Teacher/Kid's Guide

Reference Material

Longleaf Playgrounds

Show and Tell

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Additional Resources

Longleaf Pine is Trying to Make a Comeback

(bolded words in text indicate key words and concepts)

Student Information:

Today, more people are interested in helping to bring longleaf pine forests back to the South. Landowners are planting longleaf pine seedlings on their land. However, many people still do not know the importance of longleaf pine forests and all the critters that live in it. We need you to help spread the word.

Teacher Information:

Bringing back the longleaf pine forest will take a partnership of many public and private individuals and organizations. The road to recovery for the longleaf pine forest continues to be long and difficult. For decades, the forestry community has not favored longleaf pine forests. For this reason, the forest has slowly (almost imperceptibly) disappeared from the landscape. Presently, a region-wide effort is underway to restore longleaf pine to a portion of its former range. Many groups are involved in this effort. One of the leaders is The Longleaf Alliance, based at Auburn University's Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in Alabama. The Alliance coordinates the efforts of others and acts as a clearinghouse for information to landowners, researchers, educators, natural resource professionals, state and federal agencies, and conservation groups.

Since private landowners own the majority of the land in the southeast, they must be included for the restoration of the longleaf pine forest to be effective. Many private landowners have begun to appreciate both the economic and ecologic importance that longleaf pine forests can play in their own and their children's future. Also, more people are being to wonder "what happened to the longleaf pine forests I remember from my childhood?" Many of the areas currently being planted with longleaf pine are old agricultural fields and pastures (areas that were longleaf pine forests over 100 years ago). A major advance to enable this resurgence of interest has been improved tree seedlings and planting techniques of longleaf pine trees as well as government (monetary) incentive programs. Many private landowners are much more likely to consider longleaf as a choice for their lands than even five years ago.

In order, to help recover the populations of endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, public land managers like the U.S. Forest Service are beginning to emphasize the restoration of longleaf pine forests on National Forests and other public lands.

You can help get the word out by teaching your students about the need to restore the once grand longleaf pine forests.

Key Words and Concepts (click on for glossary definition): agricultural, clearinghouse, endangered, National Forest, partnership, pasture, public land, red-cockaded woodpecker, restore, The Longleaf Alliance.

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