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Restoring Longleaf Pine to South Carolina's Landscape
| Name | Robert M. Franklin | | Situation | Longleaf Pine once dominated 7.6 to 9.5 million acres of South Carolina landscapes. Today, less than 300,000 acres remain. Longleaf pine is the most valuable, insect, disease and wind resistant of all the southern pines. Healthy longleaf forests are some of the most ecologically diverse in North America, hosting some 900 different plant species, 74 amphibians, 96 reptiles, 86 species of birds and 36 species of mammals south-wide. Of these, 26 plant species and 7 wildlife species native to
longleaf forests are considered to be federally threatened or endangered. Many of these species can coexist in healthy, fire-maintained longleaf forests with sustainable timber harvest. If more longleaf forests can be established in South Carolina, landowners would benefit from the opportunity to harvest high-value forest products and many of the plants and wildlife species currently imperiled would benefit from increased habitat. | | Response | In response to this, the Clemson Extension Service, through partnerships with the Doris Duke Foundation-sponsored Lowcountry Forest Conservation
Partnership, The Longleaf Alliance and the American Forest Foundation's Forested Flyways program, put on three workshops in April; a Planting Longleaf Pine Workshop and Landowner Tour at the PeeDee Research and Education Center near Florence on April 18, 2006; a Planting Longleaf Pine and Invasive Plant Species Workshop for natural resource professionals at the Edisto Research and Education Center near Blackville on April 19, 2006 and a Forested Flyways Conservation Forestry Field Day at Cypress Bay Plantation near Cummings on April 22, 2006. | | Impact | At the completion of each program, participants were asked to complete a written evaluation. The highlights are summarized below:
Attendance at the April 18 workshop was 37, 32,161 acres represented, $65,000 saved and $332,000 Future Earnings.
Attendance at the April 19 workshop was 46, 445,151 acres represented, $59,000 saved and $185,000 Future Earnings.
Attendance at the April 22 Field Day was 70, 27,000 acres represented, ($saved and Future Earnings not yet available).
Totals: 153 attendance, 504,312 acres, $124,000 saved, and $517,000
future earnings.
As a result of this effort, more than 150 landowners and natural resource professionals who owned or managed more than a half million acres of land in South Carolina were educated about planting and restoring longleaf pine. More than eighty-nine percent of the participants who returned evaluations said the program value was either "Good" or "Excellent." Eighty-six percent indicated they would change their management practices to restore longleaf pine forests, either by planting longleaf or increasing the use of prescribed fire to facilitate ecosystem restoration. As a result of the programs, the knowledge level of how to plant longleaf pine was improved by an average of fifty-six percent over pre-program levels. Participants indicated the knowledge gain would help them save $124,000 and earn $517,000 in the future on the more than half
million acres owned or managed. |
Last update5/9/2008
This website is maintained by Amy West.
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