Location
The Bent Creek Experimental Forest is the oldest federal experimental forest east of the Mississippi river. It encompasses nearly 6,000 acres within the Pisgah National Forest near Asheville, North Carolina. It was established in 1925 for the purpose of conducting research on silvicultural practices that would aid in the rehabilitation of cutover, abused lands and promote sustainable forestry, and also to provide a field demonstration of forest management practices. Long-term and current research conducted at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest provides land managers with science-based information and methods to meet their forest management and restoration goals. Demonstration areas and research studies at the Bent Creek Experimental Forest provide a hands-on way to see the results of different forest management practices and deliver new research findings to land managers, landowners, researchers, students, and the general public.