13 April 2025
City of Norton, Virginia
Headquarters of Clinch Ranger District
Northern Slopes of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Remnants of Hurricane Helene produced many areas of wind disturbance across the High Knob Massif in September 2024, especially on easterly (SE-E-NE) facing slopes and ridges at middle to upper elevations (*).
Many areas were also not impacted
or had only minimal disturbance.
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Limited Disturbance On Northern Slopes
Upper Norton Reservoir_City of Norton
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Limited Disturbance On Northern Slopes
Flag Rock Recreation Area and Flag Rock
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
Limited Disturbance In Deep Gorges
Chimney Rock Gorge of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
Limited Disturbance In Deep Gorges
Mouth of Cove Creek of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
Limited Disturbance In Deep Gorges
South Fork Gorge of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
Limited Disturbance In Deep Gorges
South Fork Gorge of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
*Gradient wind speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour
are estimated to have impacted portions of mid-upper elevations (mainly above 2700-3000 feet).
Proposed Salvage Logging
Now the USDA Forest Service is proposing
Salvage / Salavage and Thinning projects.
Please use these links to comment
and to read about these projects.
These projects come in the wake of the canceled Devils Hens Nest Vegetation Project and the proposed Hunters Valley Integrated Vegetation Management Project (whatever that may mean).
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Peaks of Eagle Knob and High Knob
Researchers D.B. Lindenmayer and R.F. Noss state:
"The word salvage implies that something is being saved or recovered, whereas from an ecological perspective this is rarely the case.''
The question becomes:
What is being saved?
Salvage = Post-disturbance Logging.
Salvage with Thinning = Logging of
both disturbed and undisturbed habitats.
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Southeast Slope of High Knob Peak
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
I have been part of both aerial and on-the-ground surveys of Helene wind disturbance throughout the month of April 2025.
I am objecting to these projects for many reasons, not least of which being that those who own these tracts of land (you, me, and all American citizens) are only being given minimal information. Most folks are not even aware of these proposals and
their potential long-term impacts.
I am objecting to these projects because they are targeting high-elevation habitats which are very limited (possibly unique) in the Appalachians and world for their climate, geology, and associated mixture of biological species.
Logging here (be it salvage or thinning) is not like logging at lower to middle elevations in the more "common" Appalachian habitats. These proposed operations are within unique and truly amazing mountain-top habitats.
1 May 2025
High-Elevation Wetland
Adjacent to Thunderstruck Unit 1
Negative Impacts and Concerns
Potential long-term salvage impacts include (are not limited to):
1). Degradation of high-elevation environments
by attempting to force them into nonsensical "desired conditions" dictated by an outdated Forest Plan (21 years old).
Some places are just not meant to be oak-hickory.
Observe the abundant Buckeye in Unit 1 (below).
01 May 2025
Not Oak-Hickory
Thunderstruck Salvage_Unit 1
As hard as you may try, this will never become
a oak-hickory dominated forest. But it certainly
can be messed up with "management."
There are places with underlying bedrock, aspect-exposure, where local xeric conditions develop to naturally support a dominance of oak-hickory.
In the Cumberlands, and High Knob Massif, these places are restricted to xeric sites much in the same
way that mesophytes become increasingly restricted
to moist microsites toward the east in Virginia.
17 April 2025
Greenbrier Filled Forest Floor
Managed Forest_Thunderstruck_Unit 8
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
2). Diminished biological richness and diversity through destruction of native species and spread of non-native invasive species (NNIS) during project operations.
Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Non-native Invasive Species (NNIS)
Thunderstruck Salvage and Thinning Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
(Many NNIS are already along roads just
waiting to be transported into adjacent forests).
Multi-flora Rose (Rosa multiflora)
Non-native Invasive Species (NNIS)
Thunderstruck Salvage and Thinning Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
3). Degradation of forest connectivity, memory, natural selection and longer-term resilience accumulated across time from many natural disturbances (since the Appalachians formed).
01 May 2025
Rich Biological Diversity
Thunderstruck Salvage_Unit 1
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
02 June 2021
High Knob Massif
Rich Biological Diversity
FS Route 294_Near Thunderstruck Unit 7
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
These photographs show what the area proposed for logging (Thunderstruck Salvage and Thinning) will look like by early summer.
