The Longleaf Leader - Fall 2019

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Planting Season VOLUME XII - ISSUE 3

FALL 2019

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

20 15 10

8

44

Nursery Spotlight....................................................20

President’s Message....................................................2 Upcoming Events ......................................................4 Letters from the Inbox ...............................................5 Understory Plant Spotlight........................................7 Wildlife Spotlight .....................................................8 Virginia Department of Forestry Achieves Containerized Longleaf Pine Production ..................10 Protecting Big Snooks: A Story of Conservation and Collaboration ....................................................14

L A N D O W N E R C O R N E R .......................................24 R E G I O N A L U P D A T E S .........................................29 N E X T G E N E R A T I O N ............................................38 A R T S & L I T E R A T U R E ........................................40 Longleaf Destinations ..............................................44

P E O P L E .................................................................47 S U P P O R T T H E A L L I A N C E ................................50

R E S E A R C H N O T E S .............................................18

Heartpine ................................................................53

P U B L I S H E R The Longleaf Alliance, E D I T O R Carol Denhof, A S S I S T A N T E D I T O R Margaret Platt, D E S I G N Bellhouse Publishing A D V E R T I S I N G Carol Denhof 678.595.6405 – editor@longleafalliance.org C O V E R A field of longleaf pine seedlings growing at Lewis Taylor Farms in Tifton, Georgia. Photo by Carol Denhof.

The Longleaf Leader (USPS#) is an official publication of The Longleaf Alliance, 12130 Dixon Center Road, Andalusia, Alabama 36420 and is published 4 times a year. The Longleaf Alliance reserves the exclusive right to accept or reject advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. Advertising rates quoted upon request.Postmaster: Send address changes to The Longleaf Alliance, Address12130 Dixon Center Road, Andalusia, Alabama 36420. Periodicals Postage Paid at Montgomery, Alabama.

In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, or disability.

(Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

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Season of Change

I

BY ROBERT ABERNETHY, THE LONGLEAF ALLIANCE

P R E S I D E N T ’S M E S S A G E

with the US Forest Service on the Desoto National Forest and working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service on private lands in several states. Work on red-cockaded woodpeckers continues on the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina and the Apalachicola National Forest and Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. We are also continuing our dedication to help restore the reticulated flatwoods salamander, gopher frog, indigo snake, and gopher tortoise.

As you read in the previous Longleaf Leader, change is also coming to the leadership of The Longleaf Alliance. We announced the president’s position and have received a number of highly qualified applicants.

Interviews are taking place with a decision expected in the next month or so. We are grateful to our Board of Directors for navigating this lengthy process.

Change is good, and I am looking forward to the next several months as trees are planted, the land is restored, and The Alliance moves into the next chapter of longleaf restoration.

Have a great Fall and enjoy your longleaf forests!

t is early October, and the leaves have just started to show color in the pinewoods. The forest floor is a bit brighter than the oaks and hickories as the wildflowers and grasses put on their last blush of color to beat the first frost and produce next year’s seed crop. The migratory songbirds are on the move, and many have either arrived in the South or already departed for the Caribbean and South America.

Landowners have ordered their longleaf seedlings and are preparing for planting season. As soon as the winter rains saturate the soils with enough moisture to ensure the survival of the young seedlings, planting crews will be spreading across the South. It is truly the Season of Change.

It is a Season of Change here at The Longleaf Alliance also. Projects are being closed out, and new projects are starting up. Work will continue to grow and expand as we help landowners ensure that their longleaf management meets their objectives for income generation, wildlife habitat, recreation, and aesthetic qualities. We are expanding our work

fall 2019

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Longleaf Alliance Board of Directors Marc Walley – Chairman Reese Thompson – Vice Chairman Rufus Duncan – Secretary/Treasurer Barclay McFadden – Past Chairman Angus Lafaye

Staff Robert Abernethy President robert@longleafalliance.org

Vernon Compton GCPEP Director vernon@longleafalliance.org

Edward O’Daniels Project Manager edward@longleafalliance.org

Ad Platt Vice President of Operations ad@longleafalliance.org

Carol Denhof Understory & Media Coordinator carol@longleafalliance.org

Jessica Sandoval Biological Technician jessica@longleafalliance.org

Anne Rilling Vice President of Business anne@longleafalliance.org

Bobby Franklin Brian Schumann SoLoACE Partnership Coordinator Ecosystem Support Senior Team Member bobby@longleafalliance.org brian@longleafalliance.org

Charlie Abeles Wildlife Biologist charlie@longleafalliance.org

Lucas Furman GIS Support Specialist lucas@longleafalliance.org

Kaiden Spurlock Ecosystem Support Team Supervisor kaiden@longleafalliance.org

Nicholas Barys Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Member nick@longleafalliance.org

Kelsea Heider Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Member kelsea@longleafalliance.org

Randy Tate Ft. Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Restoration Partnership Coordinator randy@longleafalliance.org

Lynnsey Basala Development Director lynnsey@longleafalliance.org

Lisa Lord South Carolina Field Project Coordinator and Savannah River Watershed Project Director lisa@longleafalliance.org

Ben Tuttle Ecosystem Support Team Member benjamin@longleafalliance.org

Lynda Guerry Beam Robbie Fisher Patrick Franklin Amanda Haralson Ken Nichols William Owen Mickey Parker Mac Rhodes Salem Saloom Latimore Smith George Tyson Phillip Woods

Ryan Bollinger Local Implementation Team Consul ryan_b@longleafalliance.org Joseph Mann Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Karen Zilliox Brown Member Technical Assistance & Training joseph@longleafalliance.org Specialist karen@longleafalliance.org Ryan Mitchell Outreach & Technical Assistance Emma Browning Coordinator Biological Technician ryan@longleafalliance.org emma_b@longleafalliance.org

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Donna Vassallo Ecosystem Support Senior Team Member donna@longleafalliance.org Casey White Administrative Assistant office@longleafalliance.org Bob Wilken Fire Specialist bob@longleafalliance.org

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UPCOMING EVENTS

2019 | Calendar October 12 Fire in the Pines Festival Halyburton Park Wilmington, North Carolina

October 22 - 24 Longleaf Academy: Groundcover Restoration 201 Austin Cary Forest Campus Gainesville, Florida

2020

February 11 - 13

January 14 - 16 Longleaf Academy: Longleaf 101

Tall Timbers Research Station Tallahassee, Florida

Blue Heron Nature Center Ridgeland, South Carolina

October 20 - 23

Longleaf Academy: Fire & Longleaf 201

January 25

Biennial Longleaf Conference Hotel Ballast Wilmington, North Carolina

Red Hills Fire Fest Tall Timbers Research Station Tallahassee, Florida

November 19 - 21 Longleaf Academy: Longleaf 101 Wakefield, Virginia

For more information about events please visit The Longleaf Alliance website (www.longleafalliance.org).

FALL 2019 MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST • Apply Fall Site Preparation Herbicides: For maximum efficacy, foliar active herbicides such as glyphosate (Roundup®/Accord®) should be applied before the first frost; while triclopyr (Garlon®) may be delayed until after the first frost for targeting waxy leaf competitors while minimizing impact to herbaceous groundcover.

• Harvest Native Herbaceous Seeds: Certain species, such as the Indian Grasses, ripen and fall in a very short time window (as little as 1 or 2 weeks). Ripe wiregrass can lose all of its ripe seed if a cold front blows through. Be watchful and move quickly!

• Order Native Seed for Understory Restoration: Seed from local ecotypes and endemic species is limited and expensive.

Although some landowners and land managers have the time and expertise to collect their own seed, most restoration will be done with seed purchased from the few seed companies that sell southeastern sourced seed.

• Allow time for soil active herbicides to break down before planting longleaf, especially those with the active ingredient imazapyr (Arsenal®/Chopper®).

• Apply mechanical site preparation treatments: Scalp agricultural sites; remember to stay strictly on the contour and pick the scalper up regularly. Leaving water bars in the furrow will greatly reduce erosion. Subsoil or rip sites with hardpans, but remember, do not plant seedlings directly into the sub soiled/ripped furrow.

• Plant Longleaf: It’s never too early to plant longleaf if the following conditions are met: the site is prepared (see Fall Site Prep recommendations), there is adequate soil moisture, seedlings are available, and a planting crew is available.

• Clean up or establish fire lanes for site prep or fuel reduction burns.

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FROM THE INBOX

Q&A Q.

Dear Longleaf Alliance, I’m planning on planting longleaf seedlings on my property this year. As I write this, a site prep contractor has sprayed my land for site preparation, and I plan to burn the site off in 6-8 weeks with hopes of planting between late December and midJanuary. We’re going to use containerized seedlings, and I need to know what makes a quality seedling and how should they be planted?

I’d appreciate some guidance!

Wondering in Wilmington

A.

especially on wet sites. The seedling plugs should be firm and stiff with evidence of good root development and mycorrhizal development. Mycorrhizae is a beneficial fungus that helps the tree roots in nutrient uptake. If you grasp the seedling by the base of the needles and the plug droops (we call this a ‘floppy’) it is not a good quality seedling.

Coordinate your seedlings and your planting crew to minimize storage and to plant the freshest seedlings possible.

When the seedlings arrive, sort three boxes and check the quality of what you have purchased; remove any doubles, obvious hybrids, weed infested, floppy seedlings, or diseased seedlings with stem galls. Nursery partners of The Alliance will not have many such problems, and if you did have significant defect, will try to make it right. If you need to store the seedlings before planting, keep them in the boxes in refrigerated storage, or at the very least shaded, cool, and moist. We prefer minimizing the amount of time in storage, but if it is more than 2-3 weeks, check the boxes periodically and mist them as necessary to prevent the plugs from drying out.

When planting, our instruction to the planters is that we want them straight, snug, and we want to see the top of the plug. Our research has shown there is not a penalty for elevating seedlings, but that mortality follows when soil covers the bud. Elevate them more on a lighter, more mobile soil or a scalped site, aiming for 1-1.5 inches exposed, or even more on the wettest portion of a site that may briefly be saturated.

To see a demonstration of a properly planted longleaf seedling, check out the ‘Three Minute Management’ video titled Planting Longleaf on our YouTube channel.

These are general recommendations. You can find more detailed planting instruction at www.longleafalliance.org.

Search for “Establish Longleaf Pine.” You will find several useful, in-depth articles on planting longleaf pine and seedling quality.

Dear Wondering,

Thank you for asking! You sound like you have a good reforestation plan. We recommend securing seedlings by early summer. If you have not already done so, order your seedlings as soon as possible. Seedlings can be limited in many years, and most nurseries usually sell out before the fall, if not earlier!

Ordering trees should be your first priority! If you cannot find seedlings, contact planting contractors; oftentimes they may have extra uncommitted seedlings.

Consider what you are ordering. Most folks are planting 454 to 622 containerized longleaf seedlings per acre.

Sometimes slightly higher numbers. It all depends on your objectives. If wildlife is important, use the lower end of this range. If timber and pine straw are a priority, use the higher end or maybe as many as 726 seedlings per acre. Most landowners find that 608 (6 foot by 12-foot spacing) to 622 (7 foot by 10-foot spacing) trees per acre to be a reasonable compromise.

Next, consider the genetic quality of the trees. Very little work has been done in improving the genetic quality of longleaf pine, unlike the work that has been done with loblolly. There are some first-generation seed orchards for longleaf pine, and you should request “Improved” or seed orchard-sourced seedlings if you can. Selected seed is expected to be of better quality and should return better results in terms of growth, form, and disease resistance, especially on old ag and pasture sites.

When it comes to size, many prefer to order the largest volume containers. You want a large, well-developed root system in the plug regardless of its size. Most are sold either as 4, 5 or 6-inch-long plugs. I personally prefer 6-inch plugs,

For additional information, please contact us through the website. Don’t forget to burn your young longleaf early and often!

