extensive hardwood forests in the world’s temperate latitudes. However, forests in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are being lost at a rate of 100 acres/day and the Bay’s water quality remains severely degraded.”

 

In keeping with the Chesapeake Watershed Forestry Strategic Plan and West Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan, the principals that guide CI’s forestry work are:

1) Apply the best science available;

2) Build programs that are sustainable and adaptable;

3) Cultivate partnerships to leverage resources;

4) Utilize outreach efforts that are deliberate and direct; and

5) Assist municipal leaders to develop both short term and long term goals.

6) Monitor and assess projects regularly.

The WV Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Team is committed to maximizing water quality in the Potomac Headwaters of West Virginia by: conserving high value forests, restoring riparian forest, and enhancing urban tree canopy cover in developed areas.

 

Conserve high value forests.  CI will continue to advance Forestry for the Bay and the Potomac Watershed Partnership, deliver forest management information and expertise to landowners, and promote the use of diverse Farm Bill programs to support forest management (CREP, WHIP, Cacapon & Lost Rivers Land Trust, etc.). 

 

Restoring riparian forests.  CI works with the agency members of WV’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Team (such as the WV Conservation Agency and WV Department of Environmental Protection) to increase stream miles with riparian forests.  We help identify priority watershed and target buffer placement, offer technical assistance for buffer restoration, maintenance, rehabilitation and repair; and improve current accounting of forest buffer restoration. 

 

Developed land forestry to enhance Urban Tree Canopy.  UTC is a measure of the trees we live with, the trees that grace our neighborhoods, towns, parks, schools, and roadsides, and that reduce stormwater runoff.  CI is working with local government agencies, volunteers, and schools to improve our WV UTC.  We are helping to develop land management strategies at county and municipal levels. Strategies include assessing UTC to determine high priority planting areas, setting UTC goals, and fostering tree planting initiatives.  These strategies are increasing the public benefits of UTC including cleaner air, shade, and less stormwater runoff pollution.  Read more on UTC. 

 

For more information, contact: Cacapon Institute's Urban Forestry Coordinator

 

We are grateful for federal funding from the USDA-Forest Service, the Chesapeake Bay Program, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation that make our work in forestry possible.

 

CI's FORESTRY PARTNERS
WVDOF WVCA CTree WVDEP USDA-FS PWP

 

 

Cacapon Institute - From the Cacapon to the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay, we protect rivers and watersheds using science and education.

Cacapon Institute
#10 Rock Ford Road
Great Cacapon, WV 25422
304-258-8013 (tele)

Click here to send us an email
Frank Rodgers,  Executive Director

Website  made possible by funding from The Norcross Wildlife Foundation,  the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Virginia Environmental Endowment, NOAA-BWET, USEPA, The MARPAT Foundation, and our generous members.