Individual Block Reports
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SOUTHERN BLUE RIDGE MATRIX FOREST BLOCKS Group1 Block Name Cohutta Acres195868.18 Hectares 79265.04074 Acres of largest interior roadless block 40751.7898 21 % of block the largest interior block occupies National Land Cover Dataset General Categories acres of forest 190126 97.1 % of forest in block acres of water 219 0.1 % of water in block acres of rock and sand 10 0 % of rock and sand in block acres developed 2459 1.3 % of developed in block acres shrub and herb 1174 0.6 %of shrub and herb in block acres agriculture 1378 0.7 % of agriculture in block acres wetland 137 0.1 % of wetlands in block Secured Areas Summary of Block GAP Category 1Acres in Category 45550.2423 23.3 % of block GAP Category 3Acres in Category 126975.191 64.8 % of block Acres in NC Significant Natural Heritage Areas 00% of block in NC Sig. Nat. Her. Area Linear Features Length of Rivers and Streams in Blocks Roads in Blocks Stream Class Stream Miles Road Class Road Miles 1a 383.0368 2 30.2906 1b 105.2812 6 296.1428 2_ 11.7971 8 2.9676 3a 12.5298 9 26.6715 Miles of Powerlines 15.8101 Miles of Railroads 1.5688 Page 1 of 208 Element Occurrences by Major Group Element Occurrence Summary SBR Ecoregional Target Occurrences 45 amphibian 25 fish 1bird 1 invertebrate-insect 708 fish 3 invertebrate-mollusk 17 mammal 11 plant-dicot 5reptile 3 plant-monocot 1 invertebrate-crustation 1 invertebrate-insect 21 invertebrate-mollusk 3 plant-nonvascular 106 plant-dicot 60 plant-monocot 3 plant-fern/spleenwort Expert Comments Forest Types Quite variable between moist and dry. Montane App. Oak hickory at tops of ridg All Comments Not a lot of major fragmentation Lots of internal FS roads, but not highly fragmented. One of Corridor K alternatives goes through northern part, but latest doesn't because of bear reserve. No. (Rerouted powerlines south of river, though? But being managed for native grasses.) Outstanding-- Conasauga Riv. very high biodiversity ; probably cleanest water in Ga. from sedimentation standpoint. Really bad in Ocoee, draining Ducktown Copper Hill area, but improving. Proposed road decommissioning to improve streams. 1930's--mostly 70-80 yr old forest Quite variable. At Grassy Mtn (one of highest summits on western front) has old growth--maybe one of the better patches. Fairly old hemlock forest around wilderness. variable Lot of Rx fire. Occassional wildfire, but nothing really big. Ice storms 1960-61, all the way up into south end of Smokies. Lots of rare/endemic aquatic spp. A few records of ceruleans, but no evidence of breeding. No GWW's (used to be on TN side, but habitat gone now). White fringeless orchid--one of 2 locations in NF in East TN. Ruth's golden aster in Ocoee Gorge. Extremely rich aquatic spp. HWA. Wild hogs probably worst in this block. Plants mostly along old FS roads & old w'life openings. Fescue, lespedeza (bicolor really jumps out after fires), autumn olive, microstegeum. Jap. Knotweed starting to spread. Little bit ailanthus, kudzu (being trtd). Wild hogs bad in this area. This may be most homogenous block--acre for acre lower diversity, except N face of Grassy Mtn (potential bald restoration). Interesting beaver habitat on Jacks River--completely silted in and herbaceous. Very large area in USFS (plan has designated some areas as good areas for old growth), and big chunk (a. 50%) of block in Cohutta Wldrnss. Very few inholdings in Ga, but fair amt in TN. TNC Holly Creek Preserve in Ga. 150 ac. Limestone window in "inholding area"--completely covered with invasives--Alaculsy Valley--some mitigation bankds in there on river. Suggest adding area to SW south of Old CCC Road and down to Hwy 52. Page 2 of 208 Group1 Block Name Lover's Leap Acres38842.032 Hectares 15718.81269 Acres of largest interior roadless block 20849.2997 54 % of block the largest interior block occupies National Land Cover Dataset General Categories acres of forest 35196 90.6 % of forest in block acres of water 324 0.8 % of water in block acres of rock and sand 12 0 % of rock and sand in block acres developed 1066 2.7 % of developed in block acres shrub and herb 699 1.8 %of shrub and herb in block acres agriculture 1382 3.6 % of agriculture in block acres wetland 174 0.4 % of wetlands in block Secured Areas Summary of Block GAP Category 3Acres in Category 28719.6995 73.9 % of block Acres in NC Significant Natural Heritage Areas 608.0587 1.6 % of block in NC Sig. Nat. Her. Area Linear Features Length of Rivers and Streams in Blocks Roads in Blocks Stream Class Stream Miles Road Class Road Miles 1a 94.7719 2 23.8377 1b 22.3276 3 31.2633 2_ 3.5853 6 66.9896 3b 11.8617 8 7.0206 9 6.2685 Miles of Powerlines 0 Miles of Railroads 18.0108 Element Occurrences