Sincerely, The Longleaf Alliance

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y r o t s nder

PLANT SPOTLIGHT U

By Carol Denhof, The Longleaf Alliance

DALEA PINNATA (J.F. GMELIN) BARNEBY VAR. PINNATA SUMMER FAREWELL Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) on Summer Farewell (Dalea pinnata) by Mary Keim is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Map showing distribution of summer farewell. USDA PLANTS Database.

Description This plant may not look like it, but summer farewell is a member of the Pea Family (Fabaceae). It is a perennial with smooth branched stems that can reach a maximum height of 2 feet. The leaves are small (<1 inch long) and pinnately compound with fine leaflets. As the name suggests, this plant flowers in the fall from August to November. The flowers are tightly grouped terminally on the plant and the clusters appear to be flat-topped because of the stem branching and arrangement. The flowers are bright white with showy sepals that are densely hairy. The seed pods are small and contain a single seed.

Wildlife/Medicinal Uses It is an attractive nectar plant for bees and butterflies and is the larval host for southern dogface (Zerene cesonia). Birds and other small wildlife consume the seeds.

Plant Availability This plant is not widely grown commercially, but may occasionally be available through native plant nurseries within its range.

References â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dalea pinnataâ&#x20AC;?. Florida Native Plant Society. 2013. https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/dalea-pinnata Sorrie, B.A. 2011. A Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region. The University of North Carolina Press.

Chapel Hill, NC. 378pp.

USDA, NRCS. 2019. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 9 August 2019). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

Distribution & Habitat Summer farewell grows within the central portion of the longleaf range from North Carolina south to Florida and west to Alabama.

It prefers well-drained soils that are found in dry longleaf pinelands and turkey oak sandhills and scrub.

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Gopher frog. Photo by Todd Pierson.

WILDLIFE SPOTLIGHT

GOPHER FROG

By Lisa Lord, The Longleaf Alliance

The gopher frog (Lithobates capito) is endemic to firemaintained longleaf pine ecosystems throughout the southeastern coastal plain from the Mobile River delta in Alabama to North Carolina. Gopher frogs are fairly large frogs, about 2-4 inches from snout to vent. They have brown to light tan bodies with ridges down each side of their backs and dark splotches on their legs, back, and sides.

Although gopher frogs are true frogs from the family Ranidae, they are sometimes mistaken as toads due to their robust bodies and short legs. Like many frogs, males have a dark thumb pad or nuptial pad, distinguishing them from females during the breeding season. Tadpoles are greenishTypical habitat for gopher frog. Photo by Lisa Lord. gold with dark spots on the tail and body and can become quite large, up to 3.5 inches, before metamorphosis.

Within the longleaf ecosystem, gopher frogs are linked to well-drained, fire-maintained upland habitats with nearby emergent vegetation within the wetland where it is externally ephemeral wetlands used for breeding. Adults use the burrows fertilized by the male frog. Within just a few days, the eggs of other animals in the uplands for refugia, including those hatch. Tadpoles take 3-7 months to grow and develop until created by gopher tortoises, crayfish, and small mammals, or they metamorphose and head toward the uplands to find shelter hollow logs and stump holes. Fishless ephemeral wetlands with as adults. Survival of recent metamorphs is tightly linked to intermediate hydroperiods (those that hold water for finding refugia quickly after leaving the pond.

Many species that breed in ephemeral wetlands have been in approximately 7-9 months) are preferred breeding wetlands.

They have been observed using a variety of wetland types such decline for some time, including gopher frogs, because of the as dome swamps, Carolina bays, sinkhole ponds, wet prairies, loss and degradation of their terrestrial upland and wetland ditches, and even borrow pits. Gopher frogs can take advantage breeding habitat across its range. Fire suppression, wetland of heavy wet periods throughout the year, but they most often destruction, invasive species, and climate change are just a few use ponds that fill in mid-winter and stay wet until late spring of the threats they face. Fragmentation is also an issue as wetlands are converted for other uses or destroyed altogether. or early summer.

During the breeding season, adults migrate to the wetlands At one time, populations of gopher frogs were made up of where males call to attract females. The call of a gopher frog is many, connected smaller subpopulations. As habitat became described as a deep snore. After a female pairs with a male, she degraded or disappeared altogether, numerous local populations attaches an egg mass, with 500-5,000 eggs, to submerged or were lost, and recolonization was made impossible because of [8]

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fragmentation. Today, gopher frogs exist as isolated populations across the landscape, likely remaining in small numbers. In areas outside of Florida, there is very little, or no, gene flow between the existing populations and very little, if any, opportunities for recolonization naturally. Because of this, gopher frogs are now being considered for listing at the federal level. The gopher frog is not currently protected under the Endangered Species Act, but in 2012 the USFWS was petitioned to list the species. Currently, listing is pending assessments to determine if protection under the ESA is warranted.

To ensure the conservation of this species, the restoration and management of their terrestrial upland habitat and breeding wetlands habitat are critical. This includes returning fire to the forest and burning on appropriate intervals and allowing fire to burn through the wetlands when they are dry enough to burn to reduce woody encroachment. It also means restoring hydrology and natural drainage patterns.

In addition to management, there’s also a need to locate existing populations. Partners in South Carolina are aiming to do just that. In South Carolina, the gopher frog is listed as State endangered and a State Wildlife Action Plan species of Highest Priority. To tackle this need, a partnership was formed between The Longleaf Alliance and the University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Lab, with funding from the USFWS and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and support from the SC Department of Natural Resources, to locate additional

populations on private lands and work with landowners to improve management of their wetlands and uplands. Properties that have suitable habitat and management practices will be selected for surveys which will involve using acoustic loggers to record frog choruses and analyzing male gopher frog calls, monthly surveys for egg masses after wetlands fill, and collecting water samples for analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA). Finding additional populations will help: determine how this species is distributed across the landscape between the two largest known populations on the Francis Marion National Forest and the Savannah River Site, the genetic relatedness of the populations due to the eDNA work, and help landowners improve their management practices.

References Jensen, J. B., and S. C. Richter. 2005. Rana capito LeConte, 1855; gopher frog. Pages 536–538 in M. Lannoo, editor.

Amphibian declines: the conservation status of United States species. University of California Press, Los Angeles, California, USA. Humphries, W. J., and M. A. Sisson. 2012. Long distance migrations, landscape use, and vulnerability to prescribed fire of the gopher frog (Lithobates capito). Journal of Herpetology 46:665–670.

Roznik, E. A., and S. A. Johnson. 2009. Canopy closure and emigration by juvenile gopher frogs. Journal of Wildlife Management 73:260−268.

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By Harvey Darden, Agency Lands Director, Virginia Department of Forestry

Virginia Department of Forestry Achieves Containerized Longleaf Pine Production Longleaf pine germinating under shadecloth. Photo by VDOF.

The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has been involved in diminished species restoration for over thirty years.

The advancement of one of those species, longleaf pine, has been slow and methodical because the effort relies on seed collected from the 200 remaining native Virginia longleaf pines in southeastern Virginia. These cone-bearing trees are located on Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (DCR) South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve and VDOFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s South Quay State Forest.

Since the known native Virginia longleaf pine seed source is so diminished, VDOF conducted a study to compare its performance to that of other geographic sources to help decide whether the extra effort to protect the remaining native trees and gather seed from them is justified. Primarily due to the impacts of earlier growth initiation and higher seedling

survival, the Virginia source produced significantly more volume per acre and ranked higher in overall performance than the other sources through the first ten years after planting. This is why the production of seedlings from this population continues to be a priority for VDOF. Initially, VDOF did not have the equipment and facilities to produce containerized longleaf pine seedlings for its restoration efforts, so they reached out to their neighbor to the south, North Carolina Forest Service, and contracted with them to grow the Virginia seedlings in their containerized operation at Claridge Nursery.

VDOF has a bareroot pine nursery at its Garland Gray Forestry Center in Sussex County where it grows approximately 30 million bareroot loblolly pine seedlings annually. The nursery is self-supporting, and the goal of establishing a

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Containerized seedlings under pivot irrigation. Photo by VDOF.

WHEN COMPLETELY BUILT OUT, THE PIVOT IRRIGATION AREA WILL SUPPORT 2.4 MILLION SEEDLINGS. purchase of an automated seed line with vacuum seeder. The T-rails were installed under one-fourth of the space covered by the pivot irrigation unit to accommodate trays for 600,000 cells (seedlings).

The automated seed line unit was shipped, and two days later the five major components had been set in place, synchronized and tested, and the first mass-produced longleaf pine containerized seedlings in Virginia were sown in May of 2018. A total of 72,000 cells were sown with native Virginia longleaf pine, 102,000 cells of northern source longleaf pine, and an additional 367,360 cells were sown with loblolly pine.

VDOFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second containerized crop is being grown in 2019 with a total of 128,000 longleaf pine, 275,000 loblolly pine, and 3,000 shortleaf pine being produced this year. The T-rail seedling tray rack system under the pivot irrigation was

containerized operation at the forestry center was hampered by the $400,000 startup cost. Efforts were made to receive grant funding for the operation, and in 2017 at VDOFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s celebration of its 2 billionth seedling produced, it was announced that containerized longleaf pine seedlings would be grown at the Garland Gray Forestry Center starting in 2018. A NRCS Conservation Innovative Grant of $75,000, U.S. Forest Service grant of $50,000, and $29,000 from Arbor Day were key in deciding to move forward.

An aggressive timeline to purchase and install all the necessary equipment for Spring 2018 seeding was initiated and included the installation of a pivot irrigation system; upgrading of the existing irrigation pumping station; installation of T-rail seedling tray racks under the pivot system; purchase of seedling trays, top clipper, shade cloth and fertigation system; and the [ 11 ]

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First containerized longleaf pine produced on the seed line. Photo

by VDOF.

Fertigation unit. Phot by VDOF.

expanded this summer and now has the capability to hold trays for 1.2 million containerized seedlings. When completely built out, the pivot irrigation area will support 2.4 million seedlings.

Equipment has been purchased this year in conjunction with the containerized operation including a tray sterilization unit, two steel container units for tray sterilization, and two others for tray storage. A forklift and a 60 ft. boom sprayer and additional seedling trays were purchased for a total cell capacity of 1.2 million.

With the production of longleaf pine limited by seeds produced from the few remaining native trees, VDOF began establishing a longleaf pine orchard at its New Kent Forestry

Center in 2009 with a goal of producing enough cones to yield seed for 500,000 longleaf seedlings annually. The orchard is just beginning to produce cones with approximately 20 bushels expected to be collected from the orchard this year in addition to the cones collected from the DCR and VDOF South Quay properties.

VDOF will continue to increase its annual longleaf containerized seedling production as more cones and seeds are produced. Other containerized pine species will also continue to be grown as well as plans to grow warm-season grasses used for enhancing longleaf pine ecosystem restoration in Virginia.

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Oxbow Lake on Big Snooks.

Photo by Josh Bell.

PROTECTING BIG SNOOKS:

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A Story of Conservation and Collaboration

By Josh Bell, Lowcountry Land Trust

1970s when he would spend weekends there hunting and fishing with his father and other members of the club. He said over the years Big Snooks has become a deeply ingrained part of his life, and, although I had only been there for less than an hour, I could clearly see why. Making our way to the end of a decades-old two-foot-wide boardwalk on the edge of the lake, as turkeys gobbled in the background, I explained to him the basics of conservation easements and how they are one of the best tools to ensure future generations will have the same opportunities to enjoy the land as he has for so many years. He was sold but warned me that convincing the other five landowners may not be as easy.

