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SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOSPHERE RESERVE Click here for MAP
The Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve (SABR) covers part of six states. In 1976, Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory were designated biosphere reserves and became the laboratory for U.S. MAB program development. These two biosphere reserves, along with the Oak Ridge National Environmental Research Park, were the founding units of both SABR and the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) regional cooperative. This model MAB cooperative promotes programs initiated and funded by its member agencies. SABR and SAMAB's primary concerns are demographic changes in the region and their impact on natural resources.
I. AREA DESCRIPTION
The Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve (SABR) encompasses a series of ancient mountain ranges in six states--the highland portions of northern Georgia, northeastern Alabama, western South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and southwestern Virginia--an area of 247,028 hectares. The region contains a variety of national and state parks, recreational and wildlife areas, national and state forests, experimental forests, lands administered by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and Cherokee Indian lands. About a third of the land in the region is owned by federal and state agencies.
The Southern Appalachians are recognized as having perhaps the greatest diversity of tree and shrub species in North America. In the UNESCO classification system the biome is temperate broadleaf forest and the biogeographic province is eastern forest. This region is primarily second growth temperate forests and contains a diversity of habitats ranging from remnant prairie grasslands and swamp forests to high elevation spruce-fir forests and grassy meadows. More than 130 species of trees and 1,500 species of flowering plants are found in the region.
From 1890 to 1930, a growing market for timber prompted deforestation; and virtually all of the old growth forests at lower elevations were cleared for farms or lumber. Large pockets of old growth remained in the mountains, however; and in 1923 leading citizens began a movement to establish a national park. This effort culminated in 1940 with the dedication of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM)..."to protect the largest remaining tract of virgin forest in the eastern United States." During the same period, several national forests and forestry research and training programs were also established; and forest management practices began to improve. Another major action to reverse the trend of natural resource devastation was the establishment of the TVA in 1933 with a mission to plan for the proper use of all the resources of the Tennessee River drainage basin.
Since World War II, the region has attracted many newcomers. Regional population growth exceeds the national average but is unevenly distributed. Good health care facilities and recreational opportunities are attracting retirees. Younger, well-educated people are finding jobs in cities. However, many of the long-term residents with less formal education are finding fewer job opportunities as the traditional resource extraction and textile industries decline. These factors contribute to poorly planned land development and degradation of natural resources.
II. MAJOR ISSUES
Today, with growing population and tourism pressures, the Southern Appalachian region's future is again at risk. It faces a wide range of impacts on its ecosystems and natural resources, with adverse consequences for future economic development. These include the effects of air and water pollution, changing patterns of land use, urbanization, tourism, fragmentation of wildlife habitats, and invasion of natural habitats by non-native species.
There is a need for more effective government action to address vital public needs in developing a sound economy and enhancing and maintaining a healthy environment. Existing resources could be used more effectively and efficiently. SAMAB has the challenging task of focusing the resources of its participating agencies to address these issues. It can provide the training and information exchange necessary to establish an effective model for sustainable growth and effective ecosystem management.
III. BACKGROUND
The Southern Appalachian region is a unique mix of scenic beauty, rich biodiversity, traditional mountain cultures, and modern development. Because of its related flora, fauna, climate, geology, and culture, it could be characterized as a "bioregion."
Its biological, geographic, economic, and cultural characteristics make it an appropriate area in which to address issues that can best be resolved through interagency cooperation and public/private partnerships, rather than through separate outreach programs. SABR has been designated as the primary zone of cooperation under the auspices of the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) program. In 1986, U.S. MAB endorsed the nomination of the SABR and initiated planning for a model biosphere reserve regional project.
In the 1986-1988 period, a series of interagency meetings was held and consensus was reached on creating a regional MAB organization. The proposed organization consisted of an interagency cooperative to enable broad federal and state participation; a non-profit foundation for involving the private sector; and an office, funded by the participating agencies, to coordinate and administer the SABR program on behalf of the participants. In August 1988, six federal agencies signed an Interagency and Cooperative Agreement for the Establishment and Operation of the SAMAB Cooperative.
