FORESTSAMERICAN SUMMER 2017 Wildlands for Wildlife STEPPING UP THE SPEED AND SCOPE OF FOREST RESTORATION IN SEVEN KEY ECOSYSTEMS Eddie Bauer Athletes Lynsey Dyer, and Cory Richards, and Eddie Bauer Guide Jake Norton ONE TREE MATTERS. ONE TREE MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Our founder, Eddie Bauer, spent his entire life encouraging and helping people to get outdoors, educating them on the importance of preserving the natural wonders around them. We continue his legacy of conservation. We’re proud to be a long-standing partner with American Forests in its mission to protect and restore ecosystems Learn more about around the world. Over our 20-year collaboration, Eddie Bauer has The One Tree Initiative helped American Forests plant more than 7 million trees. and how you can donate at #onetree eddiebauer.com/onetree VOL 123 NO 2 CONTENTS SUMMER 2017 Departments 24 16 2 Offshoots A word from our president & CEO 4 Treelines From Washington D.C. to our Facebook community, here’s what we’ve been up to and talking about on the Hill and online. Plus, FOREST FRONTIERS: Jill Jonnes, author of “Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape,” shares lessons learned and experiences enjoyed while writing her new book. NEW ONLINE: Learn why our Facebook community believes 32 40 wildlife conservation is so important. WASHINGTON OUTLOOK: A look at the impact of the Congressional Review Act on the environment and the dangers of “modernizing” the Endangered Species Act. 40 Soaring Under the Radar By Chuck Graham Follow along on the journey to create a famous California trail, from vision to reality, and discover the road still ahead. 46 Earthkeepers Features Conservation Begins with Your Boots on the Ground 16 24 32 Read the inspiring story of the impact of one woman, Losing American Woodland Brenda Richardson, on an Ground Forests’ Wildflowers entire community within By Jared Lloyd Washington, D.C. Wildlands on the Edge Discover the intensifying for Wildlife By Michael Adamovic 48 Last Look threats facing one of Initiative How the future of the Gorgeous photography from our nation’s most beautiful, but fragile, Terri Chapman By Eric Sprague, Justin unique ecosystems: wildflowers beneath the Hynicka and Jeff Lerner maritime forests. canopy relies on the health Learn about American of our forests. Forests’ new initiative to restore wildlife habitat in seven different regions THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SHUTTERSTOCK; JARED LLOYD; MICHAEL ADAMOVIC; CHUCK GRAHAM MICHAEL ADAMOVIC; LLOYD; JARED SHUTTERSTOCK; LEFT: FROM TOP CLOCKWISE THIS PAGE, across North America. AMERICANFORESTS.ORG SUMMER 2017 | 1 offshoots Right now, there are more than Saving Forest Habitat 1,600 species listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as endangered or BY SCOTT STEEN threatened in the U.S. Eighty percent of plant and animal terrestrial biodi- I FEEL ALIVE IN THE WOODS and and shuffles also remind me that I am versity occurs in forests, which means wholly present. The smell of damp a visitor here. Most humans are. We the vast majority of land animals live in earth, the leaf-filtered light, may be a part of nature and forests. But, a significant amount of for- the distant cracks and dependent on it, but never est habitat here in the U.S. is in danger. shuffles of hidden creatures quite as truly or deeply as the As a result, the wildlife that live in these going about their daily lives wildlife that live, feed, mate, places are disappearing. — each demand my attention, give birth, raise their young In the Southeastern U.S., gopher wake up my senses and clear and die here. They are utterly tortoises that live in longleaf pine for- away the mundane concerns dependent on these places ests are being buried alive to make way of my indoor world. and at our mercy — as either for development. In the lower 48 states, And, while the forest always works caretakers or destroyers of the ecosys- grizzly bears have recovered slightly its magic on me, those distant cracks tems in which they live. from their historic lows, but only about Our Wildlands for Wildlife initiative in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas is working to restore habitat for the endangered ocelot 2 | SUMMER 2017 AMERICANFORESTS.ORG EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher Scott Steen Editorial Director Lea Sloan Managing Editor Ashlan Bonnell Contributing Editor 1,800 remain. In South “All of these places in the country; and the Christopher Horn Texas, critical bird Central Appalachians’ Editorial Assistants are remarkable. Doyle Irvin and ocelot habitat is red spruce forests that Suah Cheong being cut into smaller All are threatened. support endangered Art Direction and Design and smaller chunks, wildlife, while also Brad Latham And, all need American Forests (ISSN 0002-8541) is published replaced with farms acting as a carbon quarterly by American Forests, 1220 L St. NW, and housing. While the human intervention storage powerhouse. Suite 750 Washington, DC 20005. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., total amount of forest to bring them back During my six years and additional mailing offices. tree canopy in the U.S. at American Forests, I POSTMASTER: Send address changes to to health, along with American Forests, 1220 L St. NW, Suite 750 remains stable, healthy, have had the privilege Washington, DC 20005. intact forest habitat is the wildlife populations of visiting many of American Forests’ mission is to restore threatened forest ecosystems and inspire people declining for wildlife they support.” these systems, seeing to value and protect urban and wildland forests. across the nation. first-hand both their (202) 737-1944 To answer these splendor and the chal- www.americanforests.org challenges, American Forests has lenges they face. I’ve walked through AMERICAN FORESTS launched a new initiative designed fire-devastated forests in the Sierra BOARD OF DIRECTORS to deepen and expand our work in Nevada Mountains, tens of thousands Bruce Lisman, Chair Private investor, Shelburne, VT seven ecologically important and of acres of once thriving habitat laid to Richard Kabat, Vice Chair threatened forest ecosystems in North waste. I saw more bird species in a few Kabat Company, Washington, DC America. I am incredibly excited about days in the Lower Rio Grande Valley Rod DeArment, Treasurer Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, DC this program. than I had in my life, but also witnessed Ann Nichols, Immediate Past Chair The Wildlands for Wildlife initia- the agriculture and development Chevy Chase, MD tive focuses on these seven critical incursions that have left the forest Scott Steen, President & CEO (ex officio) regions. Each of these systems provide habitat broken. I’ve seen the valiant American Forests, Washington, DC Zim Boulos key environmental functions to their attempts of our partners north of Office Environment Services, Jacksonville, FL regions, support one or more threat- Yellowstone to find and grow disease- Rob Bourdon ened or endangered wildlife species resistant whitebark pine, a keystone Linkin Park, Sherman Oaks, CA Jeff Elliott and sustain countless more plant and species in the region and an important Iridian Asset Management, Westport, CT animal species. food source for grizzlies. Donna Dabney During the next several years, All of these places are remarkable. The Conference Board, New York, NY William Hazelton Wildlands for Wildlife will help restore All are threatened. And, all need human Chubb Group, New York City, NY forest habit in the Southeastern U.S.’s intervention to bring them back to Elisa Rapaport longleaf pine ecosystem, home to both health, along with the wildlife popula- Rapaport Family Charitable Trust, Rockville Centre, NY the gopher tortoise and endangered tions they support. Jonathan Silver red-cockaded woodpecker; the Lower With the Wildlands for Wildlife Greenbanc Global, LLC, Washington, DC Rio Grande Valley in Texas, a biodiver- initiative, American Forests will make Robert Steinberg sity hotspot that supports hundreds of long-term commitments to protect Steinberg Family Foundation, Greenwich, CT Mary Wagner migratory bird and butterfly species, and restore these forest ecosystems to U.S. Forest Service (Retired), Ogden, UT along with the endangered ocelot; health — through coalition-building, the whitebark pine ecosystem in the research and planning, advocacy, Northern Rockies and Cascades and large-scale tree planting and other on- its threatened grizzly bear population; the-ground restoration activities. You the wildfire- and drought-plagued will be hearing a lot about these efforts Sierra Nevada Mountains of California; in the coming years. We hope we can the Hawaiian Islands, which are now count on your continued support. known as the extinction capital of the U.S.; the jack pine ecosystem in the Northern Great Lakes, home of the Kirt- land’s warbler, one of the rarest birds treelines INFORMATION TO AMUSE, ENLIGHTEN AND INSPIRE FOREST FRONTIERS Jill Jonnes Author of “Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape” JILL JONNES is an author and histo- rian, with a Ph.D. in American history from Johns Hopkins University, whose books tell the stories of visionaries who developed and integrated new kinds of infrastructure into cities. In “Urban Forests” Jonnes writes about the people who created lush urban tree canopies, and the trees they introduced — what we now understand to be green infrastruc- ture. As Jonnes learned how essential trees are to city living, she founded the Baltimore Tree Trust and is very proud of that, as the organization has already planted more than 1,000 street trees in once-barren neighborhoods. What led you to want to write a book about urban forests? Knowing that almost 80 percent of Americans live in cities, and with climate change upon us, I felt we all needed to know the story of our urban forests.