Equally as unique as the bottomland, the upland areas of Big Snooks consist of xeric sand ridges stocked full of natural and planted stands of longleaf pine. Several open fields house a healthy and thriving population of South Carolina’s most endangered reptile, the gopher tortoise. Adding to the quality and uniqueness of the habitats located on the property, Big Snooks is directly adjacent to not only the Savannah River but to a ~2,700 acre privately protected tract and an important South Carolina Department of Natural Resources publicly

It was an early spring morning when I first stepped foot on Big Snooks, a nearly 300-acre tract of private land on the Savannah River not far from the little crossroads community of Tillman, South Carolina. Gazing through the giant bottomland hardwood swamp, with my view blocked only by massive tupelo buttresses and head-high cypress knees, all I could think about was turkeys. I thought to myself, “If I was a turkey, this is where I would live.”

As a passionate hunter and land conservationist, I often find myself daydreaming about the pursuit of wild game when visiting properties. However, the deeper I walked into that river bottom, the less I thought about turkeys, and the more I started thinking about how extraordinarily unique and unusually beautiful this property was. Fortunately for the turkeys, I was not there that morning to hunt. I was there to tour the property with one of the landowners to discuss permanently protecting Big Snooks with a conservation easement.

As we made our way down an old roadbed to Snooks Lake, an ancient oxbow lake in the middle of the swamp, he was telling me stories from his childhood days back in the early

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Carolina General Assembly to “improve the quality of life in South Carolina through the conservation of significant natural resource lands, wetlands, historical properties, archeological sites, and urban parks” and to date has helped protect more than 300,000 acres across the state (for more information, visit www.sccb.sc.gov). Anyone who works in land conservation in South Carolina can tell you how important the SCCB has been and will continue to be (thanks to its recent permanent reauthorization) in perpetuating land protection efforts across the state.

In addition to being an ideal prospect for SCCB funding, Big Snooks was also a perfect candidate for a new, innovative funding source called the Savannah River Clean Water Fund (SRCWF). The SRCWF formed in 2014 with a mission of protecting the water supply for communities and businesses along the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina by investing in the protection and management of land. The Savannah River provides drinking water for approximately 1.5 million people in Georgia and South Carolina, so it is to the benefit of the water utilities drinking water supply and their customers to keep it as clean as possible before it hits their treatment facilities. The water utilities that provide drinking water sourced from the Savannah River have recognized and agree that protecting land within the watershed is a scientifically proven and economically effective way to ensure clean drinking water now and into the future. Due to its Bottomland hardwood geographic location directly adjacent to the floodplain along the Savannah River and because it contains Savannah River. significant areas of pristine bottomland Photo by Josh Bell. hardwood wetland, which among many other benefits, functions to improve water quality accessible Heritage Preserve. The combination of all of the by acting as a filter for pollutants from runoff draining from above, including the enthusiasm of at least one of the six upstream, I was confident Big Snooks could be the first landowners, quickly thrust Big Snooks to the top of my priority SRCWF funded project. list.

To back up a bit, and for those of you who are not familiar, Now — how to persuade the other five landowners to there are basically two ways land conservation organizations protect Big Snooks permanently? I can safely say, with certain acquire conservation easements. The first way is when the exceptions, of course, one of the best means of enticement for landowner fully donates the conservation easement to the land just about any given situation is to offer financial incentives, conservation organization. In the case of a full donation, 100% right? In South Carolina, we are blessed to have multiple of the appraised conservation easement value is subject to tax funding sources dedicated to land protection. A key funding deductions as a result of the charitable gift. The other way is source at the state level is the South Carolina Conservation when a portion of the appraised conservation easement value is Bank (SCCB) which was established in 2002 by the South paid to the landowner in cash with the unfunded portion of the

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the bargain-sale category, which is what it was going to take to get all six owners on board. After all, this was a very worthwhile project with the potential to benefit millions of people in both South Carolina and Georgia, not to mention the turkeys, gopher tortoises, Dayne Mock, one of the Big and longleaf pine ecosystem. Several meetings and Snooks landowners, next to many phone calls and emails later, we had all our ducks gopher tortoise burrow.

Photo by Lisa Lord. in a row to submit both the SRCWF and SCCB funding applications, requesting 1:1 matching funds from each organization. Leveraging funds is important — the more leverage, the greater the likelihood the project will be approved and funded by all sources.

After I had a chance to catch my breath from putting together all the pieces of the funding puzzle and meeting application deadlines, I reached out to Lisa Lord with The Longleaf Alliance (LLA), who provides technical assistance to forest landowners on behalf of the SRCWF as part of a healthy forestsdrinking water initiative, to let her know the Big Snooks project was well in the works and would hopefully come to fruition sooner than later.

Of course, Lisa’s ears perked up when I told her there was nice longleaf, both natural and planted, on the property, and it had a healthy population of gopher tortoises. Protecting the bottomland forests that adjoin contribute significantly to good water quality and quantity, but by protecting the upland longleaf pine ecosystem, the valuable functions of the bottomland are supported as are the diverse and healthy upland habitats and the species, like gopher tortoises, that live there. During our conversation, she also let value being subject to tax deductions – we call this scenario a me know the LLA, through a grant from the National Fish and bargain-sale. Here is a simple example of a bargain-sale Wildlife Foundation, had funding available for the Big Snooks conservation easement scenario: easement to assist the landowners with their costs.

Sally owns 500 acres that have been determined by the local land To make a long story short, the City of Savannah, through trust to contain significant conservation values, therefore, worthy of the Savannah River Clean Water Fund partnership, funded the permanent protection via a conservation easement. Sally voluntarily Big Snooks conservation easement, recognizing its role in works with the local land trust to produce a draft document outlining source water protection. Savannah’s leaders, along with the the proposed terms of the easement. Sally hires a qualified appraiser to other SRCWF drinking water utility partners, realize that the determine the appraised conservation easement value based on the terms most effective way to protect water supply is through a outlined in the draft easement. [The conservation easement value is watershed-wide approach. Several months later the SCCB also simply the difference in appraised fair market value of the property approved funding for the project. On July 17, 2019, the unencumbered by the proposed conservation easement vs. the appraised conservation easement closed, forever protecting Big Snooks. fair market value of the property as if it were encumbered by the proposed The Big Snooks project has proven to be an extraordinary conservation easement]. The appraiser determines the conservation example of how partnerships and collaboration can generate easement value on Sally’s 500 acres to be $500,000. Typically, in outcomes for people, wildlife, and the longleaf ecosystem, South Carolina at least, land conservation organizations request from otherwise unattainable. applicable funding sources around 30% of the appraised conservation easement value. In Sally’s case, that would be $150,000 requested to Josh Bell is the South Coast Project Manager for the Lowcountry be funded in cash. If the funding is approved, the remaining $350,000 Land Trust (LLT). LLT was established in 1986 and has would be considered the charitable contribution amount, therefore, permanently protected over 144,000 acres across the coastal plain of subject to tax deductions.

South Carolina.

To learn more, visit their website at Based on the fact several of the landowners needed a little www.lowcountrylandtrust.org. additional persuasion to proceed, Big Snooks quickly fell into

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RESEARCH NOTES

Carol Denhof planting one of the test species into the research plot at the Jones Center. Photo by Jones Center at Ichauway.

JONES CENTER AT ICHAUWAY PUBLICATION BRIEF SEED SOURCING FOR LONGLEAF PINE GROUND COVER RESTORATION

Map showing locations of research plots and seed collection zones.

Land managers restoring native ground cover in the longleaf pine ecosystem are faced with the challenge of selecting and obtaining appropriate seed sources for their site. Currently, the

commercial supply of native ground cover seed collected from the longleaf pine ecosystem is limited; however, information to guide seed sourcing decisions, including whether non-local seed sources are appropriate for restoration, is often unavailable. Our goal was to test the performance of seeds sourced from multiple regions within the historic range of longleaf pine as well as from a commercial source to the north of this range. We assessed performance measures including plant growth, timing of flowering, water stress, and survival using six species commonly planted in ground cover restoration (four grasses, a legume, and an aster).

Our results varied by species but supported the idea that plants from local seed sources (within approximately 200 miles) often have higher rates of growth and survival than plants from more distant sources. Additionally, plants from the northern seed source flowered several weeks earlier than those from the longleaf pine ecosystem, potentially disrupting important plant-pollinator relationships. For most species, similarities in plant performance among seed sources helped identify [ 18 ]

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geographic regions within which seeds can be moved successfully. Our study highlights the need for increased production of native seed originating from the longleaf pine ecosystem.

MORE INFORMATION Giencke, L.M., R.C. Denhof, L.K. Kirkman, O.S. Stuber, and S.T. Brantley. 2018. Seed sourcing for longleaf pine ground cover restoration: using plant performance to assess seed transfer zones and home-site advantage. Restoration Ecology.

CONTACT Lisa Giencke, lisa.giencke@jonesctr.org

KEY POINTS Most commercial sources of native seed are

sourced from outside the historic range of

longleaf pine and may not be optimal for restoration projects in the region.

Selecting appropriate seed sources for a

specific restoration site requires knowledge about the variability of plant performance across a speciesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; range.

Seed can likely be moved relatively long

west-to-east distances (several hundred

miles) from Mississippi through South Carolina, including

similarities

northern in

Florida,

climate

and

because

of

topography;

conversely, moving seeds from farther north or west may be more likely to adversely impact plant performance.

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NURSERY SPOTLIGHT

By Carol Denhof, The Longleaf Alliance

Vice President/Partner Ed Walker and CEO/Partner Bill Brim in a field of melon plants at Lewis Taylor Farms. Photo courtesy of LTF.

LEWIS TAYLOR FARMS â&#x20AC;&#x201D; FROM MELONS TO LONGLEAF, PROVIDING QUALITY PRODUCTS SINCE THE 1930S HISTORY OF THE COMPANY Lewis Taylor began farming operations in Tifton, Georgia in the 1930s as a transplant producer for the Southeastern United States. Today Lewis Taylor Farms is one of the largest privatelyowned vegetable and greenhouse operations in the Southeast.

Purchased from their families in 1985, Bill Brim and Ed Walker set out to change the business as they knew it. In 1989 they built the first greenhouses, and two years later they began growing produce. After four years they built their first of two packing facilities. Now over 80 years later, Lewis Taylor Farms (LTF) grows more than 6500 acres of produce each year. CEO Bill Brim shared, "We have continued to grow and add to our greenhouse operation with currently 81 greenhouses at just under 900,000 square feet of growing space as well as six circle pivots holding 36 million pine seedlings we grow each year.â&#x20AC;?

GREENHOUSE EXPANSION Continuing in the tradition of the farm's founder, the company proudly continues to produce top quality vegetable

transplants for both internal farm use and to supply and meet the needs of growers over the South and Southeastern U.S. LTF Greenhouses, LLC produces top-quality vegetable, cantaloupe, and watermelon transplants. They will grow transplants (minimum order 20,000 seeds, smaller orders check for availability in overages, first come, first served) to customers' specifications in a variety of root plug sizes, ranging in diameters of 0.5 inches up to 1.5 inches. Depending on transplant quantities ordered, transportation is available with pull-type or semi-trailers equipped with tray rack systems.

LTF Greenhouses, LLC currently has over 900,000 square feet of greenhouse growing space and a competent, experienced staff giving it the ability to produce over 350 million transplants annually as well as six pivot irrigation fields that produce 75 million containerized pine seedlings to satisfy the demand of producers and the wholesale market.

The pine seedling side of the business, while not the mainstay of the company, has grown steadily over the years.

LTF grows seedlings for Advantage Forestry, Weyerhauser, and [ 20 ]

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Healthy seedling growing in center pivot field at LTF. Photo by Carol Denhof.

Custom seedling trays developed

by LTF. Photo by Carol Denhof.

Tractors working the melon fields. Photo courtesy of LTF.

Seed Sowing Process The efficient seeding process used for propagating plants at LTF is done with an automated seeding production line that allows for preparation of up to 1200 seedling trays per hour.

