Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:38 AM Page 2 Longleaf Communities VOLUME XIII - ISSUE 1 SPRING 2020 Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:38 AM Page 3 Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:39 AM Page 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 12 16 44 40 8 President’s Message....................................................2 REGIONAL UPDATES .........................................20 Calendar ....................................................................4 NEXT GENERATION ............................................31 Letters from the Inbox ...............................................5 ARTS & LITERATURE ........................................34 Understory Plant Spotlight........................................7 Longleaf Destinations ..............................................40 Solving "The Duff Problem" ......................................8 RESEARCH NOTES .............................................12 PEOPLE .................................................................44 LANDOWNER CORNER.......................................16 SUPPORT THE ALLIANCE ................................50 Heartpine ................................................................53 PUBLISHER The Longleaf Alliance, EDITOR Sarah Crate, ASSISTANT EDITOR Margaret Platt, DESIGN Bellhouse Publishing ADVERTISING Sarah Crate – [email protected] COVER Burner Bob® leads a crowd to the prescribed fire demonstration at Party for the Pine in Southern Pines, NC (2018). Fire festivals bring communities together, connecting the importance of prescribed fire to longleaf pine conservation. Photo by Brady Beck. The Longleaf Leader (USPS#) is an official publication of The Longleaf Alliance, 12130 Dixon Center Road, Andalusia, Alabama 36420 and is published 4 times a year. The Longleaf Alliance reserves the exclusive right to accept or reject advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. Advertising rates quoted upon request.Postmaster: Send address changes to The Longleaf Alliance, Address12130 Dixon Center Road, Andalusia, Alabama 36420. Periodicals Postage Paid at Montgomery, Alabama. In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, or disability. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs.) To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. [ 1 ] Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:39 AM Page 5 president’s message A Sense of Community CAROL DENHOF ith this issue, we delve into the discussion high density of lightning occurrences in this area and then as a of the resiliency of longleaf forests, the focus result of human applied fire for managing the forests. When of our 13th Biennial Longleaf Conference that fire is prevented in these systems that have evolved with fire, W will be happening in Wilmington, North it’s not a matter of if it will burn, but when and how it will Carolina, in October 2020. The speaker burn. By using prescribed fire to manage our longleaf forests, tracks will explore how building resilient forests can positively we are controlling the narrative so that the risk of wildfire is impact communities, long-term conservation, healthy forests, greatly reduced. This has a profound impact on the people who and diverse ecosystems. Beginning with this issue, The Longleaf are living in that wildland-urban interface. Leader will expand on each of these speaker track subjects to The Longleaf Alliance also collaborates with partners to learn build momentum and interest as we approach the conference. more about other ecosystem services that longleaf forests can Community is a common thread that is woven through the provide to communities. Landowners can not only manage story of longleaf. Whether you are talking about plant or their forests for traditional products like timber and pine straw, animal communities, human communities that are affected by but they can also work with carbon companies to earn carbon well-managed forests, or the community of partners who are credits for conserving longleaf habitat. Well-managed forest working together to bring back longleaf, this sense of habitats also play an important role in water filtration that has community drives our resolve to restore and protect longleaf profound effects on drinking water supplies. ecosystems. With the first issue in this resilience series, we are We work with partners and landowners to bring more narrowing in on the impacts that longleaf makes on our human awareness to these benefits that forests, and longleaf forests in communities. particular, provide to communities throughout the southeastern One of the most significant benefits that well-managed United States. Our message is that forests matter, not only the longleaf forests can provide to communities is the reduced risk animals and plants that inhabit the system but also to the people that for wildfire. We live in a region where fire has always occurred depend on them. By working together we can make these forests on the landscape. Our forests first burned naturally due to the more healthy and resilient. [ 2 ] Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:39 AM Page 6 Longleaf Alliance Staff Board of Directors Carol Denhof Karen Zilliox Brown Alan Patterson President Technical Assistance & Training Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Marc Walley – [email protected] Specialist Member Chairman [email protected] [email protected] Lynnsey Basala Reese Thompson – Vice President for Development Sarah Crate Jessica Sandoval Vice Chairman [email protected] Outreach Communications Biological Technician Coordinator [email protected] Rufus Duncan – Ad Platt [email protected] Secretary/Treasurer Vice President for Operations Brian Schumann [email protected] Bobby Franklin Ecosystem Support Senior Team Member Barclay McFadden – SoLoACE Partnership Coordinator [email protected] Past Chairman Anne Rilling [email protected] Vice President for Business Kaiden Spurlock Lynda Guerry Beam [email protected] Allison Frederick Ecosystem Support Team Supervisor Development & Media Manager [email protected] Robbie Fisher Ryan Bollinger [email protected] Regional Initiatives Director & LIT Randy Tate Patrick Franklin Consul Lucas Furman Ft. Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf [email protected] GIS Support Specialist Restoration Partnership Coordinator Amanda Haralson [email protected] [email protected] Vernon Compton Ken Nichols GCPEP Director Kelsea Heider Ben Tuttle [email protected] Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Ecosystem Support Team Member Bill Owen Member [email protected] Lisa Lord [email protected] Mickey Parker Conservation Programs Director Donna Vassallo Mac Rhodes [email protected] Joseph Mann Ecosystem Support Senior Team Member Wetland Ecosystem Support Team [email protected] Salem Saloom Charlie Abeles Member Wildlife Biologist [email protected] Casey White Latimore Smith [email protected] Administrative Assistant Edward O’Daniels [email protected] George Tyson Nicole Barys Cogongrass & Tyndall Project Wetland Ecosystem Support Team Coordinator Bob Wilken Phillip Woods Leader [email protected] Fire Specialist [email protected] [email protected] [ 3 ] Longleaf-Leader-Spring-EXTRA-2020_ver19.qxp_Layout 1 3/16/20 10:39 AM Page 7 UPCOMING EVENTS 2020 | Calendar April 18 May 16 October 20 - 23 Day in the Woods Longleaf Festival 13th Biennial Longleaf Conference Gaskins Forest Education Center Harris Lake County Park Hotel Ballast Alapaha, Georgia New Hill, North Carolina Wilmington, North Carolina Party for the Pine July 7 - 8 Event dates subject to change Boyd Tract, Weymouth Woods Longleaf Academy: Herbicides & before registration opens. For Sandhills Nature Preserve Longleaf 201 Southern Pines, North Carolina Cumberland County, more information, please visit North Carolina The Longleaf Alliance website May 12 - 14 (www.longleafalliance.org). Longleaf Academy: Longleaf 101 August 11 - 13 Pee Dee Research & Education Longleaf Academy: Herbicides & Center Longleaf 201 Florence, South Carolina Wesley Center Woodworth, Louisiana SPRING 2020 MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST l Evaluate Young Stands: Assess winter seedling plantings for l Prescribed Fire: Evaluate what you burned in the winter to de- early mortality from freeze damage or other factors. Uncover termine if you accomplished your desired fire effects. and/or lift any viable containerized longleaf seedlings that were planted too deep. Burn young longleaf stands invaded by short needle pines or hardwoods that are too large to control with winter burns. Avoid disking firelines around wetlands and ponds; reptiles and l Planting Longleaf: Order seedlings for future plantings early. amphibians are actively traveling to wetter areas for breeding. Sometimes nurseries sell out of preferred seed sources by early summer. A list of preferred nurseries can be found at Use growing season fire in wiregrass to promote viable seed www.longleafalliance.org. production and increase wildflowers.