Existing comment:
Second Growth Forest (2)
Look about you and notice the trees. How old are the trees in the park? Most of the trees on the mountain are less than 100 years old. The iron furnace used charcoal as a heat source. Wood made into charcoal was the only energy source known at that time which could provide enough heat to melt the iron ore.
Clear-cutting the forest to feed the furnace fire was devastating. One acre of wood was needed to provide the charcoal used to heat the furnace for every 24 hours of operation. Colliers lived in huts close to the charcoal hearths are made charcoal from May through October. Smoke from these fires covered the mountain in a thick blue cloud during the charcoal making process. Twelve of 20 foot circular depressions which can be seen in Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park are remnants of these hearths.
During the last days of the furnace, coke made from anthracite (hard coal) replaced charcoal as fuel for iron smelting. Nature would begin the healing process of reforestation. Slowly, new growth began on the mountain in a successional series. In the first four years grasses and non-woody herbs grew. Woody shrubs and quick growing trees such as Staghorn Sumar, Red Maple, and Black Locust later appeared. A few years later, Poplar, Beech, and other Maples invaded. Finally, Oaks and Hickories evolved as the climax stage of ecological succession.
Today, the trees in the park are protected and provided abundant food and shelter for wildlife such as deer, wild turkey, fox squirrel, and grouse. In addition, the forest is a watershed which helps to clean water for drinking, clear the air of pollution, produce oxygen, prevent soil erosion, and cool the air. |