07/16/2026
Why Dry Forests on the Cherokee National Forest are changing and how we're restoring them.
Dry forest plant communities are ecosystems found on dry ridgetops and slopes where fire‑adapted trees and shrubs naturally grow. Across the Cherokee National Forest, they once had a more open, shrubby structure dominated by oak, hickory, American chestnut, and mixed pines. For thousands of years, frequent low‑intensity fires—both natural and set by Indigenous peoples—helped maintain these conditions. But over the past century, fire suppression, land‑use changes, and shifting climate conditions have allowed shade‑tolerant trees like red maple and yellow‑poplar, along with Virginia pine and Eastern white pine, to spread. These changes have created crowded forests with fewer young oaks, shortleaf pine, and pitch pine, and less habitat for wildlife that depends on open, shrubby conditions. To address these issues, the Cherokee National Forest has reintroduced disturbance processes that support fire‑adapted plants and wildlife. In recent years, this work has included stand‑improvement treatments, timber harvests, and an active prescribed burning program that averages more than 15,000 acres of burning each year to help restore and maintain open, resilient dry‑forest communities.
