Published Quarterly by The Longleaf Alliance

applicable research findings into the outreach efforts. The CLPE will also allow several extension faculty to participate in longleaf outreach efforts. The LLA, Inc will be involved in fund raising, policy issues and networking with our many pub-lic and private partners; re-sponsibilities that do not fit well with typical university faculty duties. It is the intention of the LLA, Inc to assist in funding CLPE projects as well as pro-jects of other organizations that meet our needs. We intend to continue to be the focus for longleaf restoration efforts by organizations and groups at all levels across the entire range. The CLPE was created to pro-vide a formalized structure within the University (which the LLA never had) thus pro-viding a strong foundation for getting other units at the Uni-versity to collaborate with CLPE on longleaf efforts. To the out-side world, our branding will continue to be the Longleaf Alli-ance and we will continue to do what we have done well plus much more.

We have received numerous accolades on the quality of the Sandestin Longleaf Alliance Regional Conference. Several attendees commented that they got so involved in the activities of the conference that they did not think about their suffering financial portfolios for 3 whole days! The ‗regulars‘ who have attended most of our confer-ences tell us it‘s the one confer-ence that they wouldn‘t have missed while the ‗newcomers‘ marvel at the quality and smooth operation of the confer-ence. It did help to have Profes-sor E.O. Wilson (he insisted that we call him ‗Ed‘!), the in-ternational rock star of biology, as our keynoter. And para-mount to the conference‘s suc-cess were the dozens of volun-teers who made the concurrent and poster sessions as well as the field day possible. Although the date and location have yet to be selected, I hope you plan to attend the 8th Longleaf Alli-ance Regional Conference in the fall of 2010.

Rhett and I have received fre-quent inquiries about our re-tirements from Auburn Univer-sity and what it means to the future of the Alliance. Some seem to think that with retire-ment from the University we plan to sit on the front porch and rock. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Retire-ment from the University has freed us to spend full time

working on numerous longleaf efforts including the develop-ment of the nonprofit Longleaf Alliance, Inc as well as continu-ing to meet the daily needs of the Alliance, including ongoing com-mitments and projects and re-sponding to numerous telephone and email inquiries related to longleaf management and recov-ery. Let me assure you that the LLA, Inc was not created to give us ‗full‘ time employment upon retirement from the University. We look forward to hiring a di-rector for the LLA, Inc in the near future so that we can reduce our current role there and only do the ‗fun things‘ in the future.

We have also had inquiries re-lated to why we formed the LLA, Inc and the Center for Longleaf Pine Ecosystems (CLPE) at Au-burn University. The original Longleaf Alliance was created as a project in the SFWS at AU in 1995. Since that time the inter-est in longleaf has grown by sev-eral orders of magnitude while the staffing of the LLA has re-mained constant. In addition, being part of a university im-poses constraints, particularly on our ability to address policy is-sues and in fund raising. Ac-cordingly, after several meetings with our advisors and partners, we decided the best route was to develop both a private and public arm of the Alliance. The CLPE will greatly enhance our research capability, involve additional faculty and staff, and will feed

From the Co-Director by Dean Gjerstad

Winter 2008 Volume I, Issue 3

Dean Gjerstad

gjerstad@auburn.edu

Rhett Johnson

johnsee@auburn.edu

Mark Hainds

hainds@alaweb.com

JJ Bachant Brown

jbachant@auburn.edu

Vickie Stallings

stallvl@auburn.edu

Elizabeth Bowersock

bowerep@auburn.edu

The Longleaf Leader

On behalf of the Long-

leaf Alliance staff, we

wish you and yours

Happy Holidays and a

Joyous New Year!

The 7th regional conference, like its predecessors, was a huge suc-cess. The conference was sited in Sandestin, Florida at the Bay-town Resort and Conference Center in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Forest Guild and attracted about 350 attendees from around the re-gion and nation. As in the past, attendees were from a vast array of backgrounds, with ―‘ologists‖ of all types, foresters, landown-ers, nurserymen, photographers, researchers, managers, etc, in-cluded in the mix. They repre-sented everything from private foundations to federal agencies and included state agency per-sonnel, private consultants, re-searchers and aca-demics, landown-ers and representa-tives from an array of environmental organizations. The poster session, always a hit, con-tained about 60 entries and dis-played some of the best longleaf eco-system research and restoration projects currently going on in the region. We also saw our greatest number of exhibi-tors to date. At-tendees of our regional confer-ence had opportunities to meet and socialize with: equipment manufacturers, native seed com-panies, tree and native plant nurseries, herbicide companies, nursery suppliers, professional photographers, book publishers, lumber and decorative manufac-turers, seed companies, the pro-ducers of Discovering Alabama, a forest certification organization and other nonprofit organiza-tions!

Presentations at the plenary and concurrent sessions were uni-formly good, with timely topics and interesting and diverse per-spectives in every case. Of course, the highlight of the entire conference was the presence of and presentation by Dr. Edward O. (―please just call me Ed‖) Wil-

son. His participation attracted many to the conference who may have deferred because of tight budgets and travel restric-tions.

Other notable presentations during the plenary sessions in-cluded ―State of the Alliance‖ address, an introduction to Au-burn‘s Center for Longleaf Pine Ecosystems, Dr. Reed Noss‘s excellent presentation on Grasslands and Geoff Hill‘s up-date on the search for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. A special introduction to the nearly com-plete range-wide restoration plan for longleaf, America‘s Longleaf, was included and an

entire breakout session was dedicated to discussion of that plan.

Other topics included the pro-jected impact of climate change on longleaf and other south-eastern ecosystems and com-munities, and longleaf conser-vation and restoration efforts in the Florida Panhandle. The concurrent sessions, including the introduction of the Amer-ica‘s Longleaf plan, included panel discussions or presenta-tions on Education and Out-reach, Assessment and Regen-eration, Managing for Multiple Uses, Prescribed Fire and Un-derstory Restoration Advances, Lessons learned from Long-Term Research, and New Con-servation Opportunities for Longleaf Landowners. Obvi-

ously, there was something for eve-ryone, no matter what their back-ground or interest.

Another highlight of the meeting was the excellent field trip. We visited three sites: the outstanding restoration project on the 53,000 acre privately owned Nokuse Plan-tation; a unique old growth long-leaf stand immediately adjacent to the bayfront beach; and a beauti-fully restored longleaf forest on Eglin AFB. The presentations on the field trip ranged from under-planting longleaf in slash pine plantations to gopher tortoise relo-cation to red-cockaded manage-ment to understory restoration to longleaf products to feral hog con-

trol to snag manage-ment for songbirds and on and on. The tours were leisurely, as always, but intri-cately timed and planned and went off like clockwork, surely a testimony to hours of hard work and preparation by our own JJ and a host of volunteers.

