Forests

Rebuilding Resilient Forests at Catoctin

 

Hog Rock Trail

NPS/J.Zuke

Today, Catoctin Mountain Park is a lush, green landscape, with nearly 95% of the park covered by forest. But this hasn’t always been the case. Over the centuries, Catoctin’s forests have undergone dramatic changes. Today, deer, invasive plants, forest pests, and a lack of tree regeneration continue to threaten the long-term health of the forest. Through active forest restoration, the park is working to ensure that native forests—and the wildlife that depend on them—remain part of Catoctin for generations to come.

A History of Forest Changes

Imagine a time when the forests of the Catoctin Mountains were ablaze with frequent fires—58 recorded between 1702 and 1951. And starting in the late 1700s, old-growth forests were chopped down for charcoal-making and farming. When the charcoal industry ceased in the 1890s, trees that had been cut for charcoal-making began to resprout from their existing roots. This short recovery period was interrupted by a blight starting in 1912 that nearly wiped out the majestic American chestnut trees that historically dominated part of the forest.

When the area was designated as a park in 1936, many of the trees were smaller than fence posts, and land that had been farmed heavily was left treeless and fallow.

But then, a transformation began. As a national park, the land was allowed to regenerate. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted more than 5,000 trees in 1939 and 1940 on previous farmland, kickstarting a remarkable recovery. From the 1930s to the 1970s, with low deer populations and few invasive plants, the forests flourished. Fire suppression policies since the 1930s helped certain species thrive and led to an accumulation of woody debris.

In the 1970s, park staff noticed a lack of understory vegetation throughout the park due to high deer numbers, in stark contrast to the diversity of plant life in areas protected from deer. By 2009, forest regeneration was almost non-existent in most parts of the park.

Working to Keep the Forest Resilient

Today, Catoctin is taking bold steps to support and restore forest health.

Bringing Deer Populations into Balance

In 2009, the park began to reduce the overabundant deer population that had devastated tree regeneration. This intervention led to a stunning 21-fold increase in all species of tree seedlings by 2024. The park continues to manage deer to ensure these seedlings grow into majestic, mature trees.

Treating Forest Pests

When pests attack, Catoctin fights back. During the 1980s and early 2000s, the park used aerial insecticides to combat spongy moth infestations. Since the early 2000s, the park has treated eastern hemlock trees to protect them from the destructive hemlock woolly adelgid pest. In 2025, the park released beetles, a form of biocontrol, to help reduce the woolly adelgid.

Prescribed Fire

Fire, once suppressed, is now an ally in forest restoration. In 2024, the park conducted its second prescribed fire in the Chimney Rock and Wolf Rock Forest area to encourage fire-adapted species, such as oaks and yellow pines, to grow.

Protecting Plants

In 2023, the park ramped up efforts to protect native plants from poaching. Through public awareness campaigns and increased law enforcement, visitors are reminded that poaching is illegal and harmful to the park’s ecosystem.

Removing Invasive Plants

Catoctin Mountain Park is on a mission to eliminate invasive plants that outcompete native species. In addition to working with the regional invasive plant team to remove invasive plants, the park formed a 6-person youth crew in 2023 dedicated to treating invasive barberry and wavyleaf basketgrass throughout the park. Since 2022, the park has also deployed a powerful mulching machine to clear large open areas of invasive shrubs, prepping over 140 acres of invasive shrubs for new tree plantings.

 

At Catoctin’s Poplar Grove, dense undergrowth of invasives (left), was cleared using a forestry mulcher (center), to create areas open for native tree planting (right).

NPS/ Michael Grismer

 

Replanting Trees for the Forests of the Future

Catoctin Mountain Park is entering a new phase of forest restoration. In fall 2026 and spring 2027, the park will plant more than 30,000 native trees and shrubs. Species will include American chestnut, American basswood, red and white oak, shagbark hickory, shortleaf pine, serviceberry, and native viburnums.

These plantings will help create the next generation of Catoctin’s forest. As today’s trees eventually mature and die, young native trees must be ready to take their place. Restoring these layers of forest vegetation will also provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for birds, bats, and other wildlife.

Together with deer management, invasive plant control, and other forest restoration efforts, these plantings will help create a diverse, self-sustaining forest that can support wildlife and biodiversity for generations to come.

 

Tree tube allows a sapling to grow, part of the restoration project at Catoctin Mountain Park

NPS/Zuke