Over the past two centuries, longleaf pine forests have been reduced by almost 97 percent due to development, timbering and fire suppression. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) aims to help private landowners restore and protect 400,000 acres of longleaf pine forests through its two-year implementation strategy.
NRCS will further its ongoing efforts to use existing farm bill programs and other resources to increase the abundance and improve the health of longleaf pine forests in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
“Together, with the help of private landowners and conservation partners, we’ve made significant progress in reversing the decline of longleaf pine forests since 2010,” NRCS Acting Chief Leonard Jordan said. “But we still have much more work to do, and this strategy serves as a roadmap for our work with landowners to keep accelerating the restoration of this critical ecosystem.”
The amount of longleaf pine forests has grown from 3 million acres to nearly 5 million acres because of the work of public-private partnerships.
NRCS offers technical and financial assistance to landowners to help plan and implement voluntary forestry practices that support forests and productive forestry operations. These practices benefit landowners because they can lead to an increase in forest products, improved wildlife habitat and more efficient operations.
NRCS is focusing on four main conservation actions:
1. Managing the over-growth of vegetation competing with longleaf pine;
2. Using prescribed fire to mimic natural processes that help longleaf pine thrive;
3. Planting new forests; and
4. Protecting existing forests through easements.“We are grateful to the region’s landowners who are stepping up to voluntarily improve the health of their forests,” Jordan said.
The strategy also helps NRCS to support the overall strategies of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative. The initiative unites numerous public and private partners who actively support the range-wide efforts to increase the longleaf pine acreage from its 3.4 million acres to 8 million acres by 2025.
Click here to download the implementation strategy. Landowners can learn more about restoring and protecting longleaf pine forests by contacting their local USDA service center.