Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 2 BUILDING The Future Longleaf Forest VOLUME VII - ISSUE 3 FALL 2014 Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 3 Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 4 tAble of Contents 14 6 8 17 30 President’s Message....................................................2 h i s t o r y ...............................................................25 Calendar ....................................................................3 While You’re in the Grass Stage ..............................26 Letters from the Inbox ...............................................5 Arts & literAture ........................................27 Green Side Up ...........................................................6 Longleaf Destinations ..............................................30 Building The Future Longleaf Forest .........................8 Understory Plant Spotlight......................................13 P e o P l e .................................................................32 Landowner Profile....................................................14 suPPort the AlliAnCe ................................34 regionAl uPdAtes .........................................19 Heartpine ................................................................36 P u b l i s h e r The Longleaf Alliance, e d i t o r Carol Denhof, d e s i g n Bellhouse Publishing Advertising Tom Livers 334.427.1029 – [email protected] C o v e r Planted longleaf pine in North Carolina. Photo by Robert Abernethy. 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 Longleaf Alliance, Address12130 Dixon Center Road, Andalusia, Alabama 36420. Periodicals Postage Paid at Montgomery, Alabama. [ 1 ] Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 5 BY ROBERT ABERNETHY, THE LONGLEAF ALLIANCE P r e s i d e n t ’s m e s s A g e {building the future longleaf forest} The cold fronts have started to push down into Longleaf This issue of The Longleaf Leader will focus on “Building Country and a few trees are beginning to change color in the the Future Longleaf Forest. Our writers will provide you with piedmont and mountain longleaf regions. This is a busy time information on establishing your new forest and managing the of the year in the longleaf woods. Herbicide applications need forest that is currently on your land. We will discuss to be completed and burn plans must be written before partnerships and how local implementation teams all across the restoration sites can be prescribe burned and the sites planted. range are working with the NRCS, USFWS, USFS, and DOD Then there is deer season and duck season and quail season to to attract programs and sponsors to help the private landowner fit into the work schedule. After the heat of the summer, this manage their land. This help takes the form of education, is a most wonderful time to be in the woods. advice and management recommendations, and cost share and We all know the statistics. Reduced from 90 million acres incentives so the private landowner can manage the forests they to 4.4 million acres, all across the South we have scattered are growing, as well as build the forests of the future. patches of longleaf forests. A few tracts contain groves of We would also like to invite all our partners and readers to longleaf hundreds of years old. However, we more commonly head down to Mobile for the 10th Biennial Longleaf Conference find stands with a few scattered longleaf or tracts of land that and 9th Eastern Native Grass Symposium, October 21-24, were harvested years ago and have grown up in brush, water 2014. We have a full schedule packed into these 4 days oak, sweetgum and scattered patches of loblolly pine. But the including seminars, socials, and field trips. There will be groundcover is still there and the wildlife is still there, just plenty of opportunities to learn from the experts, visit with waiting for new owners to realize what they have and introduce friends, and network with fellow longleaf landowners and a little management. It is amazing what the introduction of managers. prescribed fire or some thinning operations can do to open up A quick reminder for those of you that have not yet ordered the forest. Some of these tracts may need to be fuel chipped seedlings to be planted in the next few months; get on it! and the forest started anew with site prep and the planting of Several nurseries still have seedlings available but they are seedlings. Some of the tracts have good stands of loblolly that going fast. A current listing can be found on our website: the landowner may choose to carry out to their full rotation www.longleafalliance.org. So get out and enjoy the fall before planting a new forest. Other landowners may choose to woodlands and we will see you in Mobile! start thinning the loblolly and opening up gaps that will then be planted with longleaf. [ 2 ] Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 6 Longleaf Alliance Staff Robert Franklin Randy Tate Board of Directors Robert Abernethy SoLoACE Longleaf Partnership Ft. Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Angus LaFaye – President Coordinator Restoration Partnership Chairman [email protected] [email protected] Coordinator 803-480-1849 843-893-7775 [email protected] Barclay McFadden – 404-664-0586 Vice-Chairman Ad Platt Mark Hainds Lynda Guerry Beam Vice President of Operations Restoration Coordinator Mike Thompson [email protected] EST Supervisor Judd Brooke [email protected] 850-982-8480 334-427-1029 [email protected] Robert D. Brown Katherine Eddins Anne Rilling Tom Livers Donna Vassallo Vice President of Business Development Director EST Member E. Cody Laird, Jr. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Julie Moore 334-427-1029 334-427-1029 Dick Porterfield Casey White Vernon Compton Ryan Mitchell Administrative Assistant Salem Saloom GCPEP Director Outreach & Technical [email protected] Charley Tarver [email protected] Assistance Coordinator 850-623-0987 [email protected] Bob Wilken Beryl Trawick 850-758-8559 Fire Specialist George Tyson Carol Denhof [email protected] Marc Walley Understory & Media Coordinator Brian Schumann [email protected] EST Member Karen Zilliox 678-595-6405 [email protected] EST Field Leader [email protected] [ 3 ] Fall-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 9/22/14 5:36 PM Page 7 uPComing events Splitbeard bluestem. Photo by Beth Maynor Young. 2014 longleaf 101 Academy November 17-21, 2014 Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Partnership Area www.longleafalliance.org/events This course will introduce the participant to the history 10th regional longleaf Conference & 9th eastern native and cultural significance of longleaf pine and provides grass symposium the foundation for successful longleaf restoration and October 21-24, 2014 management. Mobile, AL www.longleafalliance.org/events/2014-longleaf-alliance- Check The Longleaf Alliance website regional-conference (www.longleafalliance.org) for updates on scheduled events fAll mAnAgement CheCklist Apply Fall Site Preparation Herbicides: Harvest Native Herbaceous Seeds: Certain For maximum efficacy, foliar active species, such as the Indian Grasses herbicides such as glyphosate (Sorghastrum spp.), ripen and fall in a very short (Roundup®/Accord®) should be applied time window (as little as 1 or 2 weeks). Ripe to pasture grasses before the first frost. wiregrass Aristida stricta or A. beyrichiana can Conversely, triclopyr (Garlon®) may be lose all of its ripe seed if a cold front blows delayed until after the first frost if through. Be watchful and move quickly! targeting waxy leaf competitors while minimizing impact to herbaceous Order Native Seed for Understory Restoration: groundcover. Allow time for soil active Seed from local ecotypes and endemic species herbicides to break down before planting is limited and expensive. Some landowners and longleaf, especially those with the active land managers have the time and expertise to ingredient imazapyr collect their own seed, but most restoration will (Arsenal®/Chopper®). be done with seed purchased from the few seed companies that sell southeastern seed sources. Apply Mechanical Site Preparation Treatments: Scalp agricultural sites, but Plant Longleaf: It’s never too early to plant remember to stay strictly on the contour longleaf if the following conditions are met: the and pick the scalper up regularly. site is prepared (see Fall Site Prep Leaving waterbars in the furrow will recommendations), there is adequate soil greatly reduce erosion. Subsoil or rip moisture, seedlings are available, and a planting sites with hardpans, but remember to not crew is available. plant seedlings directly into the subsoiled/ripped furrow. Clean up or Fall Foraging: Oyster, reishi, lion’s mane, and establish fire lanes for site prep or fuel other mushrooms are there for the picking. This reduction burns. will be a bountiful year for longleaf seed, which taste just like the pine nuts we use on salads. Chinquapin & hickory nuts are great, if you can beat the squirrels. Speaking of small game, squirrels fattened on shiitake mushrooms taste especially