In forests in the Eastern U.S., it's feast or famine: too many deer, not enough woodpeckers

Forests across the Eastern U.S. are starting to recover from centuries of use and abuse, but still face man-made hurdles.  By the late 1800s, much of the woodland that stretched from Maine to Texas had been cut down for agriculture and timber, but as farms were abandoned old seeds sprouted and "unlike many other environmental mistakes, this one began to fix itself," David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post reports, in another of the paper's series of stories related to the 40th anniversary of Earth Day later this month.

The forest is growing back but is still burdened with too many deer, too little fire and armies of invasive bugs, Farenthold reports: "In some places, scientists are trying to fix man-made flaws that could eventually destroy forest ecosystems. In others, the test is whether the government and private interests can save the forest from becoming suburbs and strip malls." While the forest had reached 68 percent of its former range by 1997, "All woods ain't woods," said Stephen W. Syphax, a National Park Service official. To help revitalize forests, small fires are set to burn out undergrowth, an essential task to foster native birds such as the red-cockaded woodpecker. (Photo by Michael McCloy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

State restocking programs have also revitalized deer populations that once reached record lows with the decline of forest land. The programs have been so successful that the deer, which eat almost everything and who face few predators, have taken over the forest, Fahrenthold reports. "Right now, the [deer] are hunted by people and Volvos," William J. McShea, a wildlife ecologist at the Smithsonian Institution, told Fahrenthold. Because of that, he said, "There's no future to that forest. It's like it's died, but it doesn't know it yet." Some have suggested reintroducing native wolves and mountain lions to serve as natural predators for the deer, but public safety concerns have left those plans on the back burner. (Read more)