Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI)
The Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI) is a partnership of diverse interests with a common goal of restoring historic red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystems across the high elevation landscapes of Central Appalachia. It is comprised of private, state, federal, and non-governmental organizations which recognize the importance of this ecosystem for its ecological, aesthetic, recreational, economic, and cultural values.
Red spruce and red spruce-northern hard-wood forests once dominated the highest elevations of West Virginia, covering more than 500,000 acres. Extensive logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s reduced much of the mature forest in the Appalachians, including the red spruce-dominated stands. Today only about 29,600 acres of high elevation red spruce forests remain in the State.
2012 Year-End Report
2012 proved to be another successful year for the growing restoration initiative. CASRI partners helped raise an additional $725,800.00 for on-the-ground projects in 2012, adding to the $162,341.00 raised since 2006. This represents the best fundraising year yet. CASRI partners planted 34,275 seedlings and recruited over 2,175 volunteer hours. Acres planted totaled roughly 206 for 2012, adding to the over 715 acres planted since 2006. Over 160 acres of red spruce were released from the understory by commercial and non-commercial cuttings.
