14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 2 COVEY RISE! LONGLEAF & WILDLIFE VOLUME VII - ISSUE 2 SUMMER 2014 14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 32 8 18 14 President’s Message....................................................1 REGIONAL UPDATES .........................................20 Calendar ....................................................................3 HISTORY ...............................................................27 PEOPLE ...................................................................4 While You’re in the Grass Stage ..............................29 Letters from the Inbox ...............................................5 ARTS & LITERATURE ........................................30 Green Side Up ...........................................................6 Longleaf Destinations ..............................................32 The Song of Longleaf Pine .........................................8 Understory Plant Spotlight......................................13 SUPPORT THE ALLIANCE ................................35 Landowner Profile....................................................14 Heartpine ................................................................36 COSTSHARE & INCENTIVES ..........................16 PUBLISHER The Longleaf Alliance, E D I T O R Carol Denhof, DESIGN Bellhouse Publishing ADVERTISING Tom Livers 334.427.1029 – [email protected] COVER The Summer of The Longleaf Pine. Photo by Tall Timbers Research Station (Correction: Last issue cover credit goes to Matt Greene) 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. 14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 4 BY ROBERT ABERNETHY, THE LONGLEAF ALLIANCE PRESIDENT ’S M E S S A G E {our mission} To ensure a sustainable future for the longleaf pine ecosystem through partnerships, landowner assistance and science-based education and outreach. That is our mission. And our commitment to you, our 17 LIT’s in place, and more are forming. An LIT is a supporter, is if you choose to plant longleaf, we will help you partnership of state and federal agencies as well as NGO’s and be successful. This is why The Longleaf Alliance was landowners that are committed to working together in a established in 1995, and it remains our reason for being today. specific area centered around a large federal land base. The If you want to learn about longleaf, you can visit our website updates we include from the LITs are intended to keep you or call the office and we will respond to your questions. Attend informed on what is happening in your area. a Longleaf Academy in your area or a workshop or field day. We want to keep The Longleaf Leader seasonal and a resource The Longleaf Leader, our signature magazine, is also filled with of timely information for your use within the following 3 -6 information and stories about people like you who are months. For instance, we have dedicated this summer issue to managing longleaf and improving family property. If you call wildlife species and the management of their longleaf habitat. us and we do not know the answer to your question, we will Whether you hunt, watch birds or want to be able to show your find someone who does. This is the beauty of partnerships. grandkids some animals while walking in the woods, I believe As a founding member of the Longleaf Partnership Council, this issue will help you achieve those goals. Please let us know we work with the US Forest Service, the Natural Resources what you want to see within the pages of The Longleaf Leader. Conservation Service and the US Fish & Wildlife Service, as Tell us what you need to become a better and more informed well as all the state agencies and a host of non-governmental land manager. organizations (NGO’s) such as The Nature Conservancy and And lastly, mark your calendars for October 21 – 24, 2014. The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Many others are The Alabama Gulf Coast is the location of the 10th Biennial associated with us to ensure that you, the landowner, has the Longleaf Conference & 9th Eastern Native Grass Symposium. best, most accurate and current information to help you meet Plans are in place to discuss the pressing issues of the day your objectives. affecting longleaf and grassland management. We will meet Toward that end, several years ago we started including old friends and connect with new ones at the parties, meals, updates from Local Implementation Teams (LIT’s) that were and socials. Have a wonderful summer and we look forward to being established all across the longleaf range. We now have seeing you in Mobile in the fall! [ 1 ] 14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 5 SUMMER MANAGEMENT CHECKLIST 3 Secure soil samples for selected 3 Order longleaf seedlings and native grass seed longleaf restoration sites for upcoming planting season 3 Spray invasive species such as: kudzu, 3 Burn wiregrass and native groundcover to cogon grass, bermuda grass, maximize fall seed production and viability bahiagrass, and fescue 3 Harvest wild dewberries, blackberries, 3 Inspect new longleaf plantings and plan blueberries, and elderberries future treatments if problems are noted Count cones on mature longleaf Mow or spray problematic species such as: crabgrass, coffee weed, 3 Burn mature longleaf stands to prepare partridge pea, hairy indigo, and other seedbed for natural regeneration late emergent weeds Register for upcoming 10th Regional Longleaf Conference & 9th Eastern Native Grass Symposium in Mobile! Dates for the conference are October 21-24. Longleaf Alliance Staff Mark Hainds Randy Tate Board of Directors Robert Abernethy Longleaf Restoration Coordinator Ft. Stewart/Altamaha Longleaf Angus LaFaye – President [email protected] Restoration Partnership Chairman [email protected] 334-427-1029 Coordinator Barclay McFadden – 803-480-1849 [email protected] Vice-Chairman Melanie Kaeser 404-664-0586 Lynda Guerry Beam Ad Platt Biological Technician at Tyndall Judd Brooke Vice President of Operations AFB Donna Vassallo [email protected] [email protected] Ecosystem Support Team Robert D. Brown 850-982-8480 [email protected] Katherine Eddins Tom Livers E. Cody Laird, Jr. Anne Rilling Development Director Bob Wilken Julie Moore Vice President of Business [email protected] Burn Boss Dick Porterfield [email protected] 334-427-1029 [email protected] 334-427-1029 Salem Saloom Ryan Mitchell Karen Zilliox Charley Tarver Vernon Compton Outreach & Technical Assistance Ecosystem Support Team Beryl Trawick GCPEP Director Coordinator [email protected] George Tyson [email protected] [email protected] Marc Walley 850-623-0987 850-758-8559 Casey White Administrative Assistant Carol Denhof Brian Schumann [email protected] Understory Coordinator Ecosystem Support Team 334-427-1029 [email protected] [email protected] 678-595-6405 [ 2 ] 14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 6 UPCOMING EVENTS 2014 Conference on Ecological and Ecosystem Restoration Understory 201 Academy July 28-August 1, 2014 September 30-October 2, 2014 New Orleans, Louisiana Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center www.conference.ifas.ufl.edu/CEER2014/index.html Andalusia, AL www.longleafalliance.org/events/2014-understory-201- Alabama Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting academy August 28, 2014 The purpose of the Understory Academy is to demystify Columbiana, AL the process of understory restoration by helping www.alpfc.org/wp/homepage/ landowners and restoration practitioners to familiarize themselves with some of the plants that occur on the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council Annual Meeting forest floor and the processes that maximize understory diversity. September 25, 2014 Tifton, GA www.garxfire.com/events.htm 10th Regional Longleaf Conference & 9th Eastern Native Grass Symposium October 21-24, 2014 Mobile, AL www.longleafalliance.org/events/2014-longleaf-alliance- regional-conference 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 and cultural significance of longleaf pine and provides the foundation for successful longleaf restoration and management. Classroom exercises during the 2012 Understory 201 Academy in Tifton, GA. Photo by JJ Bachant-Brown. [ 3 ] 14002493-Longleaf-Leader_Layout 1 6/23/14 12:43 PM Page 7 PEOPLE By Vernon Compton, The Longleaf Alliance STEVE BENNETT, ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT TEAM LEADER, ACCEPTS NEW POSITION IN COLORADO Steve Bennett began with the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP) on the Ecosystem Support Team (EST) as a burn crew member in 2008. He rose to the level of leader of the team due to his strong leadership skills and ability to facilitate partner projects across the GCPEP landscape. He advanced his prescribed burning skills by becoming nationally certified as a Type 2 Burn Boss and a Type 4 Incident Commander. In addition, his skills in facilitating collaboration