Congaree was designated a National Park in 2003. It comprises 22,200 acres and is the largest contiguous area of old-growth bottomland hardwood remaining in the US. Up until the late 1800s, there were more than 52 million acres of floodplain forests in the SE US. In less than 50 years, these great forests were destroyed by our demand for lumber and by resevoirs. These photos were taken in March and most of the forest canopy is yet to blossom.

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