by Major Group Page 3 of 208 Element Occurrence Summary SBR Ecoregional Target Occurrences 12 amphibian 1 natural community 37 fish 4 natural community 5 mammal 1 natural community 3reptile 1 amphibian 7 natural community 1 reptile 7 invertebrate-insect 6 plant-dicot 8 invertebrate-mollusk 1 plant-nonvascular 62 plant-dicot 7 plant-monocot 4 plant-fern/spleenwort Expert Comments Forest Types Great TMP an dother forest types there All Comments Some excellent barrens along French Broad River (French Broad Shale Slopes (50 ac subcalcareous shale) along river (fewer than 10 occurrences at less than 1000 ac are known)) Very unique--real sedimentary rock, not metasedimentary--therefore has stuff won't find elsewhere in NC; worth asking TN exprts if very different from anything they have in TN Page 4 of 208 Group1 Block Name Sol Messer Mt. Acres39311.864 Hectares 15908.94682 Acres of largest interior roadless block 11113.2021 28 % of block the largest interior block occupies National Land Cover Dataset General Categories acres of forest 34933 88.9 % of forest in block acres of water 59 0.2 % of water in block acres of rock and sand 19 0 % of rock and sand in block acres developed 1219 3.1 % of developed in block acres shrub and herb 773 2 %of shrub and herb in block acres agriculture 2227 5.7 % of agriculture in block acres wetland 82 0.2 % of wetlands in block Secured Areas Summary of Block GAP Category 3Acres in Category 16802.692 42.7 % of block Acres in NC Significant Natural Heritage Areas 00% of block in NC Sig. Nat. Her. Area Linear Features Length of Rivers and Streams in Blocks Roads in Blocks Stream Class Stream Miles Road Class Road Miles 1a 96.3284 1 6.9232 1b 17.9201 3 2.0649 2_ 4.3663 4 1.5888 3b 7.3593 6 139.7085 Miles of Powerlines 11.2482 Miles of Railroads 6.336 Element Occurrences by Major Group Page 5 of 208 Element Occurrence Summary SBR Ecoregional Target Occurrences 1 amphibian 1 natural community 20 fish 1 plant-dicot 3 mammal 3 invertebrate-crustation 2 invertebrate-insect 3plant-dicot 12 plant-monocot Expert Comments Forest Types All Comments TN group did not think Sol Messer, Cohutta, and Lovers Leap go together Page 6 of 208 Group2 Block Name Amicalola West? Acres11344.188 Hectares 4590.830196 Acres of largest interior roadless block 9715.31595 86 % of block the largest interior block occupies National Land Cover Dataset General Categories acres of forest 10439 92 % of forest in block acres of water 4 0 % of water in block acres of rock and sand 0 0 % of rock and sand in block acres developed 501 4.4 % of developed in block acres shrub and herb 101 0.9 %of shrub and herb in block acres agriculture 268 2.4 % of agriculture in block acres wetland 15 0.1 % of wetlands in block Secured Areas Summary of Block GAP Category 3Acres in Category 2321.2728 20.5 % of block Acres in NC Significant Natural Heritage Areas 00% of block in NC Sig. Nat. Her. Area Linear Features Length of Rivers and Streams in Blocks Roads in Blocks Stream Class Stream Miles Road Class Road Miles 1a 26.6544 3 47.0082 1b 5.1796 6 26.1494 8 0.0494 Miles of Powerlines 0 Miles of Railroads 0 Element Occurrences by Major Group Page 7 of 208 Element Occurrence Summary SBR Ecoregional Target Occurrences 1fish Expert Comments Forest Types Lot of pine (plantation). Some good upland hardwood along southern boundary All Comments Big development (Big Canoe) nearby to West. This block may be more important as connector than block. More important land outside ecoregion connects with this block. A lot of it has been cut a lot. Lot of pine plantation. But not all butchered; are some good upland hw forests along lower boundary. Not a lot of high quality forest at NW end. THE epicenter of pine beetle damage a few years ago. Bachman's sparrow (near threatened)--kind of driven out of SBR--are hanging on in piney areas. Some plant diversity--turkeybeard, a vine (scizandra???sp?). This area is very transitional to Piedmont. Dawson WMA (State Forest) Page 8 of 208 Group2 Block Name Burnt/Sassafras Mt.? Acres13302.198 Hectares 5383.208388 Acres of largest interior roadless block 6923.26522 52 % of block the largest interior block occupies National Land Cover Dataset General Categories acres of forest 12771 96 % of forest in block acres of water 7 0.1 % of water in block acres of rock and sand 0 0 % of rock and sand in block acres developed 353 2.7 % of developed in block acres shrub and herb 40 0.3 %of shrub and herb in block acres agriculture 91 0.7 % of agriculture in block acres wetland 21 0.2 % of wetlands in block Secured Areas Summary of Block GAP Category 2Acres in Category 1203.6958 9 % of block GAP Category 3Acres in Category 4273.2724 32.1 % of block Acres in NC Significant Natural Heritage Areas 00% of block in NC Sig.