Restoring a Dying Woods

My house sits on just over 10 acres that is about 70% woodland and 30% garden. Over the past 13 years I have planted more than 40 trees in my garden. I have nourished and water them, and replaced trees that have died. The almost seven acres of woodland behind the garden has been mostly ignored. A large part of the woods is “resource protected area” (RPA) as defined in the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act. Vegetated areas along water bodies, such as lakes, streams, rivers, marshes or shoreline, are RPAs under the Bay Act.

RPAs are described as by the county as the 'last line of defense' for the protection of water quality. These buffers stabilize shorelines and stream banks, filter pollutants, reduce the volume of stormwater runoff and provide critical habitat for aquatic species and wildlife. Trees and shrubs in riparian buffers reduce erosion, improve air quality, and provide shade in the summer and windbreaks in the winter.

At the end of last winter when we walked the area to pick up litter and trash the woodland did not appear to be in good health. Until recently when emerald ash borer invaded the woods, I felt we did not have to worry about dead trees as it was all part of the natural process of renewal. However, the number of dead and dying trees had increased dramatically and it seemed that the invasive vines and Autumn Olive had flourished. The wood appeared in danger of dying.

The vines and emerald ash borer are killing the woods

According to Helms and Johnson a healthy forest has living trees functioning as part of a balanced and self replacing ecosystem. That ecosystem is a complex mix of trees, understory shrubs and groundcover. In a healthy woodland the process of natural succession occurs over time. Small saplings develop and will become the next generation of trees as the older ones die out. Though benign neglect is the rule for RPAs, it seemed clear the woodland needed some help to renew itself. We contacted the Virginia Department of Forestry for assistance and guidance in this effort, highlighting that the woodland is part of an RPA.

Kinner Ingram, an Urban and Community Forestry Specialist from the Virginia Department of Forestry came out and inspected the woodland and made some recommendations.  He felt that with removal of the invasive vines and the hanging dead trees the wood might begin to renew itself. He put his recommendations in a report for me to submit to Clay Morris, Natural Resources Section Chief, Environmental Services Division of Prince William County Public Works.

The wooded area encompasses almost 7 acres about two-thirds in the RPA. I needed to apply for a Permitted Buffer Modifications under (9VAC25-830-140.5) to do any work in the RPA. Kinner provided me with a roadmap for restoring the woodland health, but because this is an RPA it must begin with applying for permit for General woodlot management for the removal of the invasive vines and some of the dead trees to facilitate regrowth and regeneration of the woodland. This may be all that needs to be done, but it will take a few years to know if I will need to plant native tree saplings or do additional work on preventing the reintroduction of the invasive vines.

In January with permission from the Environmental Services Division of Prince William County Public Works in hand, Wetland Studies and Solutions began the work. We had a plan of work on a best efforts within a budget. At the completion of the phase I of the work, both the Forester and the Natural Resources Section chief agreed that it looked really good. We decided to save a small portion of the budget for spring when we would paint the stumps of the vines with herbicide to extinguish them. It is hoped that the surviving trees will spread their seeds in the open areas and that the piles we created will serve as habitat for wildlife.