As always, the food was good, the bever-ages abundant, and

the company excel-lent. The Thursday night band, Eclectic Acoustic, was per-fect for the occasion

and the weather couldn‘t have been better. Regular attendees and ―newbies‖ alike commented over and over about the excitement and enthusiasm so obvious. A frequent comment was that our conferences are the best among conferences and that this was our best effort to date. I don‘t know whether that‘s true or just a failure of long term memory, but I couldn‘t agree more. See you in 2010!

Editor’s Note: Proceedings from this conference will be available around April/May 2009. Each at-tendee will receive a free copy. If you were unable to attend we’ll have information in the Spring 2009 edition on how to place an order.

7th Biennial Regional Conference a Great Success by Rhett Johnson

“A frequent

comment was

that our

conferences are

the best among

conferences and

that this was

our best effort

to date.”

Page 2 Longleaf Leader

Dr. Edward O. (“please just call me

Ed”) Wilson giving keynote address at the 7th Biennial Longleaf

Alliance Regional Con-ference.

Three relieved Conference Organizers: Howard Gross, Executive Director of the Forest Guild,

Dean Gjerstad & Rhett Johnson Co-Directors for the Longleaf Alliance.

They say that a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here is my 16,000 word essay!

Photo Essay of the 7th Biennial Regional Conference by JJ Bachant Brown

Page 3 Volume I, Issue 3

The FLAG (FLorida-Alabama-Georgia) Corridor developed from an October 2007 meeting hosted by the Department of Defense at Fort Rucker in Alabama. The general idea of FLAG is the development of a greenway from Fort Benning in Georgia through southeast Ala-bama to Fort Rucker and on to Eg-lin Air Force Base in Florida. The goal is to enhance the economy of the region, maintain green space, and enhance the opportunity for military training at the various bases. Where appropriate, longleaf management and recovery will be emphasized.

Because the Longleaf Alliance has always been and will continue to be an action oriented get-it-done-on-the-ground organization, following the Fort Rucker meeting we imme-diately met with several state & federal agencies and NGOs that might have interest in projects in the Corridor. In very short order, partnerships developed and to date, eight active projects and programs are focused on the mid-section of the Corridor as well as areas adja-cent to the installations. Ongoing efforts in which we are involved include:

Providing technical training on longleaf to natural resource professionals and landowners;

Developing maps to identify where longleaf currently exists;

Utilizing cost-share programs to improve & increase longleaf for-ests;

Developing management plans for private and public lands; and

Developing and implementing a market-based habitat credit bank for the gopher tortoise on family forestlands.

Organizations currently involved in Corridor activities include:

The Longleaf Alliance,

US Fish & Wildlife Service,

Natural Resources Conservation Service,

Department of Defense,

Alabama Forestry Commission,

Georgia Forestry Commission,

Florida Division of Forestry,

Alabama Department of Conser-vation & Natural Resources,

Georgia Department of Natural Resources,

East Gulf Coast Joint Venture,

Alabama Wildlife Federation,

National Wildlife Federation, and the

American Forest Foundation.

Presently the Southeastern Regional Partnership for Planning & Sustain-ability (SERPPAS), an organization

involving state and federal agen-cies in five longleaf states, is devel-oping, in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, an additional plan of work for the Corridor. A key program within SERPPAS is longleaf pine conservation with the theme ‗Sustaining the Land of the Longleaf Pine‘. The champion of this effort is Bill Ross, co-chair of SERPPAS and Secretary, North Carolina Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources. Sec-retary Ross was a speaker in the opening session of the LLA San-destin conference and we were all impressed by his enthusiasm and leadership of this effort. Those of us currently involved in ongoing activities look forward to working with SERPPAS and TNC in getting actions done on the ground in the FLAG Corridor.

This is an example of an on-the-ground effort that the Longleaf Alliance is designed to lead. The Alliance has built the needed rela-tionships and network of natural resource professionals to effi-ciently accomplish similar efforts anywhere in the longleaf range.

and field course of instruction in ―all things longleaf‖.

The 2009 sessions will begin mid-morning on Tuesdays and proceed through the week at the Solon Dixon Center in Alabama with orientation and background information on long-leaf ecosystems and the Longleaf Alli-ance and proceeded through the week with classroom lectures augmented by field trips and exercises on the Dixon Center, the Conecuh National Forest and the Escambia Experimental For-est. After a very busy week, we wrap up and send everybody home after

The goal of the longleaf academies is to educate foresters, biologists and other natural resource profes-sionals on specifics of longleaf man-agement and restoration so that they can provide appropriate advice to landowners. In response to the growing interest among landown-ers, the academies were designed to create a uniformly well informed network of longleaf managers to extend the reach of the Longleaf Alliance. For these reasons, we have developed a Longleaf 101 Academy; an in-depth classroom

lunch on Friday. Topics covered will include the natural and cul-tural history of longleaf pine, in-cluding a comparison between longleaf and loblolly; the use and effects of fire in longleaf ecosys-tems; longleaf growth and yield and stand dynamics; artificial re-generation considerations (e.g., site selection, site prep, seedling quality, planting techniques, and release treatments); natural re-generation systems; stand man-agement considerations; wildlife

(Continued on page 5)

The FLAG Corridor: An Example of Partnership in Action by Dean Gjerstad

2009 Longleaf Academies...Openings Available by JJ Bachant Brown

Page 4 Longleaf Leader

management in longleaf systems; native understory restoration; inva-sive species; disease and pest iden-tification; economics and products; cost-share opportunities and avail-able resources and materials. An evening presentation will be made at each academy by a local land-owner whose objectives include longleaf pine restoration.

Field exercises will include regen-eration assessments in naturally regenerated stands, cone counts, and pole classification. Other field demonstrations and discussions included shelterwood regeneration systems, uneven and even-aged management systems, gopher tor-toise and red-cockaded woodpecker habitat management, understory identification and management (with an emphasis on wildlife val-ues), prescribed fire effects on young as well as older longleaf stands, effects of management on growth and pole production, and stand conversion.

During each Academy, the class, which is limited to 25 participants, will be divided into teams and each will be presented with an actual management scenario, including a set of landowner objectives, and

given the time to develop proposed management prescriptions for pres-entation to the class.