This system improves efficiencies and creates a better work environment that is free from soil media dust. Pine seedlings are sown into seedling trays in March or April each spring and then placed either in greenhouses or outside under irrigation.

LTF has designed seedling trays that optimize the root growth of the containerized longleaf seedlings.

ArborGen to sell to retail customers and use in industrial plantings.

GROWING A LONGLEAF PINE SEEDLING Lewis Taylor Farms is a driving force in the development of pine seedling production protocols for the southern yellow pines.Working in-house and with other pine nursery companies in the region, Director of Greenhouse Operations and Sales Neal Kicklighter has spent years honing the systems of propagation and growth so that their current protocols leave little room for error. From the automated seeding machines to the water conservation measures used, their system is a welloiled machine. These are the major stages in the life of a seedling at the nursery.

Seedling Growth The team at LTF has determined that the longleaf seedlings are more successful if grown outside under irrigation. The seed, if viable, should germinate within just a couple of weeks. Since the growing media used is so porous, care must be taken to ensure that each seedling received adequate water and sufficient nutritional inputs. Careful watering and fertilizer schedules are followed to produce healthy, robust seedlings. The seedlings are normally ready for transplant starting in November.

Seed Acquisition With longleaf, as with the other pine species, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to know where your seed comes from. LTF grows both coastal plain and montane sourced seedlings. These seeds are acquired from either seed companies in the region or from the partners for which LTF is growing the seedlings. Prior to sowing, these seeds must be tested for viability. These results influence the number of seeds that need to be planted to grow the required number of seedlings.

GROWING & LEARNING Lewis Taylor Farms is substantially invested in pine seedling production and would like to continue expanding the seedling side of the business, looking to increase to 75 million longleaf

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This company is continuously working to improve techniques for not only LTF but the nursery industry at large.

Field of longleaf seedlings that is being used to study control of willow seedlings. Photo by Carol Denhof.

trees growing on surrounding field edges. LTF provides the perfect opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience by working in a large-scale production farm and nursery. This company is continuously working to improve techniques for not only LTF but the nursery industry at large.

Lewis Taylor Farms is also an active member of the community. In addition to the community service in which they are involved, they also host a wide range of tours through the facility from elementary school groups to visiting dignitaries. Bill, Ed, and their whole team are proud of the work that they do and are always seeking ways to share their knowledge.

seedlings from the current number of 45 million. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The demand for longleaf among landowners is steady, and we foresee that it will grow going forward,â&#x20AC;? says Bill Brim. Plans are in place to convert fields formerly used for vegetable production to pine seedling fields with center pivot irrigation.

Ideally located in Tifton, Georgia, LTF is close to both the University of Georgia Experiment Station and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. They work in partnership with scientists at the Station to study a variety of agricultural insect pests and invasive plants. Bill is currently working with the Station to determine best practices for treating willow seedlings that can be a problem in longleaf seedling trays. The willows are a result of airborne seed drifting into seedling trays from

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LANDOWNER CORNER

By Dr. Neal Shealy with Ad Platt, The Longleaf Alliance

LANDOWNER SPOTLIGHT Longleaf Lane. Photo by N. Shealy.

RESTORING HEALTH TO PEOPLE AND FORESTS Neal L. Shealy, MD, is the medical director of Beaufort Memorial Harrison Peeples Health Care Center in Varnville, South Carolina, a position he has held since 1991. A full-time physician for 37 years, he was recently honored as the 20192020 ‘Family Physician of the Year’ by The South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians.

Neal’s call to medically serve a rural community was strong, and he regards himself as an ‘old-time physician.’ When choosing his career, his two greatest interests were medicine and forestry. Indeed, this Family Doctor found a way to combine both, providing balance to a busy life.

For more than 25 years, Neal and his wife Sharon have planted thousands of longleaf, slash, and loblolly pines by hand on their 81-acre rural Hampton County, South Carolina property. Over time, they have shifted their focus more towards longleaf restoration with help from their two sons, like-minded friends, and even medical students. As the forest develops, Neal thins select stands for pulpwood and sells pine straw from the older longleaf; they are looking forward to the time when they begin harvesting sawtimber and replanting another longleaf generation!

Sharon is a family nurse practitioner at Harrison Peeples and has a keen interest in gardening and the restoration of their forest. Together they have traveled extensively on medical mission trips to Guatemala, Colombia, Uganda, and Tanzania, among other countries. Sometimes this combines a forestry aspect as the Lutheran World Federation, partner of many of these mission trips, also assists reforestation efforts as part of their outreach in Africa, particularly in Uganda.

Like so many people engaged in longleaf planting and restoration, the Shealys have maintained close ties to the land and actively promote improved habitat for wildlife for all to see and enjoy. Neal enjoys hunting deer as well as quail and takes great pleasure in all the wildlife that he catches sight of while on the stand. He loves to hop on his tractor and go about the business of freshening up fire lines or planting food plots.

I met Neal during the Savannah Conference and was interested in knowing more about his longleaf and property.

Recently, over a series of conversations, I was able to do just that while he and Sharon shared their story and plans for the future. [ 24 ]

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LANDOWNERS CORNER

AP – Why Longleaf?

Alliance. Of great value was the Forest Stewardship Program NS – Much of my interest in longleaf pine and love of the assistance I received from Lewis Rogers for wildlife habitat land came down through relatives. The history of my maternal advice (Director of The Webb Center) and cost-share through Granddaddy Bartow Reiser’s tract and the turpentine still he the S.C. Forestry Commission to plant ten acres. William operated until the 1940s (close to the railroad tracks in the Koger, an FSA employee, helped guide us to good pine straw Berryville Community of Effingham County, Georgia) was contractors for eight acres, which we began raking at age 15. particularly influential. One of the original stills is now on There have, of course, been periodic burns. We quickly historical display at ABAC’s Georgia Museum of Agriculture understood the importance of having nearby assistance as we in Tifton (formerly known as the Agrirama). Early on, I was once ended up igniting many old lighter stumps that burned aware of longleaf being the native pine species and the fact that for weeks. Nothing got out, but we did a lot of patrolling. it’s just a nicer looking tree! We Proper equipment and adequate don’t own sizeable acreage, but help are very important; NRCS we wanted a better quality of and other programs can play a pine. Across the road is longleaf vital role when applying this land of Mac Rhodes, another valuable practice.

AP – Are there are other champion of longleaf. I belong to family properties that you that hunting club and have manage? always admired those trees.

NS – Yes, my brother Brent, Longleaf provides superior pine our 93-year old father Otho straw and is better for wildlife. I Shealy, and I manage two tracts on was encouraged by the South the Effingham County, Georgia Carolina Forest Stewardship side of the Savannah River. My foresters I met with in Varnville. mother inherited a 145-acre tract Tootie Griffith and Willie Joe from her father, who was a large Seckinger were extremely helpful landowner working with naval as we wanted to do the best job stores and turpentine.

The possible. They shared advice on property was enrolled in the what to plant and general Conservation Reserve Program management tips. Tootie called (CRP) for many years. We have longleaf ‘Cadillac’ trees, and since added another 83 acres of recommended planting some; he adjacent, and recently cutover, encouraged me to practice ‘handsland from a developer, land long on management.’ They let me ago owned by my grandfather, borrow their drip torches and Photo by Paul Nurnberg, with remnants of the turpentine offered up sound tractor repair courtesy of Beaufort Memorial. days. We sold fat lighter stumps advice. It took several years for me (245 tons from 150 acres) which to understand that I needed to were hauled to Brunswick. We do have my own dibble bar.

AP – Concerning planting have a management plan in place and managing for your forest, to replant to longleaf.

AP – What are your ties to The Longleaf Alliance? can you share with us some of the lessons you have learned NS – Although I was only able to attend for one along the way?

NS — We planted bare root and containerized, but with information-filled day, the 11th Biennial Longleaf Conference time for planting being scarce and sometimes interrupted by a in Savannah increased my interest in managing our forest; call for a doctor, it worked better for us to use the containerized. planting more longleaf and restoring understory stay at the top We’re gradually converting the 81-acre tract where we live, and of the list. Members since 2013, Sharon and I are eager to where our oldest planted longleaf are now 25 years old. attend longleaf academies as we transition from the medical I was fortunate to enlist the help of Alton Smith, a forester center to retirement. We both belong to the Native Plant in the Hampton area, to develop my management plans. My Society in South Carolina, and they certainly promote longleaf advice and encouragement to everyone are to seek and retain ecosystem restoration. expert forestry advice and also guidance from The Longleaf [ 25 ]

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2.

1.

3.

1. SC Family Physician of the Year; June 2019. (l-r) Brent Shealy, Judy S. Hays, Otho Shealy, Neal and Sharon Shealy. Photo

by Sarah Smith. 2. Box balers used for baling pine straw collected in longleaf pine plantation. Photo by N. Shealy. 3. Young planted longleaf on Shealy property, Hampton County, SC. Photo by N. Shealy.

AP – Can you rank your objectives as a landowning family?

NS — We ponder on this a lot. First is wildlife – viewing, hunting, fishing — We still count a few wild coveys, but the quail hunting we do is of the raised birds. Second would be pine straw from our older longleaf stand, which is hauled to Charleston for landscaping purposes. Timber eventually, though most of what we have to harvest now is pulpwood — just being the best trees farmers we can be. And, whenever we can, relaxing on the porch, listening to the wind in the longleaf while watching the vast array of birds, including pileated woodpeckers. The abundance of strikingly marked fox squirrels that have taken up residence conveniently near the bird feeders

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is of particular entertainment. In the cooler times of the seasons, we love to walk the firebreaks with our dogs to see what kinds of wildlife appear. A couple of nearby landowners have also planted longleaf in their yards and acreage; it seems to be catching on!

We bought our land with help from a rural incentive grant to recruit physicians to the many underserved communities. In return, we work to expose medical students to the benefits and opportunities of rural service and rural life. There are many rewards even if it doesn’t pay as well. The practice of rural medicine includes becoming involved in the community. A shared interest in forestry and the natural world has undoubtedly provided many connections with our patients.

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LANDOWNER SURVEY FOREST RESTORATION SURVEY: AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE YOUR INTEREST IN SUPPORTING NEW MARKETS FOR LONGLEAF PINE RESTORATION SURVEY GOAL : A research team, partnering with The Longleaf Alliance and other forestry organizations, wants your opinion on how new types of markets can advance the restoration of longleaf pine on private lands. The goal of the survey is to understand and learn what motivates private landowners in the Southeast to go the extra mile for land stewardship and the barriers landowners face.

WHO WE ARE : Members of our research team have roots in the Southeast and are currently associated with the Universities of Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Penn State. We care about maintaining healthy

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forests in the South and assisting private forest landowners meet their management goals. We also believe that organizations, agencies, and landowners should work together to restore healthy and sustainable longleaf forests.

HOW TO HELP : If you are interested in participating in the survey, you can access the web survey at: https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_38VlBAXPfNoqD ml, or scan the QR code above with your phone camera. You may also request a print version by sending your name and address to Dr. Melissa Kreye at mxk1244@psu.edu.

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REGIONAL UPDATES

News from the Longleaf Partnership Council

By Gary Burger, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

i Love to plant trees

To say “I love to plant trees” is probably an understatement.

Forestry in South Carolina means pine trees to a large extent, so Planting longleaf pine is one of my favorite things to do in the I had to shift away from the fruit tree thing a little, but growing whole world. As a forester, it ranks right up there with cutting loblolly pine in plantation just didn’t have the same romance to trees down. I do, in fact, love the whole process. Planting trees, it. Ecosystem restoration did, however, and longleaf restoration growing trees, harvesting trees, planting them again, and even was my first job out of college at Hitchcock Woods in Aiken, in some cases just leaving the trees alone. The epitome of this South Carolina. I was fulfilling my destiny, and longleaf pine for me is removing junky hardwood and/or off-site loblolly or and its fantastic variety of ecosystems have been the center of my slash pine from a longleaf site and planting it back into longleaf. professional life ever since.

