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Note:  Cherokee National Forest (north) is part of the IBA site, Southern Blue Ridge.

Location:  Along the northern border with Virginia and the eastern border with North Carolina in the counties of Carter, Cocke, Greene, Johnson, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington, Tennessee.
Physiographic Province:  PIF 23 (Southern Blue Ridge); BCR 28 (Appalachian Mountains)

Size: 342,303 (640,941 total acres north and south sections combined)

Description:  Established in 1920, the Cherokee National Forest was quite different then than today. The Weeks Act in 1911 authorized in the Southern Appalachians the purchase of "forested, cut-over, or denuded lands within the watersheds of navigable streams."  These lands, devastated by years of timber and mining, had limited natural resources remaining. Some eighty years later the forest has become healthier.  Annually, approximately 20,000 acres are prescribed burned and on average 3,000 acres are burned by wildfires. There are 30 developed campgrounds and 30 picnic sites; 700 miles of trails including 150 miles of the Appalachian Trail; 1,500 miles of roads (approximately 50% open to public use); and 11 designated Wildernesses (67,000 acres). There are 72 species of trees. Approximately 60,000 acres have been impacted by Southern Pine Beetles. There are 500 miles of linear wildlife openings; 950 wildlife openings (plots); and 500 miles of cold-water streams.

IBA Criteria:  1,2, 3, 4c, 4f, 5

Ornithological Importance:  Contained within the Cherokee National Forest (north) are Endangered, Threatened, and In Need of Management species; exceptional representations of natural habitats; significant raptor migration; massive land bird migration, and long-term monitoring. These criteria are documented in three sites within the national forest--Big Bald (Mountain), Roan Mountain, and Unaka Mountain. Click on a site for the documentation.

Ownership:  United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service
   Contact:  USDA Forest Service, Supervisor's Office, 2800 Ocoee Street North, Cleveland, TN 37312-5374, 423-476-9700, mailroom_58_cherokee@fs.fed.us.

Conservation Concerns:

Management Program:  Cherokee National Forest Revised Land and Resource Management Plan

Submitted by:

Additional Contributors:  

Approved under the umbrella IBA site Southern Blue Ridge:  February 2006--Yes 7  No 0


This page was last updated on 02/19/06.