2002 Southern Pines, North Carolina in Review

The Fourth Longleaf Alliance Regional Conference

Longleaf Pine: A Southern Legacy Rising From the Ashes

November 17 - 20, 2002

The theme of the Fourth Regional Longleaf Alliance Regional Conference was Longleaf Pine: A Southern Legacy Rising from the Ashes. This premise acknowledges the growing interest in fire as related to longleaf and its associated ecosystems by private landowners, conservation groups and organizations and many state and federal agencies. This proceeding contains a compilation of papers and posters presented at the conference addressing specific subject matter topics involving the restoration and management of longleaf pine ecosystems to include silvicultural, ecological, social, political and economic challenges.

The Fourth Longleaf Alliance Regional Conference held at Pine Needles & Mid Pines Resort in Southern Pines, North Carolina continued the superlative standard set by previous conferences. Southern Pines is located in the sandhills of North Carolina and the surrounding longleaf forests represent what is now the extreme northeasterly range of the ecosystem. Longleaf remains prominent in this area for reasons that vary with ownership. The US Army's Fort Bragg prefers longleaf because it can tolerate frequent fires and the open forests are preferred for troop training exercises. The numerous golf resorts in the area retained natural longleaf stands along and between their fairways. State lands like the Sandhills Gamelands are refugia for fauna and flora once common to this region. And the private sector prefers longleaf for its quality products including a burgeoning pine straw industry. Some 291 attendees were treated to 3 days of interactions with experts on all aspects of longleaf plus exemplary food and entertainment. Fourteen invited papers were presented on topics related to silviculture, ecology, fire, social, political and economic issues. The poster session was the largest and best ever (67 posters) covering a multiplicity of longleaf issues.

Numerous positive comments were received on the outstanding quality of the posters. On a beautiful sunny day, a field day was held at two sites representing public and non-industrial landowner management and recovery objectives. Topics on the field trip included timber management, understory plants, fire, pine straw management and harvesting, wildlife, restoration and management, T&E species, vegetative management, container seedlings and tree planting.

The regional conferences would not be possible without the dedicated work of many individuals. I estimate that more than two dozen individuals played a significant role in making the conference a success. Although I will likely overlook individuals that provided important contributions, the following were of particular note. A special thank you goes to Susan Moore, Director of Educational Outreach in the Department of Forestry at North Carolina State University, and her able assistant Becky Bowers, our most capable conference coordinators, who spent countless hours to ensure the success of the conference. Thanks also go to many individuals with North Carolina Division Forest Service with leadership provided by Bill Pickens and Mac McDougald who work tirelessly on the field trip arrangements. Of particular note are Terry Sharpe and Bill Parsons at Sandhills Gamelands who hosted the public portion of the field trip and Jim Gray who made our visit to the Blue Farm possible. In addition, we appreciate the assistance of Nell Allen, Warren Boyette, Bruce Cunningham, Rick Hamilton, Mary Scott Harrison, Mike Kelly, Chris Moorman, Rick Studenmund and our own staff including Stephen Hudson, Sandy Harris, and Vickie Stallings. Special thanks go to John Kush who has been a noteworthy contributor to all of our conferences. John organized the Poster Session, helped with audio-visual setup and coordinated publication of the Program and Abstracts for the conference as well as these proceedings.

We extend a very special thank you to Mrs. Sandra Wallace and her son Charlie Wallace for generously permitting the conference to use Wallace Lodge for lunch and dinner on the field day. Wallace Lodge was a perfect locale for our conference as it is located in a forested setting in rural Scotland County. The evening festivities included a social with samplings of Yeungling beer, various wines, and a North Carolina Pig Pickin'. A trio of musicians lead by Marvin Gaster, a renown old time banjo player, entertained us with a repertoire of eastern North Carolina music.