Fall 2024 7 The author standing beside the largest individual of round-leaf birch in the original population. It measures 11.7 inches in diameter and is 74 ft. tall. It is one of only three trees left in the original population, all on public land. (PHOTO BY BOB FORD, JUNE 2014) 2,753 ft. in elevation, a close match to the elevation reported by Ashe in his discovery. It is suspected that Ashe must have been in error in noting the species occurrence along Dickey Creek rather than Cressy Creek where Ogle rediscovered the trees nearly 60 years later. By mid-September of 1975, 12 reproductively mature adults, 1 sapling, and 21 seedlings were reported by Ogle and Mazzeo. The 12 mature trees varied from 25 to 46 ft in height. Diameters at breast height (DBH) ranged from 1.5 to 5.0 in). The trees were reported to occupy a subcanopy layer and often angled to presumably catch more sunlight in small gaps in the overstory. Further reconnaissance of the Cressy Creek population in the spring of 1976 revealed that there were 41 individuals of B. uber in the natural population, extending over a distance of about one-half of a mile along Cressy Creek in a 200 ft.-wide band, including three individuals on the Jefferson National Forest (Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, MRNRA) immediately downstream of the two private landholdings where the remainder of the population occurred. Conservation and Recovery Efforts accelerated in 1977 with the formation of the Betula uber Protection, Management, and Research Coordinating Committee. The committee functioned as an ad hoc “recovery team,” a formal designation recognized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for endangered species recovery work, with up to 23 members from 10 organizations—including the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. National Arboretum, USFWS, Virginia Tech, Virginia Highlands Community College, and West Virginia University as well as individuals in private sectors— participating over the next two decades. Later that same year, round-leaf birch was officially listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the first tree to have this designation. One year later, the species was listed as “endangered” under the Virginia Endangered Plant and Insect Act of 1979. The latter would usher in the involvement of the Virginia Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). Thus began the collaboration of three government agencies, USFS, USFWS, and VDACS, in the recovery efforts that continue to this day. Collectively, these agencies allocated approximately $277,000 for recovery efforts over the years. The Committee’s early efforts resulted in the formulation of a recovery plan for round-leaf birch that was officially approved by the USFWS in 1982. It was the first recovery plan for a plant species under the federal act and was revised in 1986 and 1990 by the USFWS and the author, respectively. Five-year reviews of the status of the species were conducted by the USFWS in 2006, 2012, and 2020. The overall goal of the plan was to increase the number of round-leaved birches in the wild to a point where the species could be delisted—at the time estimated at 1,000 individual trees in each of ten populations but later revised to include 500 to 1,000 individuals greater than 6.5 ft. in height. To accomplish this goal, actions were put forth in five areas: (1) Maintenance and expansion of the natural population; (2) Establishment of (self-sustaining) additional populations in the wild; (3) Continued searches for other natural populations; (4) Determination of systematic relationships with other birch species; (5) Retention of existing germplasm through cultivation; and (6) Implementation of educational programs. The first action was given the highest priority, followed by actions 2 and 3 (priority 2), then actions 4 and 5 (priority 3), and finally action 6 (priority 4). Space limitations preclude addressing each of the above actions here, so our focus will be on the work toward establishing additional populations given that efforts in this area successfully resulted in the downlisting of the species under the ESA from “endangered” to “threatened” status
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