Summer 2005

Landowner's Toolbox

Restoring Longleaf Pine

The Longleaf Alliance

http://www.longleafalliance.org/

The Longleaf Alliance was established in 1995 with the express purpose of coordinating a partnership between private landowners, forest industries, State and Federal agencies, conservation groups, researchers, and others interested in managing and restoring longleaf pine forests. The alliance serves as a clearinghouse for information, provides networking opportunities for over 700 members, and coordinates technical meetings and education seminars.

The Nature Conservancy

http://www.nature.org/

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has identified the longleaf pine ecosystem as a conservation priority. In 2002, TNC began managing the Greenwood Plantation (http://nature.org/success/ greenwood.html) in Thomas County, GA. The 5,200- acre plantation includes a 1,000-acre section of old-growth longleaf pine known as the “Big Woods.” TNC also works to protect remaining tracts of longleaf pine across its original range by educating landowners, helping to set up and manage conservation easements, and purchasing land.

The Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center

http://www.jonesctr.org/

Located at Ichauway, a plantation established by Robert W. Woodruff in 1929 in Baker Country, GA, the center focuses on questions related to the restoration of longleaf pine ecosystems, conservation biology of rare species, and management of mature longleaf pine woodlands. An outdoor laboratory used for research, conservation, and restoration of regional ecosystems, Ichauway includes 17,000 acres of mature longleaf pine forest. Outreach activities include field demonstrations and workshops on prescribed fire, sustainable management, and the ecological restoration of threatened ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

Tall Timbers Research Station

http://www.talltimbers.org/

The mission of Tall Timbers Research Station, located in Tallahassee, FL, is to foster exemplary land stewardship through research, conservation, and education. Established in 1958 as a nonprofit ecological research station, Tall Timbers has played a critical part in fire ecology research. Tall Timbers' conservation efforts are dedicated to helping protect the distinctive Red Hills landscape of south Georgia and north Florida.

U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

http://www.fws.gov/southeast/partners/pfwpine.html

The USFWS, Southeast Region, through its Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, works with partners to locate private landowners interested in restoring the longleaf pine ecosystem, and to develop and carry out a habitat restoration plan for their property. Over the past five years, USFWS has initiated habitat restoration projects on over 18,000 acres (100+ landowners) in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.

USFWS Safe Harbor Program

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/recovery/harborqa.pdf

Started to aid the recovery of the redcockaded woodpecker in the North Carolina Sandhills, the Safe Harbor Program works with private landowners to improve habitat for endangered and threatened species. To become a Safe Harbor Forest, the landowner works with the USFWS to determine a set number of the endangered or threatened species that will be maintained on the property as habitat is improved. In exchange for this voluntary cooperation, the landowner is assured that no future restrictions on land use will be imposed. Since the first agreement was signed in 1995, over half a million acres have been enrolled in red-cockaded woodpecker Safe Harbor agreements.

USDA Forest Service Forest Legacy Program

http://www.fs.fed.us/spf/coop/programs/loa/flp.shtml

The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) supports State efforts to protect environmentally sensitive forest lands. To maximize the public benefits it achieves, the program focuses on the acquisition of partial interests in privately owned forest lands. FLP encourages and supports acquisition of conservation easements, legally binding agreements transferring a negotiated set of property rights from one party to another, without removing the property from private ownership. Most FLP conservation easements restrict development, require sustainable forestry practices, and protect other values.

USDA Forest Service Southern Region, Forest Stewardship Program

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/spf/coop/stewardship/

Forest stewardship programs are delivered at the State level through the State Forester's office, and include assistance with conserving or improving resources. Nonindustrial private landowners can work with foresters to develop an integrated forest management plan that can include ecological restoration activities.

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