That really is gratifying and makes me feel like I’m doing So…here we are, all of the many partners in the Longleaf something good for our world, planting longleaf pine across environment and ecosystem the southeastern landscape wherever restoration. As a reader of this we can find willing landowners and magazine, that may not seem like collaborators. Public lands, private such a strange thing to you, and may lands, large landholdings, and small even ring true as to why you are a plots — for full-blown ecosystem longleaf enthusiast. restoration and plantation pine straw In retrospect, I see now that raking, the reasons and scenarios are planting trees for a living was part quite diverse. And, we’ve been doing of my destiny. My favorite book as a really, really good job of it. Since a youngster was, of course “Johnny the inception of the Longleaf Appleseed.” While I didn’t really Partnership Council in 2012, there understand the tin pot on his head, has been an effort to track the amount I was fascinated by the notion of of annual longleaf planting using wandering the landscape, planting Aiken Gopher Tortoise Heritage Preserve, Aiken partner reporting from the the iconic American apple tree all County, SC – Pepe and his son underplanted southeastern states combined with over the place for everyone to enjoy 44,000 containerized longleaf pine on this 105longleaf seedling production data. their bountiful fruits. Today, poor acre site by themselves in one week. Photo by What it shows is that there have been Gary Burger.

Johnny would probably be accused over 1.2 million acres of new longleaf of spreading a non-native species and run out of every established over the 2010-2018 time period! An impressive community where he showed up. Maybe not so coincidentally, accomplishment indeed, and certainly something to be my grandfather was also a cherry farmer in northern Michigan, highlighted as we near our 10-year anniversary of the America’s and we spent every summer on the farm helping with the Longleaf Restoration Initiative. The reversal in the loss of overall harvest. My fruit tree fetish continued when we moved to South longleaf acres across the range can be directly attributed to this Carolina when I was 12, and I soon started working in the peach great success of planting new longleaf. industry in my home town of Ridge Spring. When I eventually But that success is only part of the story, and closer analysis went off to college at Clemson, it should not have been a big reveals that the number of new acres of longleaf being planted surprise that I scrapped my Engineering major after my every year is actually trending downward, from a high of over Freshman year for the overpowering allure of a Forestry degree.

163,000 acres in 2012 to last year’s 130,000 acres. I don’t point [ 29 ]

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REGIONAL UPDATES

this out to be a downer, but to illustrate why the collaborative efforts of the Longleaf Partnership Council are so important.

It would be easy to say that this decline is simply a result of our success and that the low-hanging fruit has been picked.

But it seems counterintuitive that the amount of effort and funding going into longleaf is at an all-time high, while we are seeing the annual planting rate slowly declining. And more importantly, how do we stabilize or even reverse this slowing trend?

One of the primary strategies that the Longleaf Partnership Council is utilizing is the engagement of larger private landowners. This includes larger working family forests, as well as the more institutional forest landowners, such as Timber Investment Management Organizations and Forest Industry. This category of landowners represents a huge opportunity for longleaf restoration, as they control vast amounts of acreage, much of which could remain in forest for the long haul. With a more economic orientation however, these folks have repeatedly told us that they need reliable growth and yield information about longleaf to make decisions around planting longleaf. They don’t need to be convinced that longleaf can compete with loblolly or slash, but they do need to know what the economic difference is. The LPC partners need to know what these economic differences are as well, so we can apply the proper incentives toward longleaf restoration where they are needed. While some growth and

yield information does exist for natural longleaf stands, it does not really translate to the way we plant longleaf today, so we must gather that information in a scientific and defendable way, and we are starting to do just that. Initial funding for this research was secured after much hard work by key LPC members, and the next steps with research partners will be moving forward in the near future.

Another key strategy for the LPC to bolster the annual planting rates is to engage new landowners, the unreached and the literally “new” landowners. Not only through traditional outreach and education efforts that we’ve used all along (field days, academies, workshops), but also with new technologies.

Younger generations respond quite well to social media platforms, such as Facebook, internet-based outreach and information, and new innovative mapping applications that allow them to view and map features on their own properties and then take the next step to request help from technical service providers. That’s us, by the way, and that’s where we tell them how great longleaf is, and that they can become involved too. In short, the LPC partners are trying to keep up with the times and meet new potential longleaf landowners where they are. In the long run, we need to develop new generations of landowners who “love to plant trees,” and it is the combined efforts of the LPC, its many dedicated partners, and the greater Longleaf community that are bringing these efforts to fruition…pun intended.

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LIT SPOTLIGHT

VIRGINIA LONGLEAF PINE COOPERATORS

By Rick Myers, Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation – Division of Natural Heritage

1.

2.

Image 1: A contracted crew applies herbicide to non-native Sericea lespedeza invading a 12-year-old longleaf pine site in Virginia. Image 2: Fire sweeping through a young stand of longleaf pine on landed owned by William Owen in Sussex County, VA and managed by an interagency prescribed fire team. Photo by Robert Clontz, TNC. role of fire in longleaf ecosystems and the continued population increase for endangered Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers for Virginia.

Other organization-specific highlights over the last year include the following.

In 2018, the Virginia Department of Forestry successfully began containerized seedling operations at its Garland Gray Forestry Center, producing 72,000 Virginia native seedlings. A second crop was sown in spring 2019, and 128,000 longleaf seedlings are being produced this year. The seedling tray rack system under pivot irrigation was expanded and now can hold trays for 1.2 million containerized seedlings. The goal is to produce 500,000 longleaf seedlings annually as well as warmseason grasses for use with enhancing longleaf pine ecosystem restoration Virginia.

In May 2019, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) successfully controlled Chinese lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) within an 80-acre old-field planted longleaf pine stand at Chub Sandhill Natural Area Preserve. The treated area is DCR’s oldest longleaf restoration site, supporting 12-yearold longleaf established in early 2007. Over the last decade, invasive Sericea lespedeza increased in abundance under a frequent fire regime. Sericea emerges early in spring following a dormant season burn, making it an easy target for directed spray herbicide application. With nearly all native plant species still dormant, this control approach was effective in avoiding damage to desirable native species.

The Virginia Longleaf Pine Cooperators, comprised of 10 public agencies, private conservation groups, academic institutions and private landowners, have continued working to restore longleaf pine and fire-maintained southern pine savanna habitat in eight priority conservation areas encompassing 125,000 acres at the northern limit of the historic longleaf range.

This diverse and dynamic group of resource professionals passionately promotes the establishment and enhancement of longleaf pine forests and woodlands in southeast Virginia.

Virginia accomplishments over the past year include 670 acres of longleaf planted, 4,600 acres of prescribed burning, 32 acres of release work, and 450 acres of loblolly pine thinned in preparation for transition to longleaf. Much of this work was supported through a National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Longleaf Stewardship Fund grant awarded to the Virginia Department of Forestry. While unusually wet weather limited acres burned in both 2018 and 2019, the Cooperators have excelled recently with outreach efforts. Highlights include: 1) longleaf pine being featured at a fall 2018 festival celebrating the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s 80th anniversary; 2) nine speaking engagements and five field tours reaching at least 950 participants; 3) seedling giveaways that included 40 landowners; and, 4) articles appearing in the Virginia Pilot, the Virginia Daily News, Virginia Living, Tidewater News, The Smithfield Times and Virginia Wildlife reaching over 300,000 subscribers. These efforts have highlighted the reasons for restoring longleaf pine in Virginia, the work of the Virginia Longleaf Pine Cooperators, the

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Image 3: Prescribed fire in savanna at TNC’s 3,200-acre Piney Grove Preserve in Sussex County VA. The preserve’s loblolly pine canopy is being gradually converted to longleaf. Photo by Daniel White, TNC. Image 4: RCW nestling from the first cohort of RCW offspring at Big Woods Wildlife Management Area managed by the VA Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. Photo by Lynda Richardson, VA DGIF. Old Dominion University faculty and students had one of their busiest years since the establishment of the institution’s Blackwater Ecological Preserve in 1984. Research highlights include studies on effects of prescribed burns on longleaf seedling survival, evaluation of the impact of competing vegetation on planted longleaf seedlings, initiation of a study on the relationship of fire frequency and northern bobwhite populations, and a study on the life histories of several rare orchids and other state rare species associated with longleaf pine. These and other research topics were presented at numerous regional and national scientific meetings.

The Nature Conservancy’s Piney Grove Preserve was the site of a May 2019 demonstration of aerial ignition and imaging by drone. This exciting new technology holds promise for prescribed burning, especially for units in 100- to 500-acre range. Drone Amplified traveled to Virginia and helped conduct a 90-acre trial burn in a mixed longleaf/loblolly pine savanna. The IGNIS system has true color and infrared video capabilities, as well as an on-board Plastic Sphere Dispenser aerial ignition unit. While expensive, this new technology provides burn managers with high-resolution aerial photography, mapping and fireline patrol capabilities – plus reduces the need to send ignitors into difficult-to-access locations.

Aircraft carriers and submarines aren’t the only legacies that Newport News Shipbuilding is building in Virginia. The shipyard also supports The Nature Conservancy’s work in longleaf pine restoration and plants a tree at the nearby Mariner’s Museum whenever it christens a new ship. The

museum’s new longleaf pine grove features interpretive signs that, along with educational activities, introduce visitors and school children to longleaf pine – an iconic component of Virginia’s natural heritage.

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service collaborated with private landowner William Owen and other partners to complete a 320-acre longleaf pine seedling underplanting project to demonstrate an alternative approach for converting mid-rotation loblolly pine stands to longleaf. This is the largest project of its type in Virginia.

Ecologists from Meadowview Biological Research Station conducted hydrological and Virginia longleaf pine fecundity research, finding that 1) an ecosystem phase change from dense loblolly pine/hardwood forest to longleaf pine savanna raised groundwater levels in pitcher plant bogs; and, 2) Virginia seed source planted longleaf pine stands reached reproductive maturity sooner than other more southern provenance longleaf sources.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is re-establishing pine savanna on the Big Woods Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Thinning of existing loblolly pine stands and application of frequent prescribed fire have already resulted in the establishment of breeding red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCW) on the WMA, with two young fledged in spring 2019. Plans are well underway to enhance RCW expansion with longleaf pine restoration as a key part of the longterm strategy. Big Woods WMA already supports 265 acres of longleaf converted from loblolly pine.

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Mesic and Wet Flatwoods Baseline Monitoring Begins

By Brian Pelc, Restoration Project Manager/ARSA Coordinator, The Nature Conservancy

ARSA Partners and Florida Natural Areas Inventory staff “at the board room,” discussing a test drive of a new monitoring protocol currently deployed at Flint Rock WMA and soon repeated at Tyndall AFB and elsewhere across ARSA’s numerous flatwoods locations. Photo by B. Pelc.

Thanks to the generous support of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to the Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance (ARSA), baseline vegetation monitoring will begin at the jointly managed Flint Rock WMA, with a similar effort using the same protocol to follow at Tyndall Air Force Base. A coalition of biologists and land managers in the ARSA region developed a protocol for assessing vegetation changes during conversion/restoration of off-site pine plantations back to wet and mesic longleaf flatwoods. The long-term goal is to compare conversion strategies (i.e., clearcuts, gap thinning, row thinning, shelterwood thinning) across numerous sites in the Florida panhandle, and beyond. ARSA leaders identified major knowledge gaps in how best to restore these highly competitive environments in the 2017 ARSA Longleaf Conservation Plan. Many previous efforts in ARSA flatwoods projects have failed when plantation ground layer, having shifted towards shrubby, unburnable species and away from burnable and characteristic native grasses and wildflowers by decades of fire suppression, shade out young longleaf and drive up seedling mortality within a few short years. By comparing impacts on fine fuels, shrub density, overstory light availability, and other metrics, ARSA managers hope to build the flatwoods conversion toolbox used around the range.