02 June 2021
High Knob Massif
Rich Biological Diversity
Thunderstruck Unit 7_Salvage-Thinning
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
4). Diminished water quality by sedimentation and erosion associated with salvage and thinning operations on steep slopes and units containing historic landslides and other past disturbances associated with high-precipitation weather
events in Virginia's wettest landscape.
17 April 2025
Massive Historic Landslide (30+ Acres)
Thunderstruck Salvage-Thinning_Unit 7
5). Increased run-off and decreased groundwater storage due to removal of downed debris and alteration of natural pit-mound topography.
6). Additional fragmentation of intact and/or mostly closed-canopy forest to salvage locally downed trees and thin (log) live trees which
are not considered "desirable."
April 2025
Close-canopy Forest
Proposed High Knob Salvage Project
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
7). The economic benefit is not great enough to justify surface disturbances, especially given that all trees will be classified as low-grade saw timber and the sale will be based on average tonnage (regardless of tree species).
The Forest Service typically loses money on regular timber projects. Salvage sales will generate far less revenue. The USFS is not a for profit organization,
but economically this is ridiculous.
Given the above, best science suggests that:
Trees within 50-feet of main roadways could be removed for safety of motorists. All other trees should be left to decompose and enrich habitats
of these unique high-elevation forests (which
are very limited in the Cumberland Mountains).
Project Comments
13 April 2025
Eagle Knob of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Salvage / Salvage and Thinning projects are being
proposed without properly considering the unique
mesic and high-elevation habitats of this mountain.
High Knob Massif
High-Elevation Species
Turk's-cap Lily (Lilium superbum)
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
High Knob Massif
High-Elevation Species
Canada Lily (Lilium canadense)
My official comments to the USDA
are highlighted at the following links:
(A typing error for Big Cherry Dam precipitation stated
2008-2012, when it was actually 2008-2022 for the
observed data period).
Even though official comment periods have ended, you can still contact the USDA Forest Service to voice your opinions.
Forest Supervisor Joby Timm:
joby.timm@usda.gov
Ranger Tiffany Cummins:
tiffany.cummins@usda.gov
Royce Bedbury:
royce.bedbury@usda.gov
Public comments have always been shared by
the USDA Forest Service and made available to everyone, but not now. Why?
Public comment periods have always
been at least 30-days, but not now. Why?
The above are two questions of many I am now asking.
I received and appreciated replies from Ranger Cummins
regarding most comment questions.
First Major Project Problem
High Knob Massif
Autumn Color Example
Mean Forest Type Is Not Oak-Hickory
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
1). The massif is simply not classified correctly as the sprawling, singular mountain that it is. Period. A mountain landform where public land should be preserved and protected for extraordinary habitats.
The High Knob Massif is an amazing sky island where the presence of complex terrain generates microclimatological and biodiversity gradients.
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Head of Stock Creek to Eagle Knob
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The crest of the massif sprawls, with a large mass
of high-country terrain rising above the elevation
of Big Cherry Lake.
13 April 2025
Big Cherry Lake Elevation 3120 feet
Sprawling Crest of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The most appropriate forest-type description for this landscape was first identified a century ago by famed field ecologist Lucy Braun:
"The Mixed Mesophytic association reaches its best development in the Cumberland Mountains. There it is most luxuriant in aspect and contains a larger number of species than elsewhere. There it displays the greatest variety of types, of association-segregates formed by local shifts in dominance of constituent species...when we look beyond the boundaries of this region in any direction, we find mixed mesophytic communities much more circumscribed, much more restricted to particular local environments, and generally containing fewer species or even lacking characteristic species."
13 April 2025
Downstream of Big Cherry Lake
South Fork of Powell River Gorge
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The USDA Forest Service has
erroneously classified the mountain, with classification curiously changing (in the mean)
in recent decades (as highlighted below).
The mean Forest Service classification is:
Oak and Oak-Hickory for the massif (**).
**The most likely reason for this classification is to use prescriptions (e.g., High-Quality Forest Products) which do not prevent forest disturbance. Historically, this area has produced the most timber of any National Forest district in Virginia (this is no surprise given its well documented wet climate).
High Knob Massif Area
Forest Service Land Classifications
ArcGIS Analysis of USDA Prescriptions
High Knob Massif Area
Forest Service Landscape Prescriptions
High Quality Forest Products
Allows for commercial timber harvest.