CFE‘s will be earned during each Academy.

The 2009 scheduled Academies are: January 13-16th January 27-30th February 10-13th February 24-27th

With two more to be scheduled pos-sibly in April.

These six Academies are available to state agency personnel from Ala-bama, Georgia and Florida and pri-vate consultants located anywhere within the longleaf range. State agency personnel should contact their supervisor to register. Private consultants should contact the Longleaf Alliance to register (334-427-1029). There is the potential of a limited number of stipends that will be available to cover Academy fees for consultants.

We greatly appreciate the support provided by the Alabama Forestry Commission, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and the American For-est Foundation that are making 2009‘s Academies possible.

We are also requesting spa-tial data about known populations of RCWs and gopher tortoises along with other threatened and en-dangered species. GIS or GPS files, with as much available stand information as possible, would be the most beneficial. In addi-tion, we are collecting any other type of data or maps that are available. Due to the sensitive nature of some data sources, we will work with any data that can be provided at any scale.

The Longleaf Alliance is developing a Geographic Information System (GIS) database of existing long-leaf pine stand data. The database will help assess the current extent of avail-able spatial data on longleaf pine forests and provide a building block in the resto-ration of the longleaf pine ecosystem. We are request-ing data from all types of land ownership and includ-ing all types of longleaf pine stands (natural and planted stands).

Sources will be acknowl-edged for their input or will remain anonymous if de-sired. Any potential con-tacts or sources of data would also be greatly ap-preciated.

For more information con-tact:

John Gilbert gilbejo@auburn.edu (334-329-0236) or

John Kush kushjoh@auburn.edu (334-844-1065).

Academies continued...

Mapping Longleaf Pine Project—Data Request by John Gilbert

Page 5 Volume I, Issue 3

Did you know that when you

become a member of the

“Friends of Florida State

Parks” that they will plant a

longleaf pine in a State Park

in your honor?

For more information go to

www.friendsoffloridastateparks.com

1.800.338.1980

A range-wide long-

leaf restoration plan

dubbed “America’s

Longleaf” was first

publicly aired at the

Sandestin Confer-

ence and is near

completion and final

release.

We’ll have more in-

formation on this

plan in our Spring

2009

Newsletter.

What does one say about Dr. William (Bill) D. Boyer and his long distin-guished career dedicated to longleaf pine management? Simply put, there is NO ONE more experienced, more knowledgeable or more professional than Bill when it comes to longleaf pine management.

Where to begin? Bill is a native Ohioan who received a B.S degree in nautical science from the U.S. Mer-chant Marine Academy in 1950. He followed this up with another B.S. in Forestry from the State University of New York, Syracuse, in 1951. In 1954 he re-ceived his M.S. degree from Syracuse in Wild-life Management. In 1955 he went to work for the U.S. Forest Service, Southern Experiment Station, in Brewton, AL, which is the location of the Escambia Experi-mental Forest (EEF), as a wildlife biologist. Until then, he had never laid eyes on a longleaf pine. His initial appointment involved working with grazing issues for cattle on the Escambia Experi-mental Forest. Over time, he worked on his doctorate getting a PhD. from Duke University in 1970.

Bill has received numerous honors and awards in his distinguished ca-reer. Among these was a citation signed by former President Herbert Hoover for his contribution to the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government in 1955; USDA National Honor Award for personal and professional excel-lence; numerous certificates of merit from the USDA Forest Service; in-duction into the Alabama Forester‘s Hall of Fame; and elected Fellow in the Society of American Foresters.

He assisted in and/or installed nu-merous studies across the Southeast and especially at the EEF. He was implementing longleaf research in the 1970-80‘s when most others had written the species off, including the

Forest Service. It is a fact that from the 1920's through the 1960's, one of the Forest Service's priorities was longleaf pine re-search. Some incredible research was completed during that time, much of which could not be repli-cated today. Longleaf research was believed to be so important that the Forest Service established the EEF on a 3,000 acre tract near Brewton, AL on private land owned by T.R. Miller Mill Com-pany. The company, interested in

the higher prices longleaf timber commanded, leased the property to the Forest Service in 1947 as a laboratory with the hope that For-est Service scientists could find ways to provide for longleaf‘s res-toration since its regeneration was being ignored as the forests of the South were being harvested.

In the mid-1970's research related to longleaf pine was deemphasized and the need for the 3,000-acre EEF was questioned. The Forest Service was thinking of giving up the lease on the Escambia. Bill and Bob Farrar, a fellow research scientist at the Escambia, thought the research efforts there were too important to give up. They drafted a letter to support the continuance of the experimental forest. Instead of emphasizing the merits of long-

leaf research, they argued that the long-term studies of prescribed burning in the experimental forest were too valuable to abandon. Much of their research showed that regular, supervised burns were necessary for good forest management, despite many efforts to limit prescribed burning in the South. Their arguments were suc-cessful and the lease with T.R. Miller continued. And so did Bill‘s research on longleaf. Bill puts it this way, "we just continued to do

the longleaf research on the side, under the radar‖. Bill has authored or co-authored more than 120 articles, most of them deal-ing with some aspect of longleaf pine management. In fact, since 1966 he has had at least one publica-tion annually for all but three years.

Dr. Tom Croker and Bill were instrumental in pro-viding the ―how to‖ guide for the shelterwood method for regenerating longleaf pine. The 1975 publication, "Regenerating longleaf pine naturally", USDA Forest Service Re-search Paper SO-105, pro-

vides landowners with all the knowledge they need to manage longleaf pine. A copy can be downloaded from: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/616.

Bill's projects are numerous but the following are his most promi-nent:

His longleaf pine cone crop counts go back to the mid-1960‘s.

He became an advocate of growing season burns in the 1980‘s at a time when most burning, if it was occurring at all, took place in the dormant season.

He installed studies examin-ing the impacts of the season

(Continued on page 7)

In The Spotlight: Dr. Bill Boyer by John S. Kush

Page 6 Longleaf Leader

of fire on longleaf pine as well as the understory and followed this up by examining different frequencies of fire on the same.

In the mid-1960's Bill helped to put in studies looking at uneven-aged management and here we are today thinking about doing that on many of the national forests.

He was instrumental in keeping the "Farm 40" going, which is now in its 60th year. The "Farm 40" was set up to show small-scale land owners how they could manage longleaf pine with little to no cost and still receive an income stream.