New Acres for Conservation & Recreation on the Chattahoochee Fall Line

By LuAnn Craighton, The Nature Conservancy New acres are now available to outdoor enthusiasts in west Georgia thanks to the partnership efforts of multiple agencies. With the addition of the Hilliard Plantation Tract (8,092 acres), the Chattahoochee Fall Line Wildlife Management Area (WMA) now provides nearly 22,000 acres of land for conservation and recreation. Land stewardship activities on the WMA focus on the restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem which provides important habitat for a diversity of wildlife including the red-cockaded woodpecker and gopher tortoise. The area also provides more public recreation lands for hunting, hiking, fishing, camping, and bird-watching.

The Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA was created through a unique In May, partners gathered to celebrate the addition of over 8,000 acres to the Chattahoochee partnership between the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Fall Line Wildlife Management Area near Conservancy, and the U.S. Army at Fort Benning.

Columbus, GA. Photo by Public Affairs Office, Through the Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) program, ecologically US Army Fort Benning. significant land near the military Installation’s border is protected from development that is incompatible with the Installation’s national security mission.

A portion of the purchase of the Hilliard Plantation Tract was made possible by state bond dollars, the Knobloch Family Foundation, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant, and a grant from the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy program through the Georgia Forestry Commission. The remaining cost for the tract was secured with an award from the Department of Defense’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Challenge Grant through The Nature Conservancy’s work with Fort Benning’s ACUB Program and a private grant from Capital One via World Wildlife Foundation.

For more information on Fort Benning’s ACUB program contact: Brant Slay, Conservation Manager, bslay@tnc.org.

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Burner Bob Has Been Busy with Outreach!

By Randy Tate, The Longleaf Alliance

Burner Bob with Georgia Pacific’s (l-r) Ricky Busby, Caitlin McDonald, and Jamie Gasparella attending the Secrets of the Longleaf Pine film screening in Brunswick, GA. Photo by Amy Schuler.

Burner Bob was busy this summer getting the word out about good fire. On July 11, Bob was the featured guest at a showing of Secrets of the Longleaf Pine in Brunswick, Georgia. The event, also attended by the film producers, Rhett Turner and Greg Pope, drew 108 attendees and was presented by Coastal WildScapes with The Longleaf Alliance and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as partners.

Continuing with the film theme, Burner Bob attended the Wild and Scenic Film Festival which featured a prescribed fire film session. The Georgia Chapter of TNC organized the session. There was a panel discussion with five land managers and six films on fire. The films included one made by Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR) that featured Burner Bob and Shan Cammack, Wildlife Biologist and Fire Safety Officer for GA DNR, explaining prescribed fire for kids. This film was shot in Reese Thompson’s big woods during a live burn.

And Burner Bob has gone national with the publication of an article in Muse magazine featuring Bob with Shan Cammack. Muse magazine is a national children’s magazine. The article was in a special issue focused on wildfire (July/August edition), The Story behind Wildfires. Muse is a sister magazine to Cricket magazine and is geared toward 9 to 14-year-olds.

Contact Carol Denhof (carol@longleafalliance.org) if you would like to book Burner Bob for your next fire-related event.

Gulf Power Foundation Amplify! Grant Awarded to The Longleaf Alliance

By Vernon Compton, GCPEP Director, The Longleaf Alliance The Longleaf Alliance (LLA) was one of 36 organizations across northwest Florida to receive an Amplify! Grant from the Gulf Power Foundation. The Amplify! Grants support organizations with implementing effective programs within the Gulf Power Service Area. Jennifer McFarren, Deputy Manager for the Gulf Power Foundation, highlighted that “Amplify! Grants are geared toward improving the organization so it can be more effective and efficient in its operations.” The LLA is doing just that by hiring a Cogongrass Coordinator, Ed 0’Daniels, to help in addressing the growing concern over cogongrass as an invading species. Partners have identified cogongrass as a major threat to the restoration of the longleaf ecosystem in Gulf Power President Marlene Santos (far left) and Northwest Florida and South Alabama. The Cogongrass Coordinator will Susan Melians, Gulf Power Vice President lead control efforts at the landscape level using a comprehensive database Customer Service and External Relations (far tracking system while working with private landowners who have right), presenting grant award to Vernon Compton infestations less than 1 acre in size to implement control efforts. Such a and Anne Rilling of The Longleaf Alliance. Photo coordinated control and implementation plan will increase the chances of

by Gulf Power. stopping the advancing front of cogongrass in the GCPEP landscape. Initial efforts in Northwest Florida will be centered around Blackwater River State Forest and Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area.

The LLA and GCPEP partners thank the Gulf Power Foundation for the generous grant helping to accelerate this important work.

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Recent Developments in Invasive Species Control

By Keith Coursey, Silviculturist, DeSoto Ranger District An article in the Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) Alumni magazine revealed research that could have great implications for invasive species control. Dr. Shiyou Li, Research Professor and Director of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Crops at SFASU, and his team have developed a method for isolating inherent plant chemicals (secondary metabolites) that are fatally toxic to the plant from which the chemicals were derived. The toxicity/lethality is specific to the plant species from which the chemicals were isolated, and based on preliminary tests, do not result in non-target effects on other plant species in the community in which these isolated chemicals were applied. The end products of this process are known as “biological-like” pesticides (US Environmental Protection Agency 2019).

Dr. Li presented his research to the Mississippi Local Implementation Team and partners, resulting in further collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station (SRS), Mississippi State University, and the University of Georgia. Isolation of appropriate plant chemicals and application of promising “biological-like” pesticides on these undesirable plants in the greenhouse and field sites could advance identification of long-term solutions for problematic invasive plants such as cogongrass and Chinese tallow tree.

LIT Mapping Inventory Completed

By Charles Babb, SLPCP Coordinator and Susan Griggs, USDA-NRCS The South Carolina Sandhills Longleaf Pine Conservation Partnership (SLPCP) has completed its inventory of nearly 6600 forest stands in the Partnership’s 465,000-acre focal area. With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Horry Georgetown Technical College interns have surveyed over the past three summers 180,928 acres of private land to collect information such as forest type, age, management activities, and understory Darby Hamer stops for a quick photo Inventory summary. This condition. The data provides valuable information during her data collection this summer. is the summary of the Hamer was the third student to help the acreage that was mapped. for targeted outreach efforts to landowners holding key pieces of habitat and assists with developing SLPCP complete their LIT inventory. (181,000 acres) Photo by Lyne Askins, USFWS. future funding requests. According to Charles Babb, LIT Coordinator, “the information allows us to visualize exactly what we have to work with, and the specific challenges and opportunities facing our restoration efforts.”

2019 forestry student Darby Hamer is grateful for the experience she gained through the internship. “Working with such a group of professionals allowed me to see the value of our classwork. Gaining experience with GIS and the whole longleaf ecosystem really has been eye-opening. I have learned a lot about critical species, the importance of understory management, and prescribed fire.”

The data shows that there are almost 48,000 acres of privately owned longleaf in the LIT focal area. “Since 2010, LIT Partners have been involved with planting nearly 20,000 acres, which means there is a great opportunity to educate landowners about future management needs. Sadly, we also discovered that we only have about 4,000 acres of mature longleaf under private ownership remaining in the area. That really limits what we can do to benefit certain species like RCWs, but also magnifies the importance of establishing new stands for the future,” said Babb.

Funding for the internships has been provided through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

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South Lowcountry – ACE Basin (SoLoACE) Longleaf Partnership Update

By Bobby Franklin and Lisa Lord, The Longleaf Alliance The SoLoACE partnership has wrapped up another Longleaf Stewardship Fund grant that saw the partnership cost-share 450 acres of planting, 2,559 acres of prescribed burning, 350 acres of midstory release, installation of 37 red-cockaded woodpecker boxes on private and state lands, and protection of 3,300 acres of bottomland hardwoods and longleaf along the Savannah River.

Our technical assistance and outreach efforts served more than 133 landowners in the project area.

Our gopher tortoise head-starting project with the Savannah River Ecology Lab continues with new eggs being collected for hatching and fostering to a larger size to be released.

The Partnership is excited to be permanently involved in protecting two key private properties along the Savannah River with conservation easements Some of the gopher tortoise eggs being collected thanks to substantial contributions from the Savannah River Clean Water Fund for the head-starting project. Photo by Lisa Lord. through their water utility partners, Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority and the City of Savannah. The transactions were made possible through the leadership of The Nature Conservancy and Lowcountry Land Trust, and local and national funding partners, including the South Carolina Conservation Bank, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and The Longleaf Alliance.

The two properties, totaling 14,165 acres, known as Groton Plantation and Big Snooks, are the first conservation easements to receive funding from the Savannah Clean Water Fund, which supports the protection of the water quality and supply in the Lower Savannah River Basin from the Strom Thurmond Dam to the Savannah Harbor. The river provides drinking water to more than 1.5 million people in two states.

Texas Local Implementation Team (TLIT) Update

By Kent Evans, Coordinator Our longleaf team assisted the Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas Parks, and Wildlife Department, and the US Forest Service in delivering the Texas Certified Insured Prescribed Burn Manager course in June 2019. The training burn demonstrated summer fire to reduce yaupon understory competition beneath an overstory of mature longleaf on the E.O. Seicke State Forest. These courses have helped triple the number of certified managers in our longleaf geography over the past five years.

The TLIT also hosted longleaf plantation workshops led by Ad Platt, The Longleaf Alliance, local foresters, and specialists. A total of 15 consultants, 16 landowners, and 49 agency staff heard from RMS forester, Jennifer Smith Touring RMS lands near Chester, Texas; June about site preparation methods and the use of prescribed burning. Azimuth Forestry Staff showed 900 acres of impressive longleaf in 3 age classes they 2019. Photo by Kent Evans. have established. Landowner, Randy Gardner showed 300 acres of 38-yearold longleaf (established by Champion) where he has conducted pole sales and does his own burning at 1-2- year intervals. Randy showed the Texas co-champion longleaf (116’ tall, 38” dbh) in the churchyard of Enon Baptist Church.

On July 16 the TLIT met at the USDA Plant Materials Center and received a demonstration of the NRCS Rainfall Simulator on four undisturbed soil profiles: forests, prairies, bahia pasture, and tilled soils. A 15-minute shower provided a powerful illustration on the importance of how healthy soils provide proper eco-system function, decreased erosion, and extreme rainwater infiltration.

Soils that are undisturbed with diverse plant communities support greater biologic activity, bind soil particles together, and allow water to infiltrate rapidly. Unhealthy soils (i.e., tilled soils and bahia pasture) had brownish run-off and virtually no infiltration below a 2” depth. Soil profiles from the diverse grass and forb species absorbed the “rain” shower, then slowly yielded clear water.

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The Kisatchie National Forest Makes Strides Towards Million-Acre Challenge

By Chris Rice, The Nature Conservancy The Kisatchie National Forest (KNF) forms the core of the Fort Polk/Kisatchie National Forest Significant Geographic Area in western Louisiana. In the fall of 2017, the US Forest Service Southern Region issued the Million-Acre Challenge to put an additional one million acres of National Forest System lands on the path towards restoration in support of the Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Longleaf Restoration Initiative. KNF, one of the largest natural landscapes in Louisiana with approximately 604,000 acres of public land, has a long-term objective of 263,000 acres of longleaf. With approximately 120,885 acres of existing longleaf (46% of the Forestâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longterm acreage goal), the KNF was assigned a goal of 143,367 acres in longleaf restoration. KNF has developed a strategy to meet their portion of the Million-Acre Challenge through a variety of silviculture practices including timber sales, selective intermediate thinning, mid-story removal, and prescribed burning. The Kisatchie Restoration Strategy focuses on integrated opportunities to achieve multiple objectives, such as treating Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Louisiana pine snake habitat, fuel reduction, ecosystem resilience, and watershed improvements.