Dispersed Recreation Areas (Suitable Timberland)
The phrase "Suitable Timberland" in this prescription
directly implies that the land is intended for timber
production, which includes logging.
Mix of Successional Habitats
This prescription maintains a variety of forest stages (early, mid, late)
and habitat types to supposedly support biodiversity. It is often used
when managing for a diverse range of wildlife species, including those
that benefit from the ephemeral nature of early-successional habitats
(it does not account for widespread early success on adjacent lands).
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)
Logging in FLR projects is targeted at areas with
high wildfire risk, insect and disease infestation, or
other issues that negatively impact forest health
Old Growth Forest_Associated with Disturbance
This prescription aims to address threats to old-growth forests
using various treatments that may include mechanical thinning,
selective harvest, prescribed fire, and improvement cutting
(more speak for logging and no habitat is protected).
Indiana Bat Secondary Hibernacula Protection Area
Logging activities should avoid cutting or destroying known
maternity roost trees, and trees within a 150-foot radius during
the pup season (1 June to 31 July).
Scenic Corridors and Viewsheds
Timber management, including scheduling of harvests,
logging systems, reforestation, and stand improvement
practices, are all designed to align with visual
management goals
Scenic Area
While logging is not explicitly prohibited, it's generally
not the focus of management in Scenic Areas. Instead,
the emphasis is on maintaining the scenic beauty and
recreational value of the area.
Most USFS landscape prescriptions for the High Knob Massif area allow logging. None prohibit it, but several discourage timber harvest.
Eligible Recreational River
USDA Region 8 Eligible Recreational Rivers generally
do not allow logging. The designation of a river as an
eligible recreational river means it has been identified
for its recreational, scenic, and fish and wildlife values.
One key element of the designation is the preservation
of the river's natural state, which typically includes
the absence of ongoing timber harvest.
Eligible streams:
Little Stony Creek
Roaring Branch Gorge
Portions of Guest River
Rare Communities
Logging is generally not allowed as it could
disrupt the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
13 April 2025
High Knob Lake Recreation Area
Designated Special Biological Area
Wayne Browning and Pilot Image © All Rights Reserved
Botanical - Zoological Area
Botanical and zoological areas are established to protect
specific ecosystems, plant, and animal species. Logging
would disrupt these natural habitats and potentially
harm the protected species.
A forest is so very much more than trees, and
trees alone can not be used to correctly classify such a diverse landform. Yet, if only trees are
used, the massif is still not classified correctly
as Dr. Lucy Braun would agree.
Why is this so very important?
Because the forest type defines what management prescriptions are used by the USDA Forest Service to bring the area into "desired conditions" specific to that forest type.
This is defined by the:
Jefferson National Forest Plan (2004).
This means that salvage and thinning is designed to bring the area into "desired conditions," and this is stated in the scoping for these projects.
28 March 2025
USDA Forest Service
High Knob Scoping Letter
Desired conditions are clearly for oak-hickory, without regard for most units being at elevations above 3000 feet and extremely mesic (especially those with SE-E-NE exposures).
11 April 2025
USDA Forest Service
Thunderstruck Scoping Letter
Instead of the above, desired conditions should
be to recognize the unique high-elevation forest systems of this mountain which support amazing biological diversity in high annual mean wetness (the wettest in Virginia).
Specific Examples
Wrong Classification
(Fox In The Hen House_Something Strange)
High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The LANDFIRE database and mapping tool of the USDA Forest Service and Department of Interior could be used prior to 2016 to obtain a reasonable approximation of existing vegetation type.
LANDFIRE certainly was not, by any means, absolutely correct prior to 2016, but it was much better than today (please continue reading).
Location of Yellow Birch Trees
LANDFIRE Classification_2001
LANDFIRE from 2001-2015 classified the approximate location of the above Yellow Birch trees as being within the forest type called Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwoods.
Breeding bird species, climate, and associated
trees (including Buckeye) suggested that this
was correct. Scroll to Northern Hardwoods.
That radically changed during
the 2016 LANDFIRE remap.
Location of Same Yellow Birch
LANDFIRE Classification_2023
Not only did this specific location change to Oak Forest, but all northern hardwoods of any type (Central Appalachian and Southern Appalachian) were removed from the entire High Knob Massif.