I have known Bill since 1984 and have been fortunate that he has readily shared his knowledge with me. In addition to sharing his knowledge, Bill has shared his several file cabinets filled with data that have never been analyzed. When opportunities have presented themselves in the way of dollars or a graduate student stipend I have gone to Bill's file cabinet, pulled out a data set and given it to a graduate student to work on. His file cabinets could keep on giving knowledge for years to come whenever money becomes available to work with the data.

If you have ever traveled with Bill then you are aware of his gray briefcase. He never travels without his ―longleaf pine briefcase‖. Ask Bill a question about some aspect of longleaf pine management and he will open his briefcase and give you a response. He has always been observing, always been studying, and to this day he continues to make the case for longleaf pine in his quiet and unassum-ing way.

Bill is now in his 54th year of being involved in longleaf pine research. If not for the research results he pro-vided there probably would not be a Longleaf Alliance. It was Bill's information about naturally regenerating longleaf that may have saved the species. It was well-known through the first half of the 20th century how to manage longleaf pine. But as we entered the 1970's the desire was to manage it as if it were loblolly. The spe-cies was being lost from the landscape at an alarming rate and to a certain extent, still is today. Those stands still being lost are what Bill has been an advocate of all these years -- naturally-regenerated stands.

Bill retired from the Forest Service in 1998 but contin-ues to come into the office a few times a week. He has stayed active in research as much as time and health allow it. Earlier this year, several of us had the pleasure of working on a video at the Escambia Experimental Forest. Despite being in his 80's and having recently had eye surgery, Bill stood out in the June heat and sun in south Alabama to tell the story of EEF and the "Farm40". To this day he continues to promote long-leaf pine, his belief in longleaf never wavering. During the filming on the EFF, Bill made the statement, ―Anytime you get out here there is always something new you pick up. I‘m finding something new all the time when I get myself exposed to it.‖ Thank you Bill for all you have done for me and for all you have done for the longleaf community.

In the Spotlight continued...

Page 7 Volume I, Issue 3

Seasonal Questions: Seedling Availability by Mark Hainds

Bareroot longleaf seedlings are still available for the 2008/09 planting season. As of December 8th, 2008 the follow-ing locations have longleaf available:

The NC Division of Forest Resources (919-731-7988) still has 858,000 bareroot longleaf seedlings available. Their seedlings sell for $25.00 for 250, or $20.00 for 50. Michelle or Caroline will take your order.

The FL Division of Forestry (352-493-6096) still has 1.25 million bareroot available. Bareroot longleaf is $70.00 per thousand for unimproved or $75.00 for improved. They also have 400,000 wiregrass plugs at $210.00 per thou-sand.

The SC Forestry Commission has 384,000 bareroot longleaf available. They do not take orders over the phone but they will answer your questions at: 803-275-3578. Their seedlings sell for $90.00 per thousand.

Superior Trees in Lee, Florida (850-971-5159) still has 300,000 bareroot longleaf available. Their seedlings cost $85.00 per thousand.

At this time, container-grown longleaf are sold out, but it is likely that sources for container-grown longleaf will be identi-fied as the season progresses. If you need assistance locating longleaf seedlings for the 2008-09 planting season, please give the Longleaf Alliance a call at: 334-427-1029, or email us at: hainds@alaweb.com

Native Ground Cover Plugs: Superior Trees, Inc. of Lee, Florida, a member of the Longleaf Alliance Nursery Surcharge program, has tens of thousands of native ground cover plugs for sale at prices ranging from $0.24/plug to $0.35/plug. Species still available as of Decem-ber 11, 2008 are: Andropogon (Little Bluestem), Andropogon (Split-beard bluestem), Aristida stricta (Wiregrass), Liat-ris tenuifolia (Blazing Star), Liatris spicata (Blazing Star), Sorghastrum nutans (Yellow Indian Grass), and Sorghastrum secundum (Lopsided Indian Grass). Call Superior Trees, Inc. at: 850-971-5159, Fax:850-971-5416.

As the executive director of Tall Tim-bers Research Station and Land Con-servancy, an internationally recog-nized leader in fire ecology research, I would like to address the effects of prescribed burning on Florida's air quality, particularly regarding car-bon dioxide emissions and particu-late matter, and address some myths associated with prescribed fires. As the founder of fire ecology, Tall Tim-bers supports the use of prescribed fires as an essential tool for manag-ing natural ecosystems and reducing risk of wildfires.

One concern connected with pre-scribed burning is that it releases carbon dioxide. While this is true, the re-growth of vegetation that fol-lows these burns sequesters approxi-mately the same amount of carbon that was released so that prescribed burning does not increase carbon dioxide emissions.

Another misconception is that the fine particulate matter released by prescribed burning has a significant impact on our air quality. However, Florida has never exceeded the an-nual limits of fine particulate matter that have been established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Additionally, the daily limits set by the EPA have not been exceeded in most years, with the

only notable exception occurring in 2007 as a result of the more than 200 wildfires that burned across Florida. And actually, automobile exhaust is the biggest source of car-bon dioxide emissions.

On the national scale, Florida has some of the cleanest air in the coun-try, and the state's fine particulate matter has decreased during the past eight years (EPA National Emissions Inventory). Additionally, the EPA and state regulatory agen-cies monitor the emissions of car-bon dioxide and small particle mat-ter from prescribed burns and have increasingly advanced the science of smoke management. For example, the Florida Division of Forestry uses complex weather models and emis-sions estimates when authorizing prescribed burns in order to mini-mize the concentration of smoke and ensure that conditions of good air lift and wind directions will carry smoke away from populated areas.

There is a tremendous benefit to public safety that is provided by frequent prescribed fires. Consider that during the extreme wildfire conditions in spring of 2007, the areas where prescribed burning is frequent reported no wildfires, no homes destroyed, no businesses lost and no school closings. Why? Be-

cause dangerous levels of fuel buildup had not occurred due to the frequent use of prescribed fire. In fact, in the regions where wild-fires spread, previously prescribed burned areas provided a toehold for firefighters to work and control these dangerous wildfires.

Fire holds an essential place in our environment to maintain healthy ecosystems. For example, pre-scribed fire has made the north Florida Red Hills area home to the country's largest population of the endangered red cockaded wood-pecker on private land and has preserved other endangered spe-cies that have disappeared in most areas of the South. Due to this essential land management tool, thousands of acres of pristine natu-ral habitat and endangered species that have disappeared in most ar-eas of the South are preserved in Florida. In addition to wildfire protection, these benefits add to our state's unique and beautiful natural environments. We should be thankful for the responsible land stewardship that is promoted in our state through prescribed burns.