With assistance from the West-Central Louisiana Ecosystem Partnership, the local LIT consisting of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Defense, state and federal wildlife Longleaf habitat on the Kisatchie agencies, conservation NGOs and landowners, the KNF is well-positioned to take on and meet National Forest. Photo courtesy its goal for the Million-Acre Challenge of restoring a significant portion of this beautiful of Kisatchie NF. Louisiana landscape into a fully functional longleaf pine ecosystem.

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NEXT GENERATION

WHILE YOU’RE IN THE GRASS STAGE

By Anne Rilling, The Longleaf Alliance

During the summer and fall, Bob’s home becomes covered with wildflowers because of good and necessary activities, such as prescribed fire, done by Bob and Mr. Woods, the landowner. Pollinators need the many plants that live in a healthy longleaf forest. Caterpillars munch on their favorite plants and butterflies and bees go from flower to flower gathering food while also pollinating the wildflowers. They also help the grasses grow seed, which is one of Bob’s favorite foods.

Bob’s Colorful Friends

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ARTS & LITERATURE

LITERARYREVIEW

Quite a Year for Plums: A Novel Reviewed by Robert Abernethy, The Longleaf Alliance

Author: Bailey White Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, 1998

By midnight he had lit off the whole thing, and he stood and watched it burn. Behind the flames, the ground looked bare, black and ashy, but it would rain tomorrow and by the middle of next week blades of grass would begin to show, and in the spring the wire grass, bracken fern, and all the other fire-dependent ground covers of the longleaf pine woods would come up lush and green and sturdy, rejuvenated by this fire. By April only the sooty trunks of the great old trees would show that these woods had burned. Maybe needles on some lower limbs would be browned, Roger thought, peering up into the smoky sky-but maybe not. It was a good fire.

When writing about the South, an author must place the story in the landscape of the place to accurately define both the people and where they live. While all great Southern writers do this, few place the context of their stories in and around the longleaf forest. In her novel, Quite a Year for Plums, author Bailey White does just that.

Quite a Year for Plums is about the people in a small Southern community, their lives, their loves, and of course, their unique eccentricities that make this book hit way too close to home. It is an enjoyable story, but what makes it pertinent to the readers of The Longleaf Leader is that Ms. White weaves the story in and around a longleaf forest.

She deals with forestry and timber harvests, scientists and the restoration of the red-cockaded woodpecker and most importantly she humorously deals with the destruction of a portion of the forest as it is being developed into a subdivision and the family from Tallahassee that finally has their own little slice of rural heaven across the road from an ageless longleaf forest where trees are harvested and the land is managed with prescribed fire. While you will not learn how to conduct a prescribed burn from reading this book, you will recognize yourself and laugh long and often at the characters, some who closely resemble people we all know and love. Here is a short excerpt from Chapter 18, New Subdivision:

“A forest fire!” the woman said to Hilma, gazing despondently out her window at Roger’s blackened woods. “We could have lost our home!”

“No,” said Hilma, trying to explain, “it wasn’t that kind –“ “You should have seen the flames!” said the woman.

“But these woods need fire to keep them healthy. It’s-“ “I just kept thinking over and over: ‘Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires, Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.’ I called 911, I called the fire department. But no one came!”

“But,” Hilma persisted, “it’s the exclusion of fire, the suppression of fire, that would be dangerous and bad-“ “Just look at my view!” the woman wailed, and burst into tears, flailing her arms at the window.

This is, quite simply, a wonderful book!

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LONGLEAF ART SPOTLIGHT ARTS & LITERATURE

Leslie Peebles

When I was 12, my parents gave up corporate life in New York City and bought a farm in western Suwannee County, Florida. The property had 30 acres of woods that included many longleaf pines. I fell in love with these trees and would lie on my back on the road and watch them sway and whisper to each other. To this day, the scent of longleaf pine on a warm day is my favorite perfume.

The move was like a rebirth for me. All I ever wanted was to be among trees, animals, sky, and water. I had my fill there with the Suwannee only a mile up the road, near Dowling Park. Art had already become a passion, and Suwannee Middle School and High School offered art and had excellent teachers.

To fill my time on the farm, I drew. I attended The University of the South and got my B.A. in Studio Art (drawing and painting) at Newcomb in New Orleans (now Tulane). I got married and had three children, so I did what was practical and got an M.A. in Art Education and taught in the Gainesville area for 17 years. My first year teaching, a fellow art teacher told me she hated linoleum block printing and did I want all her supplies; inks, blocks, brayers, and carving tools for my middle school students. I said yes, and I became completely obsessed with it! I joined Sweetwater Print Cooperative in 1998 and began growing myself as a printmaker.

I have been traveling and showing full-time for the past 10 years. I feel I have just scratched the surface of what can be done with this medium, so I continue to experiment and grow my body of work. I currently have a solo show at the Appleton Museum of Art, "Florida Impressions" which can be viewed until January 12th, 2020. I have work at Gallery Rinard in New Orleans, Settlement House in Cashiers, NC,

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McIntyre Studios in Gainesville, and Jefferson Arts Gallery in Monticello, FL. The idea for the Longleaf Pine Triptych began after I read Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray. My spare time in winter is spent hiking Florida forests: Wekiva, Goldhead Branch, Paynes Prairie, San Felasco Hammock, Sweetwater Preserve, and Morningside Nature Center The last two are minutes from my home, all of which feature longleaf pine. So, I began drawing the trees and the ecosystem. I noticed what was beautiful, like the burnt knots on the forest floor and the abundant paw paws. I noticed what was missing; what I desperately wanted to see there, like the Indigo snake, the red-cockaded woodpecker, the flatwoods salamander, and the Ivory-billed woodpeckers. I took linoleum out into the woods with me and drew trees and plants directly on the blocks. I took the blocks home and added animal species I did see, and some I didn't, to the composition. I carved it all out, leaving the black line as the surface of the block, rolled it with black ink, and printed it onto hemp or sugarcane paper on an etching press. The piece that is pictured is three cathedral window shaped panels mounted together on a gessoed wood panel and encaustic medium applied which seals and protects the paper block prints. Pigmented encaustic around the edge frames the panels and echoes the feel of old church walls. The prints are also available unmounted and hand-painted. It is an edition of 50. www.lesliepeebles.com printmaker50@gmail.com leslie.m.peebles on Instagram

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By Ad Platt, The Longleaf Alliance with the Staff of CWG

Longleaf Destinations

Coldwater Gardens â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Base Camp and Gateway to Longleaf Aerial view of a prescribed burn on site. Photo by Nick Phoenix.

We who work hard in managing natural resources may at times lament the disconnect between the average citizen and the natural world. Our featured destination this issue is Coldwater Gardens LLC (CWG), a private ecotourism destination in the western Florida Panhandle working to help people reconnect. CWG is close to many people, but away from the hubbub and overcrowded roads that most of us endure. The property is situated about an hour northeast of Pensacola, or midway between Milton, Florida, and Brewton, Alabama.

CWG is splendidly located as a base camp for exploring many nearby natural destinations. The site is central to the longleaf stronghold; within a one-hour travel radius of the Gardens is the largest concentration of well burned, mature longleaf stands that remain.

The features of the 352-acre site provide a comfortable introduction to natural Florida year-round. The management plan combines forestry, natural restoration, agriculture, aquaculture, shiitake mushroom production, and ecotourism to create a business that benefits the local economy and community.

Coldwater Gardens began restoring the native longleaf ecosystem about five years ago. Much of the site is wetlands, but originally featured extensive stands of longleaf on wet flatwoods prior to its conversion to industrial forestry plantations. The owners developed their plan and found

assistance for restoration following logging of the slash pine plantations by drum chopping and burning, without the use of herbicides for site preparation. Some 72 acres of longleaf seedlings were planted, and the burning program continues on a two-year rotation on approximately 110 acres.

The owner and staff share a vision to use focused management and careful development to create a different model for managing land and producing food. Working gardens on the property produce high-quality vegetables and ornamentals in a hoop house, as well as in closed-loop hydroponic and aquaponic systems. A pollinator garden with a diversity of flowers attracts a variety of Floridaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 4,400-plus native pollinators in need of our help. Additionally, several onsite European honey bee hives benefit the native flora. The Gardens demonstrates how easily you can enhance your land and assist nature.

The CWG property offers a relaxing setting with unique overnight accommodations. Lodging choices are diverse, ranging from modern and fully furnished eco-designed cottages (with geothermal heating and cooling) to a tiny-house cabana to a treehouse to creekside primitive camping to glamping (glamorous camping). Each glamping tent offers two queensize beds, mini-fridge, charcoal grill, fire ring, outdoor seating area, sink, outlets, lights, and a gorgeous sunrise.

Guests are invited to enjoy the white sand beaches and clear water of scenic Coldwater Creek, ideal for kayaking and tubing. [ 44 ]

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Hiking and biking trails, pitcher plant bogs, and a modern and spacious meeting space called â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Terrace,â&#x20AC;? perfect for meetings, parties, and reunions, all beckon. CWG is a popular wedding venue, with space for up to 150 guests, due to the beauty of the location and the hospitable and experienced staff. Weekends in the spring and fall are typically booked a year in advance by those who love nature and prefer that their big day features a natural setting.

Visitors can easily explore this Stewardship Forest, which embraces more than a mile of Coldwater Creek, providing watershed protection as well as recreational opportunities. In the pitcher plant bogs, keep an eye open for not only the threatened White Top Pitcher Plant, but also amazing natural hybrids. A spectacular wildlife setting, CWG is home to a diversity of habitats including streams, forests, bogs, and wetlands and offers opportunities to see a variety of birds, animals, and native plants, all thriving as the restoration of the property proceeds.

This map at http://coldwatergardens.com/wpcontent/uploads/2019/08/NatureTrailBrochure-2018 -1.pdf shows the many other destinations in the nearby area. CWG provides an excellent and comfortable base camp from which to explore

Right: Shiitake mushroom operation. Photo by Nick Phoenix.

Bottom: The staff of Coldwater Gardens. Photo courtesy of CWG.

Left: The Terrace that is used for special events at CWG. Photo by Nick Phoenix. Right: Trumpet pitcher plants on site.

Photo by Nick Phoenix.

magnificent mature longleaf stands on the adjoining Blackwater River State Forest (the largest in Florida), the nearby Conecuh National Forest, as well as longer float trips through the Blackwater River State Park, and numerous other state and national park lands nearby. When your party is ready for diverse nightlife and urban excitement, Pensacola is not far away.

Coldwater Gardens is many things to visitors, but all who come, discover a peaceful getaway in nature that can be as rustic

or as elegant as they choose. For many, this destination opens their eyes to the wonders of northwest Florida and gives them a gateway to learning about longleaf. Visitors appreciate the attractive and comfortable accommodations in nature, whether they arrive to recreate, attend a meeting or corporate retreat, or enjoy a natural destination wedding. The Gardens is successfully committed to giving back, to educating, and to connecting people to the natural world while actively restoring its property. [ 45 ]

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PEOPLE

By Johnny Stowe

Longleaf Pine Firelands and Those Who Love Them Lose a Faithful Friend It is always a blow when our tight-knit conservation community here in the Southland loses a loved one, and the blow is especially hard when a colleague and friend leaves us to return to the sacred soil in mid-career, in the prime of life, when she leaves children behind, and when she has so much more to contribute to the wildlands she loves – to its soils and waters, its plants and animals, and its people.

