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Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
Kilmer, a poet and journalist who had been killed in World War I. After considering millions of acres of forest land throughout the IUCN Category Ib (Wilderness Area) U.S., the Forest Service chose an undisturbed 3,800-acre (15 km2) patch along Little Santeetlah Creek, which it dedicated as the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in 1936.[2] The sources of both Slickrock Creek and Little Santeetlah Creek are located high in the Unicoi Mountains, on opposite slopes of Stratton Bald, a 5,360-foot (1,630 m) grassy bald overlooking the southwest corner of the Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness. Slickrock Creek rises on Stratton’s northwestern slope and flows northeastward to its mouth along the Cheoah River. Little Santeetlah rises on North Carolina, USA Location Stratton’s southeastern slope and flows Tennessee, USA southeastward to its mouth along Santeetlah Nearest city Tapoco, North CarolinaNearest city: Creek.
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness Tapoco, North Carolina Coordinates 35°22′25″N 83°58′32″W / 35.37361°N 83.97556°W / 35.37361; -83.97556Coordinates: 35°22′25″N 83°58′32″W / 35.37361°N 83.97556°W / 35.37361; -83.97556 17,394 acres (70 km2) 1975 Established: 1975 U.S. Forest Service
Area Established Governing body
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, created in 1975, covers 17,394 acres (70 km2) in the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, in the watersheds of the Slickrock and Little Santeetlah Creeks. It is named after Joyce Kilmer, author of "Trees." The Little Santeetlah and Slickrock watersheds contain 5,926 acres (23.98 km2) of old growth forest,[1] one of the largest tracts in the United States east of the Mississippi River. The Babcock Lumber Company logged roughly two-thirds of the Slickrock Creek watershed before the construction of Calderwood Dam in 1922 flooded the company’s railroad access and put an end to logging operations in the area. In the 1930s, the U.S. Veterans of Foreign Wars asked the U.S. Forest Service to create a memorial forest for
Joyce Kilmer Memorial The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest along Little Santeetlah Creek is a rare example of an old growth cove hardwood forest, an extremely diverse forest type unique to the Appalachian Mountains. Although there are many types of trees in Joyce Kilmer, dominant species include poplar, hemlock, red and white oak, basswood, beech, and sycamore. Many of the trees in Joyce Kilmer are over 400 years old. The largest rise to heights of over 100 feet (30 m) and have circumferences of up to 20 feet (6.1 m). The Slickrock Creek basin is coated primarily by a mature second-growth cove hardwood forest,
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
although a substantial old growth stand still exists in its upper watershed.[3][4] The Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness borders the Citico Creek Wilderness, which lies within the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee.
Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness
Tennessee Historical Society, 1975), 350-351. [3] United States Forest Service, "Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness and Citico Creek Wilderness Map" (information on the reverse), 1996. [4] Brewer and Brewer, 290, 350-351.
See also
• List of U.S. Wilderness Areas • List of old growth forests • Wilderness Act
External links
• Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Wilderness, Wilderness.net website • Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, Graham County, North Carolina • Webcam View of Joyce Kilmer - Slickrock Wilderness This article related to a protected area in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
References
[1] Mary Byrd Davis (23 January 2008). "Old Growth in the East: A Survey. North Carolina". http://www.primalnature.org/ ogeast/nc.pdf. [2] Alberta Brewer and Carson Brewer, Valley So Wild (Knoxville, Tenn.: East
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer-Slickrock_Wilderness" Categories: IUCN Category Ib, Old growth forests, Wilderness Areas of North Carolina, Wilderness Areas of Tennessee, Graham County, North Carolina, North Carolina geography stubs, United States protected area stubs This page was last modified on 11 May 2009, at 02:01 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
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