Lane Green is executive director of the Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy in Talla-hassee, Florida.

waii and Alaska.

This publication is available for download from the Rocky Mountain Research Station‘s publication web-site (www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rms_gtr042_6.html), and hard cop-ies can be ordered via the same site.

Rx Fire and Breeding Birds Tall Timbers has just completed a second printing of the booklet ―Lightening-season Burning: Friend or Foe of Breeding Birds‖. The booklet details some of the ra-tionale and benefits of summer

Fire and Invasive Plants Volume 6 of the ―Rainbow series‖, Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Fire and Nonnative Invasive Plants, is now in print. This comprehensive, nation-wide review features 16 chap-ters with 25 authors and provides syntheses of the current knowledge regarding fire effects on nonnative invasive plants, effects of nonnative invasives on fire regimes, and use of fire to control invasive plants. Indi-vidual chapters summarize informa-tion on these topics for each of the 7 bioregions in the US, including Ha-

burning based on recent studies of breeding birds. They are taking bulk orders ($1.00 per booklet) that basically covers their printing costs plus S&H for orders of at least 25 copies. Please contact Ms. Lisa Baggett (lisa@ttrs.org; 850-893-4153 ext. 241) to place an or-der. Orders of 25 or less also can be made but will be a bit more ex-pensive per copy because of higher shipping costs.

A PDF is also available on their

(Continued on page 9)

Prescribed burns beneficial to land and animals by Lane Green

Prescribed Fire Resources...compiled by JJ Bachant Brown

Page 8 Longleaf Leader

website:

http://www.talltimbers.org/images/pubs/FireBreedingBirdsBook-let-small.pdf

Fire & Smoke

Website A new NASA Fire and Smoke website shows latest fire views and re-search. Satellites, air-craft, and research know-how have created numer-ous cutting edge tools to help firefighters battle

wildfires and scientists understand the impact of fires and smoke on Earth‘s climate and ecosystems. This website brings the latest information to the public. The site includes images of fires and their associated smoke plumes in the US and around the world as well as articles and multimedia resources. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/fires/main/index.html.

Rx Fire Councils North Carolina: www.ncprescribedfirecouncil.org

South Carolina: www.clemson.edu/for/rxfire

Georgia: www.garxfire.com

Florida: www.fl-dof.com/wildfire/rx_councils.html

Alabama: www.alpc.org

Mississippi: MsFireCouncil.org

Note: I‘m pretty sure that Louisiana has a prescribed fire council, but I could not find a website listing for them. Also, I‘m unsure of the status of councils for Virginia and Texas. If you have any of this information, let me know and I‘ll post it in the next newsletter.

Rx Fire Resources continued...

Burning Seasonally-Wet Longleaf/Pond Pine Savannas in the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina:...

by Johnny Stowe

the land has been fire-suppressed. The flammabil-ity of wiregrass itself is a key factor in facilitating fire. Although classically thought of as a xeric site species -- wiregrass also grows on certain wet sites -- and even there fire tends to "carry well," often "burning clean" right over the top of saturated soils, even under high relative humidity and low wind conditions. Blue-stem grasses are not nearly as flammable.

This essay deals with burn-ing longleaf/pond pine/pond cypress savannas that have been fire-suppressed. Over the last decade I have dealt with this matter on two heritage preserves (HP) and wildlife management areas (WMA), both in Lee County, SC, in the so-called "wiregrass deadzone" that roughly runs along the Con-garee-Santee river water-shed.

These Lee County tracts, Lynchburg Savanna HP/WMA (291 acres) and Long-leaf Pine HP/WMA (843 acres), were heavily-

impacted by Hurricane Hugo; much timber was blown down and the salvage harvests carried out by the former owners severely rut-ted the saturated soils. Prior to Hugo, these tracts had been burned fairly regu-larly, but after the storm, prescribed burning in the South Carolina coastal plain was severely discouraged and curtailed because of fears of heavy fuel loads fueling conflagrations.

In part two of this essay I will discuss how I reset these ecosystems with in-tensive management tech-niques, and how the compo-nents of ecological integrity are beginning to return to their "natural" positive feed-back loops. Paramount in this restoration was re-setting the system so that the "ecological imperative" -- fire -- was able to play its proper role.

Johnny Stowe is a Heritage Preserve Manager with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

Burning Seasonally-Wet Longleaf/Pond Pine Savan-nas in the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina: Restoring Ecological Integ-rity following a Decade of Fire Suppression Part 1 of 2

Longleaf pine and wiregrass are sometimes considered to be inextricably linked, but it ain't so. Much of the range of longleaf pine isn't wire-grass country at all, but rather, is dominated by "bluestem" grasses. Long-leaf-bluestem pinelands are ecologically diverse, ranging from the xeric-to-mesic longleaf/shortleaf pine woodlands of northwestern Georgia and northeastern Alabama to the low-lying longleaf/pond pine/pond cypress savannas of the Carolinas.

One difference between wiregrass- and bluestem-dominated ecosystems is that the latter -- in particu-lar those with heavy, fertile, and seasonally wet soils on flat ground, can be hard to "get fire to carry across" effectively -- especially when

Of note but not to be

otherwise covered

here is the split of

wiregrass into two

species a few years

back by Dr. Bob Peet

of the University of

North Carolina.

Formerly considered

one species, Aristida

stricta, Peet split it

taxonomically at the

"deadzone," with

populations south of

that demarcation taking

on the specific epithet

"beyrichiana," with

those to the north

remaining "stricta."

There has been some

controversy about this

divergence! Another

observation about the

"deadzone" - it is now

known to be much

smaller than once

thought. Botanists

have shrunk it down

appreciably since

publication of Radford

et al's classic reference,

the Manual of the

Vascular Flora of the

Carolinas.

Page 9 Volume I, Issue 3

heritage," says Foskey. "These places have gifts for us beyond what we can see. In losing them, we may be losing a part of ourselves that we have not yet come to know."

The longleaf pine-wiregrass community once graced more than ninety million acres of the southeastern United States. Land use over the past two centuries cut this tapestry into a patchwork of remnants now covering less than three percent of this forest‘s original territory.

We travel to southwest Georgia on a cool, October morning to see one of the best examples of old-growth longleaf pine forest that remains. We arrive just in time to see its lush groundcover in peak bloom. Like commoners about to be knighted, we stand weak-kneed as we enter this kingdom, spellbound by its abun-dance and pristine beauty.