This occurred even though the actual forest, of course, did not change. The Virginia DCR Natural Heritage Program continues to recognize northern hardwoods, even though they are too limited in their analysis as well. This is due
to limited on-the-ground field surveys and the fact that forests in Virginia's wettest landscape have different mixtures of species than drier portions of the state.
Big Cherry Lake Basin
LANDFIRE Classification_2023
Forests adjacent to Big Cherry Lake Dam changed from Southern Appalachian Oak in 2001-2015 to Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak in 2016-Present.
Autumn Color_Satellite Perspective
Big Cherry Lake Dam of High Knob Massif
Here are satellite images of this dry oak forest.
Autumn Color_Satellite Perspective
Big Cherry Lake Dam of High Knob Massif
Much of the basin of Big Cherry Lake was mapped as
Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwoods prior to 2016 and is now classified as Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak.
As someone who has spent a great deal of time in this basin, I can state with absolute confidence and proof (via collected data) that this classification is generally wrong.
Oak and hickories exist, and some of this basin is now Appalachian Montane Oak. If only considering tree type, a significant amount of the basin is also Mixed-Mesophytic and Northern Hardwoods.
Following so much past human disturbance, it seems clear to me that present conditions are different from the past. Northern woods were more widespread in the past and will again become more abundant with continued forest recovery into the future (if left undisturbed).
What could be the reason(s) for such a radical change in the existing vegetation type classification of the High Knob Massif?
History of The Nettle Patch Project
(Reference Pages 44-49 for LANDFIRE usage)
Is it merely a coincidence that this radical change occurred following the ability to use the USDA's own database (LANDFIRE) against them during proposed commercial logging projects?
Perhaps, but this was very strange, and it is my opinion that this change occurred in order to bring LANDFIRE (their own database) into alignment with "desired conditions" for timber production.
This change did not target just the High Knob Massif, but the National Forest in general. Oak and oak-hickory are the type of trees desired in the Jefferson Forest Plan (2004).
Again, the big question is:
How can this mountain be managed for "desired conditions" when the initial classification of what exists is wrong?
When a great natural landform is "managed," should the desired conditions not be those which naturally occur (without human intervention)?
Should public lands of the High Knob Massif not
be allowed to exist wild and free for everyone to experience?
Are there no value to habitats others than oak and oak-hickory? Are oaks and hickories the only trees which must be cared about?
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Middle Elevation Wetland
Wetlands Upstream of Bark Camp Lake
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The High Knob Massif possesses a vast
array of middle-upper elevation wetlands.
17 April 2025
Upper Elevation Wetland
Adjacent to High Knob Salvage_Unit 1
Wetland In Big Cherry Lake Basin (Head)
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
This many wetlands are not
typical of oak-hickory forest.
13 April 2025
The Glades Wetland
Middle Elevation Wetland
Big Stony Creek Basin of High Knob Massif
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Wetlands exist within two separate
valleys in Big Cherry Lake basin.
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Upper Elevation Wetland
Right-Fork (Eastern) Valley
Wetland In Big Cherry Lake Basin
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Upper Elevation Wetland
Left-Fork (Western) Valley
Wetland In Big Cherry Lake Basin
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
13 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Middle Elevation Wetland
Stock Creek of Clinch River Wetland
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
01 May 2025
High Knob Massif
Upper Elevation Wetland
Adjacent to Thunderstruck Salvage_Unit 1
Mountain-top Wetland_Head of Stock Creek
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
01 May 2025
High Knob Massif
Upper Elevation Wetland
Mountain-top Wetland_Head of Cove Creek
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
02 June 2021
High Knob Massif
Mountain-top Wetland_Near Bowling Knob
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Many more small wetlands and seeps
exist throughout the High Knob Massif
which are not illustrated by these scenes.
25 December 2024
High Knob Massif
Upper Elevation Wetland
Wolf Creek of Stock Creek Wetland Valley
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Does Basswood, Beech, Birch, Buckeye, Cherry, Maple, Magnolia, and many others have no-one
to desire them on public lands?
What about the vast array of species possessing northern, southern, midwestern, and disjunct affinties? Are habitats across the massif within which exist all the Bats, Bugs, Fungi, Hornworts, Liverworts, Mammals, Microbes, Mosses, and Plants not what they desire?
