Caretakers of creation: Promoting conservation and biodiversity in Spruce Pine
“We were raised on a farm, and when you wake up to the sound of wild turkeys gobbling and watch white-tailed bucks bound across the mountain chasing a doe, and you live with the sunrises and the sunsets, you learn a deep love for God’s creation, and it’s something you can’t really turn loose of because it becomes part of your heart.”
So says Joel Pounders who, along with his brother Jeff Pounders, both Russellville natives, manages around 560 acres of land in Spruce Pine, known as Little Bear Valley by locals. Both retired, the brothers’ primary focus now is on forestry and wildlife management for the land they and their families have worked over the course of 30 years to purchase.
“We grew up farming with our family,” Joel explained. “We are at least third-, if not fourth-, generation farmers. I was an environmental manager, and Jeff worked in professional agriculture. Our wives were schoolteachers, and we worked regular jobs like anyone else all our lives, albeit in the environmental/agriculture arena. We didn’t inherit the land. We bought it.”
MANAGING THE LAND RESPONSIBLY
Jeff explained one way they manage the land is by setting aside certain parts of it that won’t be farmed and particular areas that won’t have roads or logging. “And in areas where we manage, say, timber production, because we all have to have a way of making an income, we still try to do it in a way that increases biodiversity rather than decrease it,” he explained.
“A good example is the prescribed fires, also known as controlled burns, that we do,” he added. “Fires used to be a natural part of our ecosystems, like with lightning-induced fires. These fires would burn naturally across the landscape and help create unique biomes.” Joel said people got so good at preventing fires that some of those biomes that were accustomed to periodic fires suffered as a result, affecting the plants and animals that lived there, including red cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises and indigo snakes – examples from south Alabama.
“Even in north Alabama, fire was a part of our natural ecosystem,” Jeff noted. “Native Americans used fire to reduce fuel loads because if you have increased fuel loads, the fires become much more damaging to the landscape, whereas periodic fires prevent excess fuel loads and play a big part in the symbiotic relationships of species.
“Your plant diversity is also greatly increased with the presence of periodic fires,” Jeff added. “There are so many species of insects and animals and aquatic fishes and organisms that share in symbiotic relationships in the environment.”
Diversity is crucial to thriving ecosystems. For example, Joel said certain mushrooms in the forest are dependent on particular species of trees’ mycelium, wood web underground vines around certain species of trees. “Quite often in forestry, you want to have a diverse number of trees because you then find diversity in mushrooms and insects. The Luna Moth, for example – there’s only a handful of trees they will feed on and lay their eggs on. If you convert your forest to one species,” he continued, “for instance, all pine, then don’t expect to see a lot of Luna Moths or a lot of mushrooms. Those symbiotic relationships are critical in land management, and we try to look at all of that in deciding how we manage the land.”
He said it’s important to understand biomes, also known as microclimates. “You may be standing in one single forest in northwest Alabama, but you might find a hemlock biome 200 feet down in Little Bear Valley facing a north-facing canyon that gets very little sunlight and has high humidity,” he explained. “Air temperature is cooler there usually by 5-8 degrees versus surrounding areas.”
Jeff said within microclimates, it’s usual to find unique species living there. “Mankind has a way of wanting to clean up the landscape, so to speak, and create monocultures, which reduce biodiversity,” he explained. “A good example of a monoculture is loblolly pines, which is one that is created oftentimes in forestry management. Prescribed fires increase biodiversity and improve wildlife habitat.”
The brothers said they generally do prescribed fires once every two or three years to essentially mimic what used to occur naturally. “In doing so, you improve nesting and brooding habitat for birds like turkey, quail and many of the songbird species when working on a two-to-three-year rotation for prescribed burns,” Joel added. “We both studied environmental biology, attending Northwest Shoals Community College and the University of North Alabama. We both worked professionally for a major agricultural company in the environmental arena for most of our careers – but we’ve always maintained the farm and forestry and wildlife work through those same years as a sideline job or hobby just for the love of the land and the love of nature.”
Jeff said on their land they have “some of the more prevalent species that everybody’s familiar with,” including white-tailed deer, turkey, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, bald eagles, river otters and golden eagles, adding they also have “some unique species.”
HEMLOCKS AND BIOMES
“The hemlock is under national stress,” explained Joel, “because of the hemlock woolly adelgid insect … but hopefully those down in these most southern parts will survive that.”
He said the hemlock has to do with how Spruce Pine came to have its name. “The early colonizers that came to these parts recognized the tree as unique and different. It looked like a cross between a spruce and a pine, hence they called it the Spruce Pine, and that’s where the community of Spruce Pine originally was started – here in the valley. It migrated up and out to the current day Spruce Pine, but it was named after that tree, the Spruce Pine, which is actually the Eastern Hemlock. The original town of Spruce Pine was started on the banks of Little Bear.”
Joel noted most of the diseases or fungus or beetle-induced sicknesses in trees come from invasive species from other countries. “That is a current challenge in forestry and biodiversity management,” he continued, “battling against invasive species brought over from other places.”
Jeff said the hemlock is not the only threatened tree species, also citing ash and elm, threatened by disease or parasites.
On a recent trip through their land, the brothers took time to appreciate the biodiversity of a creek on the property, catching and admiring tiny fish called darters. Unlike most fish, they don’t have swim bladders and are thus incapable of swimming. Instead of swimming, they stay along the bottom of creeks, periodically darting or scooting from one place to the next.