Towering pines topped in shimmer-ing green lean in quiet confidence, as if planning how to protect the life of their precious keep. The ground is covered in a carpet of native wild-flowers, woven in threads of purple, red, and gold. Waves of wiregrass roll over the hills and sharp spikes of palmetto peek from among the ferns.

Vistas are open and park-like as the underbrush is periodically cleared by fire, which is fueled and carried by the wiregrass. One can see so far as if to be looking back in time. The spirit soars with a sense of adventure here, and the imagination is free to explore like a child in a land of a thousand fairy tales.

In this forest, trees of all ages grow together. Young pines wait to be initiated by flames before filling the spaces between trees that have seen centuries. Scars from lightning, the original source of fire in this commu-nity, linger on blackened trunks.

More than two hundred rare species of plants and animals maintain a precarious hold in these remnant forests, including the endangered hummingbird flower, gopher tor-

toise, and red-cockaded wood-pecker. The diversity here rivals that of the rainforest–in some cases fifty different species of plants in a square meter.

Centuries of forest conversion, frag-mentation, and fire suppression have severed vital threads that hold this habitat together. Now human intervention is needed to restore and maintain the health of these natural communities.

Though the longleaf pine forests offer us long sight, we cannot see the future. But as the warmth of the rising sun draws the mist from this lush land, it awakens within us a sense of hope for this forest‘s re-turn.

Ann Foskey specializes in natural, cultural and historic resource management and education pro-grams and resides in Woodstock, Georgia with her husband, John and son, Will. She is also the au-thor of Ossabaw Island, a pictorial history of Georgia's third largest barrier island.

To order a signed copy of With Still Small Voices They Speak or Ossa-baw Island, contact Ann at: annfoskey@yahoo.com or to order online, visit: www.georgiabackroads.com un-der "books." The book is printed on paper that is made from 30% recy-cled fiber and with chlorine-free pulp at an acid free paper mill. Inks are soy based. Retail price, $35.00.

With Still Small Voices They Speak by Ann Foskey

The land remembers

the time

before time—

a place

that we catch glimpses of

in a flash of wing or pine.

It feels no need to hold on

like we do.

For the earth is that strange stardust,

through and through.

What strength it has

not to shout

or cry out

what it knows about

But only whispers and hints,

honors our choice to stand alone,

and welcomes us

when we want to come home.

-Ann Foskey

Page 10 Longleaf Leader

New book about Georgia environments features upland longleaf pine habitat.

From dunes shaped by ancient winds to bogs, swamps, ravines, and remnant prai-ries, Georgia is blessed with an abundance of natural communities. This exquisite collection of photographs, poetry and prose takes the reader on a journey into the heart of Georgia's last wild places. It is based on the classic text, The Natural Environments of Georgia by the late Dr. Charles H. Wharton. "The book is a unique blend of art and science designed to educate and inspire Georgians to pro-tect the remnants of our state's natural

―Stand in the middle here, you are the heartwood,‖ I tell the seventh grade teacher who knew the word ‗cambium‘ when I asked the group to explain the parts of a tree. In the next few minutes twenty-one teach-ers simulate the functions of a single tree. Some sit on the ground, making sucking noises for roots. Others join their hands in concen-tric circles representing sapwood, cambium, inner bark and outer bark—each circle voices noises consis-tent with tree functions. In twenty minutes we have giggled, joined hands, and praised the virtues of tree biology. We have become one with the tree. We have become one. For a mo-ment, we are the living or-ganism in our minds. It is an experience that we want to pass on to children. The activity has a name, ―Tree Factory‖, and along with 95 other activities about the environment, it is found in a guidebook called Project Learning Tree.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is more than an ac-tivity guide, it is a program. Launched in 1976, PLT is now active in ten countries, fifty states, and mind-boggling numbers of class-rooms. Teachers attend a day-long workshop and receive activity guides (a single guide for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade; thematic guides for high school cov-ering current issues from waste management to for-est fires). By the end of the day, they have participated in five or six activities they can do immediately with their students. They have learned how to prepare for

the other 90 activities. They have a crosswalk de-scribing how each of these activities meets state and national education stan-dards. They are tapped into grant programs to fund field trips and projects that connect their students to the outdoors. They waddle out the door, laden with posters, brochures, coloring books, Smokey Bear pencils and rulers, and enthusiasm for bringing forest fun and learning into the classroom.

From its inception, PLT developed a format that became standard for creat-ing environmental educa-tion programs. Teachers met with natural resource professionals to brainstorm ways children could learn about the forest. Foresters described core information needed to understand for-est ecosystems. Teachers explained how children learn. Biologists learned education terms like ―constructivism‖ (building on what students already know) and ―kinesthetic‖ (learning through bodily engage-ment). Educators learned environmental terms like ―riparian‖ (occurring near water) and ―succession‖ (natural pro-gression of changes in plant communities). Working together they created en-gaging activities that could be replicated in classrooms around the world.

Project Learning Tree is sponsored by the American Forest Foundation. Admit-tedly tongue-in-cheek, I describe the evolution of PLT and several ―sister‖ environmental education programs in this context. After Earth Day, teachers

and foresters realized they needed to get together to help kids (who would in-herit the earth) have the information they needed to save the world. They cre-ated a bunch of fun games and activities that used for-ests as a window into un-derstanding natural re-sources. While PLT taught about all aspects of the en-vironment, the wildlife bi-ologists took a look at the program and said ―hey, we need more focus on wild-life‖, so teachers and wild-life biologists got together and created Project WILD (1983). The fish biologists though felt fish were under-represented so they found some teachers and created Aquatic Project WILD (1987). Yet other water resource managers felt there was more to water than fish issues, thus Pro-ject WET (Water Education for Teachers, 1995) was developed. Across the country, the model contin-ued—teachers and natural resources managers finding ways to excite kids about the outdoors.

Like cambium, the thin layer of special cells located between bark and wood where growth occurs, the excitement is in this area of interaction. Natural re-source agencies now recog-nize their role to support education. Educators know they are responsible for enhancing their students‘ natural intelligences. The result is, although politi-cians are just learning to talk about subjects like cli-mate change, a half million teachers have been prepar-ing kids to address environ-mental issues for decades.

Forester’s Log by Mary Stuever "Alabama PLT partners with the Longleaf Alliance and the Alabama Department of Education each summer for the Department of Education's two-week summer trainings," says Alabama PLT State Coordinator, Chris Erwin of the Alabama Forestry Association. "One of the activities we use is PLT's "Web of Life" along with the Longleaf Alliance's poster series of a longleaf forest. We buy around 200 copies of the posters from the Alliance and the teachers get a set of posters and PLT guide at the end of the two week training."

