Bottomland Hardwood Afforestation: State of the Art

INTRODUCTION Afforestation activities in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMRAV) are currently peaking after the past four decades of extensive deforestation (Allen 1997, King and Keeland 1999, Stanturf and others 1998). Different forces drive the afforestation efforts of public resource agencies, conservation organizations, private corporations, and private landowners. Their interests include conversion of economically marginal agricultural land to forest cover for ecosystem rehabilitation, soil conservation, aesthetics, and recreation. They may want to establish intensively managed fiber farms and carbon sequestration banks, and to mitigate forested wetlands destroyed elsewhere in development projects.