The SAMAB agreement calls for cooperation on activities consistent with MAB and BR goals. 1989-1991 was essentially a development period as organizational and administrative structures were developed for the SAMAB Cooperative, program goals were defined, and a few projects were initiated with funds made available principally by the federal member agencies. Also, during this period the non-profit SAMAB Foundation was put in place.
Since 1991 many projects have been successfully launched and membership in SAMAB has grown. Eleven federal agencies and three state agencies are now members of the SAMAB Cooperative. Signatories are: Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, National Park Service (NPS), Environmental Protection Agency, Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (through Oak Ridge National Laboratory), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Appalachian Regional Commission, State of Georgia, State of North Carolina, and State of Tennessee. Other participants are: Tennessee Aquarium, World Wildlife Fund, Tennessee Nurseryman Association, U.S. MAB, and SAMAB Foundation. Appendix A provides a more detailed history of the development of the SAMAB program.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION
SAMAB has promoted many projects and programs with its participating and cooperating agencies. In its Air Quality program, SAMAB sponsored regional forums for reviewing policies, regulations, research, and monitoring activities, which led to closer cooperation among regulatory agencies. It also coordinates regional participation in the Forest Health Monitoring Program.
SAMAB-assisted research projects improve understanding of the regional ecosystem and the scientific basis for ecosystem management. These projects include reintroduction of the red wolf into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and a habitat assessment for neo-tropical migratory birds. SAMAB participants conducted important monitoring and research programs for threatened and endangered species, invasive species, environmental biotechnology geosciences, fresh water ecosystems, long-term ecosystem processes, landscape studies, human resources, and the potential regional effects of global climate change. One important near-term SAMAB goal is the development of a regional geographic information system that serves the ecosystem management and sustainable development objectives of SAMAB participants.
The BR cooperative has successfully promoted public awareness and understanding of important resource issues through development of educational material for schools and public education programs. SAMAB is a regional clearinghouse for information on environmental education and training programs; and has distributed its directory of these programs to 2,000 schools. SAMAB and the Knoxville NBC affiliate sponsored an Emmy award-winning documentary on the restoration of the endangered red wolf to the Southern Appalachians. A viewer's guide for teachers was widely distributed, and a poster was sent to all local schools and public libraries.
During the past several years, SAMAB members have appeared in numerous forums throughout the United States and overseas to explain the value of the SAMAB Program. A number of international groups have visited the region to examine the SAMAB model. Sponsors of these groups have included the World Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Information Agency, and the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program.
Short-range goals of the SAMAB program are to:
* Increase member agencies' cooperation on common issues.
* Enhance public recognition of and appreciation for SAMAB's activities.
* Design and initiate an effective marketing plan to promote the SAMAB model and obtain secure sources of financial support.
Longer-range goals of the SAMAB program are to:
* Develop an expanded program of support for phased, large-scale research, management, and educational projects and programs concerned with priority natural resource and economic development issues.
* Seek significant continuing federal support for an expanded program with an increasing interface and exchange with programs in the United States and overseas.
* Provide full staffing and office facilities to manage and coordinate the program.
* Develop the membership and support for an expanded SAMAB Foundation program.
Selected List of SAMAB Activities
Project: Forums on Air Quality
Purpose: Identify strategies for monitoring, research and state
collaboration concerning air quality in Class I areas of Southern
Appalachians (SA).
Participants: More than 250 in two forums: federal, state, and
local governments, industry, and non-governmental organizations.
Results:
* Formation of Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative (SAMI)--a
multiagency, multistate initiative focusing on air quality in
SA.
* SAMAB to assist National Park Service develop regional air quality
management plan.
* Publication of SAMAB supported brochure on "Understanding
Air Quality in SA."
Benefits:
* SAMI developed and received support because of SAMAB sponsoring.
* SAMI can deal with air pollution sources in several states at
once rather than by source
* Should lead to regional approach to air quality management.
_________________________________________
Project: Forest Health Monitoring in SA (category under EPA's
EMAP Program)
Purpose: Monitor ecological change and forest health on ecosystem
basis (usually initiated on state-by-state basis).
Participants: TVA, US Forest Service, SCS, NPS, and contractors
(EPA grant to SAMAB administered by TVA).
Results:
* About 50 plots in place and collecting data after two years.
