Tommy Cabe, Tribal forestry specialist; Ami Sharp, UT forestry graduate student; and Drew Rochester, BIA Forestry technician examine northern red oak seedlings from the University of Tennessee’s (UT’s) tree farm. The Cherokee Office of Environment and Natural Resources and BIA Forestry have received 400 improved northern red oak seedlings from UT. These seedlings will be planted in the Tribal Reserve area and will grow to help supply future mast for wildlife, seed crop for seedling production, and contribute to overall stand improvement in the Tribal Reserve. The Red Oak project was developed in cooperation with UT School of Forestry’s professor Scott Schlauerbaum and his staff, Tribal OENR, and BIA Branch of Forestry. This is an ongoing collaboration between the agencies as part of efforts to improve tribal forests on the boundary. As a very long term project, UT will periodically return to the Qualla Boundary over the years to remeasure and monitor the trees, checking on their overall health and rate of growth. The research UT is conducting will help the Tribe by providing them with quality northern red oak progeny for future planting. (Photo courtesy of David Lambert/BIA)
