The Longleaf Pine: Mapping the Future

Saplings and young longleaf pine trees along the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama/Photo: kestrel360, Flickr

Two hundred years ago, the “piney woods” of folk songs were a vast forest sweeping across 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas. The longleaf pine tree towered over the South, sheltering the white-top pitcher plant and the red-cockaded woodpecker in the open, park-like spaces beneath its branches. Settlers favored the pine’s fire-resistant wood for cabins, and the new national navy sailed under its solid timber and resinous pitch.

Today, the longleaf pine survives in fragmented patches across its former range. Less than three percent of the unique forest remains—still generating mulch for gardeners, a playground for nature seekers, and a barrier against devastating fires that may multiply as our climate changes. The shrinking stands of trees still contain one of the most diverse gatherings of animals and plants outside the tropical rainforest, including 29 threatened and endangered species.

In 2009, The Conservation Fund joined more than 20 nonprofits and government agencies in America’s Longleaf Initiative to rebuild this vibrant landscape across the Southeast. At the start of a 15-year plan to nearly triple the longleaf’s reach, from 3.4 million acres to 8 million acres, the Fund is providing answers to one critical question:

Where to begin?

Photo: Cliff, Flickr

Using the tools of 21st century mapmaking, the Fund’s team helped draft the first maps to show where substantial acres of longleaf pine survive, tracing the outlines of the forest’s historical range. The graphics reveal where the best bets for longleaf expansion may lie.

“If the plan is to add another 5 million acres of longleaf over the next 20 years, a good map helps us know where the money should get invested to do that 5 million acres’ worth of work,” says Will Allen, the Fund's Director of Strategic Conservation. “Until now, we only had a rough sense of where those investments should go.”

The maps give an overall idea of total acreage. Now, the Fund wants to know exactly where existing acres of longleaf are and whether they are good stands, Allen says. With detailed maps, conservationists can hone in on priority stands for saving, those that can be sustainably logged and other opportunities for economic investment.

With history in hand, Allen was hit by how little of the longleaf pine remains. “If every now and then you see stands of the longleaf pine, you don’t get a sense of how much we’ve lost.” But he strikes a hopeful note for the future. The Department of Defense provides a good model for preserving longleaf habitat, particularly around military installations in the Southeast. If other partners follow suit, longleaf habitat—and the entire region—will benefit.

Young longleaf pine trees/Photo: Sarah H, Flickr