The Longleaf Alliance Regional Biennial Conferences, as the singular gathering devoted solely to longleaf issues, have been a most significant forum for natural resource managers and landowners to obtain the latest information on the management and restoration of longleaf forests.  With ample time given to relaxed poster sessions and field days, attendees are provided the opportunity to personally interact with longleaf experts while conference papers and presentations provide the latest information on a host of topics.  These conferences have been purposely rotated among the nine (9!) longleaf states to allow attendance by all interested in longleaf.  We have woven our way through the longleaf piney woods with conferences in Mobile, AL (1996); Charleston, SC (1998); Alexandria, LA (2000); Southern Pines, NC (2002); Hattiesburg, MS (2004); and Tifton, GA (2006).  We encourage you to attend the 7th conference in Sandestin, FL to learn and to make lasting friends in the longleaf world.

 

 

For the first time in decades, longleaf pine acreage has increased across its range!

Strategies to continue this trend, halt the loss of existing
longleaf acreage, and restore ecosystem function are still being developed. 

Social, political, economic and environmental changes, typified by concerns about
potential climate change, present new challenges and opportunities for foresters and forests.

 

Join us as we discuss the role of forests in general and longleaf in particular in adapting to and impacting those changes.  A slate of excellent speakers is being prepared and the audience promises to be informed and enthusiastic.  Topics will include: 

  • Non-timber Benefits of Longleaf Pine
  • Longleaf Pine Habitat Management for Non-game Wildlife including birds, insects, and herps
  • Role of prescribed fire to achieve management goals
  • Ground Cover Restoration
  • Lessons Learned at Long-term Research Sites
  • The unveiling of the first public draft of the Longleaf Regional Restoration Plan
  • The silvics of carbon sequestration
  • The role of climate change in species migration and forest pest populations
  • The shift to forest biomass for energy and its implications on the forest
  • H-2B visa issues and how they affect migrant forestry workers
  • An update on the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker

 

The Forest Guild (http://www.forestguild.org/meeting.html), a national organization of forest professionals actively engaged in forest stewardship, approached us with the idea of holding their annual meeting in the South with a portion of our two conferences overlapping.  The primary overlapping session will be the last half-day of our conference (the morning of October 31) with topics of interest to members of both organizations.  The Guild’s annual meeting will continue through Saturday November 1 and all our members are encouraged to consider attending the remainder of the Guild’s meeting. 

This meeting is open to individuals and organizations with interest in longleaf pine and associated plant and animal communities:  including private landowners, managers, consultants, conservation groups, university researchers and outreach personnel, forest industry, and agency personnel.

 

 

Registration Options (top)
Meeting attendees have several registration options:

  1. Registering for the Longleaf Alliance meeting only (evening of Oct. 28 through noon Oct. 31);
  2. The Forest Guild meeting only (evening of Oct. 29 through evening of Nov. 1);
  3. Both meetings (evening of Oct. 28 through evening of Nov. 1); or
  4. For individual days.

Both meetings will overlap with a shared fieldtrip on Oct. 30 and the morning of Oct. 31.  Click HERE to register and choose the option that best suits you.

**Early registration now extended to September 30th!!**

 

 

Sponsors (top)
Sponsorships for plenary sessions and social events are still available.  For more information, please contact:

Dean Gjerstad at 334.844.1020/gjersdh@auburn.edu
or
Rhett Johnson at 334.427.1029/johnsee@auburn.edu

 

 

Exhibitors & Vendors (top)
This regional conference will be the largest gathering of its kind in the region.  Over 500 people, including many of the country’s leading foresters, biologists, and allied natural resource professionals, will be in one location.

Exhibitors and Vendors will have prominent access to the attendees and will be provided with an unparalleled opportunity to:

  • Showcase your services, successes, stories and products to a targeted audience
  • Heighten your company’s name and brand recognition within the forestry and conservation community
  • Strategically position your firm before key decision makers and primary purchasers
  • Make valuable personal contracts and strengthen existing relationships
  • Promote your company to attendees during the regional cocktail receptions, lunches, and other networking venues.

For more information on becoming an exhibitor or vendor, please contact:
Mark Hainds at 334.427.1029/hainds@alaweb.com

 

 

Call for Posters (top)
The poster sessions will be a very important component of the conference.  Two periods of time will be devoted solely to posters.  Posters will involve invited and volunteer papers emphasizing specific management and research topics.  Organizations involved in longleaf activities are encouraged to present posters describing their overall programs.  Abstracts (250 words) for posters are due October 1, 2008.  Abstracts will be reviewed regarding content and appropriateness to the conference.  Authors will be notified of the decision by October 8, 2008.  Please address inquiries and send abstracts to:


John Kush—LLA Reg. Conf.
3301 Forestry & Wildlife Sciences Bldg.
Auburn University, AL 36849-5418

334.844.1065/kushjoh@auburn.edu