Page 11 Volume I, Issue 3

Mary Stuever, a forester with New Mexico State Forestry, has penned the syndicated monthly col-umn “The Forester’s Log” for many years. A col-lection of the columns, The Forester's Log: Mus-ings from the Woods (UNM Press, March 2009) includes a chapter of environmental educa-tion stories spanning twenty years. She can be reached at: sse@nmia.com.

pitch pine is a familiar article of commerce and commonly used in construction and manufactures. Its range of use on the eastern side of the Atlantic is from Scotland and Sweden on the north to Cape Town on the south, even going around the Cape of Good Hope to Delagoa Bay and entering the Mediterranean. On the west side of the Atlantic it is distributed from the St. Lawrence River to the straits of Magellan. It is a wood of strength if not especially one of beauty; but its sterling quali-ties fit it for so many uses for which is available no other material that it has this wonderful range of distribu-tion and volume of demand.

This almost worldwide fame of Pinus palustris is no new thing. Almost as soon as the beautiful white pine of New England began to be expropriated by the English Gov-ernment for it navy, and immedi-ately following the development of commerce in that wood, pitch pine began to be exported from Savan-nah, Brunswick, and Darien, all in

During its time, American Lumber-man was the leading periodical read by timbermen and many other industrialists across the country. The following article was printed on front page of the Ameri-can Lumberman April 26, 1913. Many of the points addressed in this editorial hold true today.

Ask the ordinary lumberman what American wood is most famous of all and the answers will vary. One may say white pine, another may say oak, on the Pacific coast they may name fir or redwood; but an-other citizen of our forests has a claim to recognition that is worthy of consideration. It is that sturdy tree whose company name is Pinus palustris, known at home as Geor-gia Pine or longleaf yellow pine but abroad as Pitch Pine.

It is a great traveler-Pinus palustris-and is welcomed in many coun-tries. White pine figures but little in the exports of the United States; its great volume of supply and demand is largely a thing of the past. But pitch pine is today the American wood most in demand abroad and has been one of the leaders in wood exports for 200 years.

Last year oak was exported to the extent of 255,000,000 feet. Ameri-can oak is used abroad not because it is especially preferred to other oaks, for almost every country will say that it is has as good, but be-cause it is available in quantities and at a price not to be equaled elsewhere. The exportations of Douglas fir were 637,000,000 feet last year. That wood is the main dependence of all the countries bor-dering the Pacific. The exports of the white pine were only 26,000,000 feet, showing its de-cline from its ancient prominence, but pitch pine exports were 790,000,000 feet.

In dozens of countries where other American woods are hardly known

Georgia. The last is a name that would hardly be known as that of an American port but for pitch pine, while Brunswick has it chief fame, and its only fame abroad, because of its exports of pitch pine. But lumber and timbers of size and strength have not been the only products of the longleaf forests. Chiefly from this wood has been developed our century-old business in naval stores.

It is still, next to the chief species of the Pacific coast, the wood of greatest supply, and its range of growth is greatest, so far as solid bodies of it are concerned, of any wood. Compared to it the splen-did forests of northern white pine (Pinus strobus) were limited in area. But pitch pine was native from southern Virginia south along the Atlantic seaboard and thence westward into Texas. Only one interval of account was found, and that was where the longleaf pine belt was cut across the by the Mississippi Valley.

Pitch pine is, in a way, a fastidious tree. It is a clean liver. It will have none of the deep delta lands built up from the sea or of the swamps. It prefers old continen-tal soil. It lives on the uplands; though in places it can see its re-flection in the waters of the Gulf where the ancient and modern shores are the same. It is fair to say that today, all things consid-ered-supply, utility, demand and fame abroad-Pinus palustris is the reigning monarch of American woods. There are rivals, aspiring, making strong claims to the throne; but their primacy is not yet.

A Famous American

Page 12 Longleaf Leader

Editor‘s Note: This page and the next are examples of items found on our website (www.longleafalliance.org). In 2009 we will unveil our new updated site that will still contain this type of information plus MORE!

Page 13 Volume I, Issue 3

Have you ever been asked this question or some form of it? Have you ever been asked this question and then REALLY stopped to think about your response instead of giving some quick glib answer of ―oh, because I enjoy it‖ or ―because I wouldn‘t know what else to do‖?

Recently, I was asked this question and this time I did stop to give the due-diligence that a truthful and thoughtful response required. What fol-lows is my response and thought process.

My husband, Eddie, and I do not have children (unless you count the 4-legged kind, which we do), but we do have two adorable young nephews. When I look into their smiling faces and mischievous eyes, I think what a tragedy it would be if when they reach my age they would not have the means to…

In the crisp Fall of the year immerse themselves in a roll-ing clay-hill longleaf pine for-est that received a good grow-ing season fire that year and be surrounded by an explosion of color from wildflowers with hints of gold and black flitting through the air as the Mon-arch butterflies fluttered through on their migration.

Or, at the hush at the end of the day and with the last of the sun‘s light, stand in the middle of an active red-cockaded woodpecker colony and be

rewarded with not only hearing the raspy sripp and high-pitched tsick but also seeing not one, but two or three RCWs entering their cavity for the night.

And, be humbled as they gaze upward into the flat-topped branches of a gnarled, wizened old-growth longleaf stand that has stood for centuries before their births and listen to the wind whisper age-old secrets through the long needles.

Yes, what a tragedy it would be if they could not do these things and more. Granted, it would also be a tragedy of great pro-portions if they didn‘t have a rainforest or polar bears or red-woods or any myriad of current imperiled ecosystems and spe-cies. But, I have faith that there are others out there working diligently to protect, conserve and restore these other systems and species just as I‘m here with the Longleaf Alliance fo-cusing on the longleaf pine eco-system. I have to have that faith because I‘m only one per-son and I must have focus.

Why the longleaf pine ecosys-tem? It‘s not that I don‘t have appreciation, respect, and awe for these other systems and their associated species because I most certainly do. No, it is because the longleaf pine eco-system is MY backyard.

When I was in the interview process with the Longleaf Alli-ance, one of the many things that appealed to me was their

foresight in the necessity of outreach/education in con-junction with research/science. You see, early in my formative career years, I came across a quote from the Afri-can naturalist Baba Dioum (see side bar for quote) that struck a chord within me that resonated. During the LLA interviews and since then dur-ing my nine months of em-ployment as the LLA Outreach Coordinator, that internal chord has resounded. I‘m ex-cited because I see the devel-opment and eventual expan-sion of the Longleaf Academies as the teaching of our current professionals and landowners so that they may better under-stand and conserve today. And, I look forward to 2009 in utilizing and growing the LLA curriculum (see our website) along with the poster series (see sidebar) that will teach our future professionals and landowners so that they can begin nurturing the love that will be needed tomorrow.