Just whose "desired conditions"
are really being considered?
Second Major Project Problem
2). The long-history and benefits of natural
disturbance are not being acknowledged.
A forest is a complex, self-organizing system. Natural disturbance plays a vital role in long-term forest system health. Wind throw may look bad to humans, but there is more here than meets the eye.
17 April 2025
Near High Knob Salvage Unit 1
Upper Wetland In Big Cherry Lake Basin
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
17 April 2025
Near High Knob Salvage Unit 1
Upper Wetland In Big Cherry Lake Basin
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
The above scenes may appear to be a terrible mess to some, but these are wonderful, natural wetland habitats created by American Beavers in the head of Big Cherry Lake basin. This is near Unit 1, in the High Knob Salvage Project. This unit should be dropped to protect this and adjacent wetlands feeding into Big Cherry Lake.
There is a ton of research related to salvage logging. I am only listing a few references below. I encourage you to do your own reading on this issue.
Its true that experts tend to only champion their own desires, expertise, discipline, and will often not speak up for the big picture. In all of this I am collectively attempting to speak for the totality of the mountain (and no doubt doing this poorly).
13 April 2025
Along State Route 619
High-Elevation Crest Zone Area
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Helene generated a significant amount of pit-and-mound micro-topography, with many root-balls visible just within the above aerial view.
Field research has found that:
"Well-developed pit-mound microrelief in forests mediates runoff into watercourses and enhances overall water quality, soil water retention, and groundwater recharge. Moreover, more effective retention of water due to pit-mound microrelief may enable higher availability of moisture for nearby trees, enhancing their resilience and growth."
19 April 2025
Thunderstruck Unit 2
Pit-Mound Topography Root-balls
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
This is super-important given that all proposed project units drain into either the Clinch or Powell rivers, which are collectively at the epicenter for rarity and richness of limited-range species in the continental United States.
I have encountered a significant amount of pit-and-mound topography in my climatology field research and have always been interested in this poorly understood aspect of forests.
It is not at all surprising to discover that forest disturbance, such as the pit-mounds caused by Helene, will help enrich a forest system across time. Research is now confirming what can be
seen in forests.
"Pit-mound structures are a diminished component
of second-growth forest, and silvicultural techniques designed to restore old-growth characteristics could include measures to preserve and enhance pit-mound features, and to cultivate large-diameter trees that will eventually create the large, long-lasting pit-mounds
of the future."
1 May 2025
Life on Root-Ball
Thunderstruck Salvage_Unit 1
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
"In order to fulfill the objective of biodiversity conservation, wind-disturbed forests should be left to recover naturally, to ensure a favorable status of all naturally occurring species and to improve the
status of endangered and rare species."
It seems that what salvage logging actually does
has been poorly understood, such that it is almost automatic to assume that it should be done after any event regardless of the location.
The assumption is made that a forest wind disturbance, with blow-down, is simply bad.
"Such operations (speaking of salvage logging) may reduce or eliminate biological legacies, modify rare postdisturbance habitats, influence populations, alter community composition, impair natural vegetation recovery, facilitate the colonization of invasive species, alter soil properties and nutrient levels, increase erosion, modify hydrological regimes and aquatic ecosystems, and alter patterns of landscape heterogeneity."
1 May 2025
Abundant Life on Root-ball
Thunderstruck Salvage_Unit 1
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
There is not much good to be said about salvage logging. Combine that with thinning in a place
like the extraordinary High Knob Massif and it
is simply a terrible idea. Remove trees from main roads and leave the remainder to replenish and energize existing high-elevation habitats.
Third Major Project Problem
3). Fragmentation of existing intact
or mainly closed-canopy forest.
17 April 2025
High Knob Massif
Closed-canopy Forest
Thunderstruck Salvage and Thinning_Unit 5
Wayne Browning Photograph © All Rights Reserved
Locations with closed-canopies should not be opened by logging (thinning) given the significant amount of natural wind disturbance generated by Helene (natural forest fragmentation which should meet and exceed Forest Service ESH).
The Jefferson Plan calls for a specific amount of ESH,
or Early Successional Habitat, to be generated across the forest. Mother nature accomplished this free-of-charge, with no manual labor and cost required.
This section is under construction. Please check back.
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