So we are still reeling from the death of Nicole Chadwick Hawkins, who died on a prescribed fire on Fort Jackson in the Carolina Sandhills on 22 May 2019.

She was 45-years-old. Much worse than the loss that we longleafers and firelighters are feeling is that felt by her family. She left behind three children – Drew and James and Dakota. Her family back in her homeland in north Alabama and here in South Carolina was what she loved most.

Nicole was a dear, hard-working colleague and a faithful and playful friend to many, with special expertise in the restoration of the red-cocked woodpecker and its longleaf pine habitat. She always smelled like pine resin.

Indigenous people the world over have long had special animals that provided a centering point and inspirational focus that loomed large and powerful, that gave primal meaning to their lives.

They called these animals their totems. Few people will ever have such a powerful totem as Nicole did in this special, familyfocused bird. Through her motherly hands-on land management work monitoring, banding, translocating and putting in nest boxes for these birds, through serving a pivotal role on hundreds of prescribed fires burning well over a hundred thousand acres in the Carolina Sandhills, and through her passionate advocacy for these birds and their habitat, she made a difference and left her mark on the landscape and in our lives.

I met Nicole when she came to work for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in fall of 2000, and during her six years at the SCDNR and then her 13-year career as a civilian employee at Fort Jackson, we worked a lot together and became close friends. For many people who cared so much about her, this place-based story is the same.

At services held at her home in Alabama, and then at Fort Jackson, people shared their sorrow and celebrated Nicole’s life.

Her family scattered some of her ashes onto the waters of Lake Guntersville, to become part of the ecosystem where she grew up, and eventually to run down into the Gulf of Mexico, to lap up onto the white sand beaches where she spent many family vacations. When Nicole worked for the SCDNR she spent much of her time in the Sandhills, the big, broad band of sand that stretches from Fort Bragg to Fort Benning, with Fort Jackson right in the middle. Not long before she died, Nicole told me that at Fort Jackson she had found the place where she could make a difference. She loved the Fort. She ardently loved not only its woods and waters and wildlife and the frequent fires that dance over the sandy land, fires that she so loved to light – but was also passionate about playing a role in the military’s mission, helping shape the land of the US Army’s primary basic training center. During Nicole’s time at the Fort, over half a million soldiers were trained and sent across the globe to serve our country. She took great pride in being associated with Fort Jackson.

This, without a doubt I know – Nicole would be most adamant in telling us this – that one of the ways she would like to be remembered is through our continuing her work – to keep her conservation legacy alive. And that we will do. Let us pledge in her memory – that we will do.

When I think of Nicole's life, I think of a life well-lived – a life of love, a life of meaning, a life that mattered. A life that lives on – in her children, in her family, in her homeland back in Alabama and on Fort Jackson and all over the Carolina Sandhills – and in the woodpeckers and all the other wonders of the longleaf pine forest that she devoted her life to protecting, a life that lives on in all of Mother Nature. In and through all these wonders she is still with us – and she always will be. May we all hope that when it is our time to join Nicole, to return to the ashes and dust from which we came, that our lives will have meant as much as hers.

Rest well, Nicole. Rest well, sweet sister.

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PEOPLE

The Longleaf Alliance Welcomes New Board Members The Longleaf Alliance is pleased to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors. Patrick Franklin and Bill Owen will begin their terms at the Fall 2019 Board of Directors Meeting. Board members are selected based on their ability to contribute through their experience, wisdom, talents, personal contact, and willingness to support The Alliance and its goals.

The Longleaf Alliance is fortunate to have such a generous and supportive board and are excited to have Patrick and Bill join this group.

Ireland. Patrick along with the help of his wife Emma and his brother continue to manage a small tract of timberland with longleaf pine, pond pine, pockets of pocosins, and Atlantic white cedar on the family farm in eastern North Carolina.

Bill Owen

Patrick Franklin Patrick has been working with trees most of his life. Growing up in the Sandhills region of eastern North Carolina, he has always enjoyed the piney woods and being in the forest. Learning at a young age to manage the woodlands with fire, Patrick came to appreciate the plants and wildlife that are uniquely adapted to live in the longleaf pine ecosystem. After earning his BBA from Campbell University, he applied to work in Arboriculture at one of the offices for Bartlett Tree Experts. Patrick is the 4th generation to be involved in the family business caring for trees and is proud to be part of a company with an impressive history dating back to 1907. After spending 10 years in Charleston, South Carolina managing trees on clients’ properties, Patrick returned to Campbell University to focus on an MBA degree which he received with honors. He moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2013 to work at the R.A. Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories and Arboretum where he is currently the Vice President of Special Operations. Within the organization, some of his responsibilities include coordination and management of special projects, financial management of the Research Laboratories and Arboretum, instruction and training for Company Business and Leadership programs, and working with other industry organizations such as the International Society of Arboriculture, and the Tree Care Industry Association. One of the programs that Patrick initiated and manages for the company is the Bartlett Legacy Tree Program. The program focuses on our Arborists teaching people about the importance of trees while distributing over 50,000 tree seedlings each year to students, community groups, and local reforestation efforts across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and [ 48 ]

Bill Owen is a native of Virginia and spent his childhood on his family’s farm. He graduated from Bowdoin College with highest honors in Music, attended the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar, and received his Master’s degree in Organ and Choral Conducting from Yale University. He served as Organist-Choirmaster of Christ Church Christiana Hundred in Wilmington, Delaware for 33 years and taught organ at the University of Delaware and Rowan University. He was elected a Fellow Commoner at King’s College, Cambridge and received an honorary Doctorate in Music from the Episcopal seminary Nashotah House. He authored the biography of his mentor, Sir David Willcocks (A Life in Music, Oxford University Press, 2008) and currently resides on his family farm in Yale, Virginia and in Williamsburg where he has been volunteering for the Music Department at Colonial Williamsburg since early 2017, interpreting to the public while playing spinet harpsichords in costume. Bill’s interest in longleaf pine began when he inherited the family farm and was introduced to this exciting ecosystem by Brian van Eerden from The Nature Conservancy.

He has since planted more than 1,200 acres of longleaf on his property which now serves as the core of a TNC project area known as Raccoon Creek Pinelands. TNC holds an easement on his land which is now a preserve dedicated to longleaf pine and fire ecology. Bill is honored to represent the northern range of longleaf on The Longleaf Alliance Board of Directors.

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PEOPLE

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SUPPORT THE ALLIANCE

By Lynnsey Basala, The Longleaf Alliance

Please Consider a Thoughtful Year-End Contribution to The Longleaf Alliance The holidays are almost upon us, and many of you are mulling over year-end contribution opportunities. May we respectfully recommend a thoughtful donation to The Longleaf Alliance? Thanks to the unwavering commitment of our members and partners, LLA allocated an astounding 86% of income to programs and services last year, a figure that steadily increases.

The Longleaf Alliance’s primary objectives include outreach, education, habitat management, protection, and restoration.

We are the only conservation nonprofit organization solely dedicated to restoring the longleaf ecosystems of the South. We need your help! By choosing The Longleaf Alliance (LLA) as your charity of choice, you are undoubtedly making a highimpact donation. Maintaining longleaf pine stands is crucial in supporting biologically diverse habitats throughout the southeast, and LLA is a leader in this effort.

You should have received the annual appeal, a fall campaign letter, which shares exciting and collective successes achieved in areas of education, habitat protection, and restoration in 2019 while providing a wonderful opportunity to make a high-

impact donation as a new or renewed member. We hope that we can count on you to help us achieve and surpass our $80,000 campaign goal by making a year-end contribution. The fall campaign extends October 1-December 31 and donations of $50 or more include a one-year membership in The Longleaf Alliance. All contributors receive a longleaf-themed thank you gift, discount to the upcoming 13th Biennial Longleaf Conference in Wilmington, North Carolina and recognition in the winter edition.

To double or possibly triple your contribution this year be sure to mark your calendar for the annual Giving Tuesday campaign on December 3, 2019. #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social giving and collaboration. Please look into your company’s matching gift program before donating as LLA is an eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Post #GivingTuesday #LongleafAlliance to social media in support of the longleaf ecosystem. Donations can be made at www.longleafalliance.org or directly at (334) 4271029.

Corporate Partnerships Are Vital to our Organization

"At SunFarm Energy our mission is to not only help create a more

sustainable future though renewable energy, but to support our SunFarm Energy is a licensed NABCEP Certified Solar Installer. To learn more please visit them online.

precious ecosystem through key targeted partnerships and individual stewardship. SunFarm Energy is delighted to partner

with the Longleaf Alliance to protect, renew, and conserve the

Longleaf Pine and contribute to other vital conservation and

restoration projects in our Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem. That said, we will allocate a percentage of each installation to the Longleaf

Alliance to further their programs and services over the next year."

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HEARTPINE

By Patrick Franklin, Vice President of Special Operations at Bartlett Tree Experts

HEARTPINE Five years ago, I was asked to start a program that would focus on trees and our communities. The program was going to be on an international scale and involve communities located throughout different geographical regions and climatic zones.

Right I thought…this is going to be a bit of a challenge, but my goal was to bring people and trees together, ultimately getting more people engaged in planting trees, and so we started the Bartlett Legacy Tree Program.

In many of our communities, the landscape we live in continues to evolve, and a new trend has emerged of increasing tree deficits in our urban and suburban areas. Most of this can be attributed to extensive development, lack of tree replacement, and new exotic pests and disease outbreaks. This trend poses not only a new challenge to our business of caring for trees but a risk to our environment as well.

With the loss of so many trees and habitat fragmentation, there is cause for concern. Much of this has a familiar ring to it when we think about the destruction of the longleaf pine ecosystem over the last two centuries. The bottom line is, we need to plant more trees!

As the tree deficit continues to rise, Bartlett Tree Experts has taken the opportunity to help overcome this new challenge by providing tree seedlings to members of our communities.

The tree seedlings are donated through the Bartlett Legacy Tree Program and are given away at community events each year.

With the plan of bringing people and trees together, we aspire to create value in local communities through the benefits that trees provide, while trying to help protect the environment in which we all live.

The primary objectives of the program serve to: • Promote awareness among school children to the benefits that trees provide.

• Create additional habitat for wildlife.

• Increase the local diversity of native tree populations to better withstand natural disasters such as insect and disease outbreaks.

• Generate additional value for communities through the environmental, social, and health benefits offered by the new trees.

• Help local communities reverse the increasing deficit of urban and suburban trees lost to development.

With a footprint that covers over 150 offices scattered across the US, Canada, UK, and Ireland, I was off to find suppliers that could provide native tree species that would be appropriate for each of the naturally diverse communities our company works in. From New York to California, from Vancouver to Atlanta, and from London to Chicago, I would need to find trees that would thrive in each type of climate.

After working with a number of different nurseries that grew native trees in their respective regions, we were able to begin supplying seedlings to all of our communities where we work. Trees could be requested at any time of the year for any event that our arborists wanted to organize within their communities. Many of the events have focused on working with students to learn more about trees and how they play such an important role in our environment. Each student is then given a tree to take home and plant, which they can nourish and watch grow.

Over the years, what started as a simple idea of bringing people and trees together, has grown into a vast network of events that take place each year across four countries, 30 states, and numerous local communities, to recognize the importance of trees and the need to plant more of them. To date, the program has donated nearly 350,000 tree seedlings that include over 100 different native species. And yes, we are including longleaf pines.

So, whether it’s a mighty oak or a majestic longleaf pine, remember that all trees are important, and they deserve the respect we owe them. We often don’t give enough thought to how much we rely on them. From the food they provide, the timber that we harvest, the shade that we enjoy on a hot afternoon day, to the very air that we breathe. Trees are a part of us all, and we should be thankful for what they provide. As the cooler temperatures of autumn are upon us, we should take advantage of the weather to get out and plant new trees for future generations to enjoy!

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