So that is why I do what I do. I do it so that others may under-stand and therefore ultimately conserve. I do it so that there are rolling hills of Fall wild-flowers, RCW colonies, and longleaf old-growth stands. I do it for the nephews, nieces, sons and daughters. So, I ask you…‖Why do you do what you do‖?

thanks to the TREE2 outreach arranged through an Ohio-based business in partnership with educators and volunteers.

Public parks and preserves that once boasted tall, thick forests of the native trees were targeted for restoration during this time as some 6,000 six-inch young trees were planted by a corps of volunteers in

Tree Restoration Program Sponsored by Insurance Group, Staffed by Communi-ties. Contact: Natalie Green, 1-800-759-9008, ext. 5618

Thousands of new longleaf pine seedlings were planted in the first two weeks in De-cember as part of an effort to restore the natural habitat in three Gulf Coast states,

Alabama, Mississippi and Lou-isiana.

First scheduled was the Ala-bama plantings, on Dec. 3, at Graham Creek Nature Pre-serve in Foley, Ala., and Dec. 4, at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Ala..

Volunteers from Fairhope (AL) High School planted 1,000

(Continued on page 15)

Why do you do what you do? by JJ Bachant Brown

TREE2 Planting Ceremonies complied by JJ Bachant Brown

The Longleaf Pine

Ecosystem Poster

Series goes hand-in-

hand with the

curriculum found on

our website:

www.longleafalliance.org

For $10, you receive

one color poster,

one black-&-white,

and one that is

keyed out along with

the key. It would

make a great gift to

your local school.

Call today to

request a set.

334-427-1029

Page 14 Longleaf Leader

Volunteers

Planted 6,000

Longleaf Pines

Along Gulf Coast

in Three States!

“For in the end,

we will conserve

only what we

love, we will love

only what we

understand, and

we will

understand only

what we are

taught.”

-Baba Dioum

24th Fire Ecology Conference: Future of Prescribed Fire, Public Awareness, Health & Safety Jan. 11-15, 2009 Ramada Conference Center Tallahassee, FL www.talltimbers.org/FEconference Forest Stewardship Workshop Series: Use Prescribed Fire Safely and Effec-tively Learn why to burn, when to burn, effects on vegetation and wildlife, weather considera-tions, regulations and liability and more. A burn demonstration will be conducted if weather and conditions allow. 3 Dates & Locations: 1. January 20 8:00 am-4:00 pm (Eastern);

Gainesville, FL; Contact Benjamin Koubek: flboy275@ufl.edu 352-846-2374

2. January 29 8:00 am-4:00 pm (Eastern); Brooksville, FL; Contact Shaun Stewart: stewars@doacs.state.fl.us 352-754-6865

3. February 17 8:00 am –4:00 pm (Central); Munson, FL; Contact Santa Rosa County Extension Office at 850-675-6654

More information on all 3: www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Extension/florida_forestry_information/events_calendar/index.htm

Managing Forests Sustainably: Eco-logical Forestry in the Southeastern Coastal Plain March 22-25, 2009 Jones Ecological Research Center Newton, Georgia www.jonesctr.org Contact Kevin McIntyre: 229-734-4706 6th Annual Southeastern Ecology & Evolution Conference (SEEC) & 32nd Annual Herpetology Confer-ence (Joint Meeting) March 27-29 Gainesville, FL More information: SEEC2009@gmail.com Longleaf 101 Academies January 13-16th January 27-30th February 10-13th February 24-27th Possibly: April 7-10 & April 21-24th Contact the LLA office at 334-427-1029 for more information or email JJ at jbachant@auburn.edu

Up-coming Events complied by JJ Bachant Brown

Page 15 Volume I, Issue 3

Do you have an

Event that you

would like posted?

If so, please contact

JJ Bachant Brown

jbachant@auburn.edu

334-427-1029

As a reminder, the

Longleaf Alliance

office will close after

Friday, December

19th for the

holidays. We will be

back in the office on

January 5th.

Have a safe and

joyous holidays and

we look forward to

seeing you in 2009!

Look for your Spring

2009 “Longleaf

Leader” by mid-

April!!

seedlings at the two locations in that state, under the direction of Margaret Sedlecky, Environmental Resources Teacher for Bald-win County Schools.

The TREE2 program, sponsored by American Modern Insurance Group of Cincinnati, was conceived as a dual-purpose conservation project. During the spring, the company pro-moted its paperless billing and payment sys-tem to policyholders, who enthusiastically signed up for the opportunity to ―help save a tree.‖ Customers who signed up were eligible for the company‘s TREE2 Honor Roll, with a new seedling planted in each customer‘s name.

―We‘d planned this program as part tree con-servation, and part tree restoration,‖ said Natalie Green, Public Relations Manager for American Modern. ―Hurricanes over the years have almost completely destroyed stands of the Gulf Coast‘s longleaf pines. We felt this area of the country was the logical place to start, considering the high profile

losses delivered by hurricanes such as Katrina in 2005. There have been multi-ple projects to restore homes and busi-nesses, and that is naturally a paramount concern. Helping to bring back an envi-ronment destroyed by catastrophic weather events has become our signature green initiative, a complementary step in the total restoration effort.‖

American Modern joined its efforts to a number of organizations to complete the three-state planting program. Green cited in particular Mark J. Hainds, Research Coordinator for the Longleaf Alliance, an affiliate of Auburn University. ―Mark Hainds and his organization were instru-mental in scheduling, logistics and educat-ing us to the ways of the longleaf pine,‖ Green said. ―We‘re indebted for the Alli-ance‘s dedication and help with this pro-ject.‖

For details on the TREE2 program‘s goals, visit http://www.amig.com/tree2/.

TREE2 Plantings continued...

The Longleaf Alliance

12130 Dixon Center Road

Andalusia, AL 36420

This newsletter was produced in part through funding provided by the Alabama Forestry Commission. Funding for this publication prohibits

discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, or handicapping condition.

If you are already a member of the Longleaf Alliance, THANK YOU; please consider passing this form on to a friend or colleague. If you are not a member, please join us and help the Longleaf Alliance keep this forest type as part of the southern landscape.

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