“In the state of Alabama, there’s quite a number of darters that are unique,” Joel said. “They’re too small to be caught on a hook. We catch them in nets and scoop them up in a wine glass so we can see them better. Darters are good species indicators of biodiversity as they require clean, pristine streams and very low levels of pollution. Quite often, they’re some of the first fishes lost in areas that are heavily developed.
“When we alter habitats, we lose these little unique species, but they’re prolific here,” he added. “It’ll change your life to hold one in your hands and see it. It’ll change your opinion of what you think of taking care of streams and how important they are.”
CHESTNUT TREES
“One of our greatest ecological disasters when considered by most ecologists,” explained Jeff, “is the loss of the American Chestnut tree. Now we can only imagine what our landscapes must have looked like with the American Chestnut. It was a massive tree, towering and stately, and it provided billions of pounds of tonnage of food for wildlife and humans. Some were so big that families could camp in the base of the hollows, and they would rival the Sequoia.
“And now all we have left is the remnant root stock and a few trees that have miraculously survived that are relatively very small, only about 10-15 inches in diameter, in just a few select states. Our work is to try to prevent those kinds of things from happening again.”
PRESERVING CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE LAND
He added they also feel the responsibility of preserving the cultural history of their lands, including “not only the early colonization of our lands, but the pre-history and the Native American indigenous cultures that occupied our lands,” which he said includes on their farm, where they have “a rich pre-history,” adding he and his brother have found and documented “numerous cultures dating back to as early as the Dalton cultures (transitional Paleo).”
Jeff said they’ve “documented many archaic cultures, like the Kirk cultures and the Pickwick cultures, and within the Woodland period, numerous Cotaco culture, Flint Creek and Little Bear Creek cultures, after which the valley was named.” Others he noted include the Mississippian period, as well as the Madison and Hamilton Native Americans who occupied the lands.
“We’ve found artifacts from where the first settlers came here, and we believe that Andrew Jackson and Major William Russell, for whom Russellville was named, traveled through there after leaving Russellville and going to New Orleans for the Battle of 1814. We found a stone here that’s carved 1814 Josh Hill in this valley. So, there’s good reason to believe Andrew Jackson and his men passed through this valley en route to the Battle of New Orleans in 1814. It’s very important that we preserve not only the natural history and our native species but also the pre-history and the cultures that came before us occupying this valley.”
Joel Pounders said they read a book early in their journey, “A Sand County Almanac” by Aldo Leopold, that has been an inspiration for them. “He was considered the father of conservation, and he foresaw several decades ago many of the challenges that we face today.”
Jeff said he and his brother believe “first and foremost” in the Bible as God’s word. “Secondly, there’s much literature out there that you can study and read, and there are others that came after Aldo Leopold,” he added. “Many of the principles and concepts and the things he foresaw still influence us today, things like the loss of biodiversity, and this begins with having a land ethic, something he taught, and that’s what we still need within our cultures and our communities. “It begins with an appreciation for wild things and a heart for preserving them.”
“I think it was Henry David Thoreau that wrote, ‘In wilderness is the salvation of the world,’” said Joel. “He was speaking in a biological context rather than spiritual – a lesson on biodiversity. What he was saying there is the overall health of the human being and human populations is strongly linked, if not entirely linked, to the health of the ecosystem. When we fragment it and modify it like we do, ultimately it may end up in losses of certain species. A few at first may not seem that significant, but it can become a domino effect where you start losing more and more.”
He said some biologists are concerned that the present time may be a period of “possible mass extinction,” noting “there will be consequences for all of us.”
HUNTING RESPONSIBILY
“Jeff and I, we love to promote conservation and wellbeing of wildlife,” explained Joel, “but we also recognize the value of wildlife in terms of a food source and for recreation and fun. Part of being a good land manager is recognizing that hunting is OK. It is good to harvest certain numbers of species that you have, and so we enjoy a deer hunt and a turkey hunt as much as anyone – but you know, maybe the general public thinks of us old hunters as just killers. Hopefully, people learn from us that we love the animals we hunt, and we not only love the game animals, but we also do a lot of work for non-game animals.”
Joel said they never hunt a river otter or shoot a bobcat on their land or hunt cockaded woodpeckers. “And I could name numerous species, but we do a lot of work for the non-game species strictly for the enjoyment of having them and ensuring that we have that biodiverse landscape here on our property. Hunters are really more about giving life than we are taking it. Conservation figures a lot more prominently than people realize.”
“The future of wildlife and wild land is in the hands of the private landowner for the most part,” Jeff added. “We love working with the land, sharing it with others, and we feel passionate about it. We believe in creating a love and appreciation with others for the things that are natural, wild and free.”
GLORIFYING GOD
Joel echoed his brother’s sentiments, adding, “In the end, we really never truly own land. It all belongs to God. It’s his creation. We’re just temporary caretakers, and so Jeff made a good point, that we want to leave it in as good of shape or better than when we first obtained it, and we’re endowed with the ability and the blessing to take care of it for a while.”
“Joel and I, first and foremost, always like to glorify God with the things that we do, our Creator of all these things,” Jeff agreed. “Then we do our very best to try to inform and educate and create a land ethic and a love for natural things, wild and free, that God created – and to teach the young and even older people to love and appreciate these things and that we have a responsibility to preserve it as best we can and pass it on better than we found it, and this includes the plants and the animals.”
