LLA Awarded $1.1 Million to Advance Longleaf Pine Restoration and Conservation

Home News LLA Awarded $1.1 Million to Advance Longleaf Pine Restoration and Conservation

LLA Awarded $1.1 Million to Advance Longleaf Pine Restoration and Conservation

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) recently announced $5.6 million in grants to restore, enhance and protect longleaf pine forests in eight Southeast states. The grants will generate more than $6.9 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $12.5 million. The 23 grants were awarded through NFWF’s Longleaf Stewardship Fund, and will support conservation work in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.

The Longleaf Alliance is thrilled to be a part of this collaboration to restore longleaf across the range, specifically facilitating four projects in this year’s grant slate, totaling over $1.1 million in support of the Fort Stewart/Altamaha landscape in Georgia, the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership landscape in Alabama and Florida, and the Sewee Landscape Conservation Cooperative and SoloACE Longleaf Partnership landscapes in South Carolina. Our partners are pivotal to the success of these projects, and we look forward to getting started.

Restoring Longleaf Pine Habitat on Public and Private Lands in the Fort Stewart/Altamaha Area (GA)

Fort Stewart/Altamaha LIT partners will restore 16,500 acres of longleaf pine habitat with prescribed fire and plantings on public and private lands in southeast Georgia. This project will support seasonal burn crews, technical assistance, and outreach to private landowners to increase restoration on high-priority lands around Fort Stewart, benefiting gopher tortoise, northern bobwhite and other open-pine and grassland-dependent species.

Collaborating to Restore Longleaf in the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP) Landscape (AL, FL)

The Longleaf Alliance and GCPEP partners will restore and maintain 44,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat in south Alabama and the western panhandle region of Florida through this grant to benefit rare and declining species such as the Bachman’s sparrow, red-cockaded woodpecker, gopher tortoise and northern bobwhite. Project will provide technical assistance to private landowners and deploy an ecosystem support team to remove invasive species, and support rare species recovery on public and private lands.

Longleaf Pine Restoration and Red-cockaded Woodpecker Recovery in the South Carolina Coastal Plain

This grant will allow for the restoration and enhancement of more than 5,000 acres of longleaf pine and support recovery of listed species such as the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. This project will also provide public and private landowner outreach and financial assistance for longleaf establishment, prescribed burning, and working forest conservation easements, as well as translocation of red-cockaded woodpeckers to state lands and private properties.

South Lowcountry and ACE Basin Longleaf Ecosystem Restoration Partnership (SC) VI - This grant will allow for the establishment of almost 1,000 acres of longleaf pine and enhance an additional 5,000 acres of existing longleaf habitat with prescribed fire on public and private lands within the South Lowcountry and ACE Basin focus areas in South Carolina. Funding from this grant will also allow for the continuation of a project head-starting gopher tortoises to support recovery. Finally, the SoloACE partners will work with the Savannah River Clean Water Fund to conserve working forests with conservation easements.