by lawrence malone
Community-based Organizations Make a Difference
Photo compliments of Tom Lussier Photography
Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains stand eternal and constant . An anchor in our environment to which we can always look for solace and comfort in times of turmoil — Uhm ... not really !
Looking out our windows at the Blue Ridge Mountains or driving along the bucolic and historic rural roads of western Loudoun County , it is easy to believe that the mountains and forests we see
First in a Two-Part Series
have been with us for generations and will stay with us , unchanged for generations to come .
That is a dangerously false and simplistic view . The mountains are and have always been dynamic systems constantly evolving . Today many and diverse forces are at work to accelerate the rate of change for our Blue Ridge Mountains . The Blue Ridge forests that we see today are different in many important ways from the forests through which Union and Confederate soldiers roamed during the Civil War .
In the 1860s Virginia ’ s mountain forests were characterized by large stands of mature trees including chestnut , hemlock , and many varieties of oak . Commercial logging in the early 20th century took the biggest , tallest
42 wander I fall • winter 2021