* Another 50-60 plots in SA over next two years.
Benefits: After all plots are in place, ecological change can be monitored for SA ecosystem.
______________________________________
Project: Front Runner: The Red Wolf Recovery Effort
Purpose: To educate the public on the recovery of the endangered
red wolf in GRSM.
Participants: SAMAB agencies, TV stations, schools, and public
libraries in SAMAB zone of cooperation.
Results:
* Emmy award winning 30 min. TV program
* Award winning education poster* Teachers Guide
Benefits: Increased public awareness and education on endangered species and the importance of reintroduction of the red wolf.
________________________________________
Project: Threats to the SA Forest: Dogwood Anthracnose
Purpose: To educate the public on how to grow and maintain healthy
flowering dogwood trees
Participants: Workshops held in three cities for nurseries, landscapers,
and citizens--more than 250 participants
Results:
* Video on controlling dogwood anthracnose.
* Education poster and information packet * 500,000 brochures disseminated.
* Three additional workshops are planned on other threats to SA forests.
Benefits:
* Revitalization on of sales by nurseries.
* Increased understanding by public of this disease and how to grow and maintain dogwoods.
_________________________________________
Project: Sustainable development strategies for local communities
with tourist-based economies
Purpose: To develop strategies that local communities may follow
in determining their future
Participants: The first community was Pittman Center, TN. It has
formed a local chapter of SAMAB with about 75 members. Seven hundred
copies of the report have been distributed to other communities
in the U.S. and Canada.
Results: Pittman Center, TN, is following the strategic plan it
developed. The community has received two other grants to support
the implementation of the plan.
Benefits: Project illustrates the importance of communities developing
a strategic plan to guide their future
_________________________________________
Project: SAMAB Annual Conference
Purpose: To exchange research management and educational data.
Participants: Conference attracts 200-250 regional participants
each year.
Results: Regional exchange of information between participants
and the public.
Benefits: Information exchange benefits the region.
V. BENEFITS, CONSTRAINTS, OPPORTUNITIES
SAMAB benefits each of the units in the SABR by providing a cooperative institutional structure for planning and carrying out projects that support resource management. The SAMAB umbrella enables participants to share ownership of large-scale projects that require coordinated action. These projects are often beyond the capability of individual participants. SAMAB plays a growing role in disseminating scientific and technical information to users. It is becoming a significant source of environmental education materials for the region's schools.
The regional cooperative has brought federal and state agency employees together, allowing them to seek collective solutions to long-standing as well as new problems. Tensions and suspicions have faded as SAMAB members learn more about each other's agencies and their missions and goals.
The reluctance of regional and national agency administrators to commit time, attention, and money to support SAMAB efforts limits its effectiveness in addressing a larger variety of regional issues. Higher level managers have not always fully recognized the benefits of SAMAB's regional approaches as useful and necessary for achieving their agencies' mission.
SAMAB still lacks a reliable financial base. Local managers support SAMAB from their own budgets because they have had difficulty obtaining funds for cooperative regional projects. Although participants have supported a number of research and education projects, follow-up on SAMAB's community development initiative, for example, has lagged for lack of investment. The SAMAB Foundation is expected to help raise funds, but to date it has not been successful in providing needed staff and administrative expenses.
Despite these financial constraints, SAMAB continues to build on the growing confidence of the public. Its education programs are informing the public and encouraging better management practices. A formal relationship with a regional network of universities is being developed to increase the flow of reliable scientific information to public and private users. SAMAB has submitted proposals to the National Biological Survey and others to do regional studies. Several national forests are using the SAMAB umbrella to seek recognition as Regional Ecosystem Management Units and become eligible for additional agency funds for projects that contribute to BR objectives. The SAMAB Foundation is working to attract more private-sector partners and to involve local people more directly in SAMAB activities.
VI. OBSERVATIONS
Several factors have contributed to SAMAB's significant progress in implementing the biosphere reserve concept:
The SABR area is diverse. Modern cities with well educated and highly skilled residents contrast with small towns with limited economic opportunities. Some rural areas are being flooded with new residents eager to buy "the best spot" but unconcerned about their impact on the local environment. Local governments are ill prepared to manage this new and sometimes destructive growth. In view of the lack of leadership in promoting ecologically sound local development, SAMAB needs the resources to focus its attention on building local alliances.
