Longleaf pines’ comeback: An environmental success story
By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |April 17th, 2021|Species|5 Comments
Folks living in or driving through the southeastern United States may have noticed that an iconic tree that once dazzled European settlers, and then all but disappeared, is making a comeback.
The longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), which can grow to a height of 115 feet and whose dark green, needle-like leaves grow to a foot long, fell on hard times as land was cleared for farms and towns in the 18th and 19 th centuries. Healthy stands of longleaf pines once stretched from the coastal plain of Texas to southern Maryland, covering an area of about 143,750 square miles, larger than Germany. But by the late 20th century, stands of the trees were few and far between, with less than 3% remaining. The flora and fauna that once flourished in longleaf savannas were also at risk.
Concerned that the tree was fated to go the way of the carrier pigeon, wildlife enthusiasts from across the region got together in the 1990s in a little-noticed but ultimately successful effort to bring the tree back from the brink of extinction.
Rural landowners, government agencies, birders, and nonprofits teamed up to become modern-day Johnny Appleseeds, planting trees that now cover 7,300 square miles, one quarter of which has been planted since 2010.
Rescuing the Longleaf from the Dustbin
https://www.cfact.org/2021/04/17/longleaf-pines-comeback-an-environmental-success-story/