As the first Regional MAB Cooperative, the SAMAB program provides a model for involving many agencies and interests in cooperative research, educational, and demonstration programs to support ecosystem management and regional planning.
PRINCIPAL CONTRIBUTORS
Hubert Hinote, Executive Director, SAMAB
Wayne Swank, Director, Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory
Charles Van Sickle, Assistant Station Director, Southeast Forest
Experiment Station
R. Joseph Abrell, Chief, Resource Management and Science Division,
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Vernon C. Gilbert, Retired, National Park Service
APPENDIX A BACKGROUND - SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE PROGRAM
The SABR and the SAMAB program evolved from a long series of activities to develop and implement the biosphere reserve concept. In 1974, when UNESCO and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) prepared to jointly organize the Task Force on Criteria and Guidelines for the Choice and Establishment of Biosphere Reserves, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) with its cooperative relationships with communities, agencies, and institutions in the region was used as an example of the proposed biosphere reserve concept. In 1976, GRSM, and the Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory (U.S. Forest Service) were among the first biosphere reserves designated by UNESCO.
As a large securely protected area, GRSM fulfilled the role of a core area to conserve natural ecosystems and provide benchmarks for monitoring. The Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory, with its long record of experimental research, fulfilled the need to investigate the effects of natural disturbance and human manipulations of forest ecosystems. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory and its National Environmental Research Park participated in this cooperative arrangement from the beginning and was officially designated a biosphere reserve unit in 1988.
A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF SOME MAJOR SABR EVENTS
1976 First Regional MAB workshop. Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory and GRSM designated as biosphere reserves.1977 Pilot testing of multimedia pollutant monitoring methodology. First pilot study sites in GRSM.
1978 International workshop on long-term ecological monitoring in biosphere reserves. Southern Appalachian Research and Resource Management Consor
1980 U.S. MAB report on history of scientific activities in GRSM.
1981 GRSM selected as MAB pilot study site for multispectral scanner land-use/land-cover mapping.
1983 Pilot study ethnobotanical survey. Automated data base created for GRSM.
1984 National conference on management of biosphere reserves held as part of GRSM 50th anniversary. GRSM, Coweeta, and two other BR study sites chosen for coupling ecological study with remote sensing.
1985 U.S. MAB Biosphere Reserve Selection Board on biosphere reserves in eastern forests recommended expansion of BR network.
1986 UNESCO recognized Southern Appalachia as one of two areas in the U.S. which best exemplified BR concepts. NPS began process of linking parks, adjacent lands, and regional interests to identify and address regional issues. GRSM developed BR education modules on resource issues for grades K-8. U.S. MAB identified proposed SABR as candidate site for testing Smithsonian/MAB biological diversity protocol.
1987 Site managers and administrators in Southern Appalachia met to explore cooperative project. Interagency Committee established to develop a plan for a regional pilot project. U.S. MAB awarded $10,000 grant to support planning effort.
1988 SAMAB Cooperative established by Interagency and Cooperative Agreement. SABR designated by UNESCO.
1989 SAMAB Coordinating Office established and Executive Director selected. First Cooperative activities initiated.
1990 U.S. MAB officially recognized SAMAB as a regional program. Council on Environmental Quality (21st Annual Report) used SAMAB as an example of ecosystem management. SAMAB Foundation officially established.
1991 SAMAB nominated for President's Partnership award. SAMAB received "Natural Resources Conservation Education Award" from U.S. Forest Service. Senator Sasser, Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on General Services, wrote letter to SAMAB signatory agencies complimenting them on their
1992 SAMAB and WBIR-TV (NBC affiliate in Knoxville) won an EMMY award for production of "Front Runner." SAMAB's poster, "Back from the Brink," named one of top 20 posters by Urban America. Governor Miller, Georgia, sent letter to fellow governors in SAMAB region complimenting the SAMAB program.
1993 Mount Mitchell State Park (managed by North Carolina Department of Natural Resources) and privately owned Grandfather Mountain designated by UNESCO as management units of
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