We raise awareness, increase engagement, and grow a love for longleaf across the range.

The Longleaf Alliance continued our collaboration with Magic Kumquat Productions and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources T.E.R.N. with two short documentaries showcasing rare species and the partners dedicated to their conservation. Devouring Beauties – The Remarkable Pitcherplant explores the fascinating world of carnivorous plants and their relationship with the fire-dependent longleaf pine ecosystem. A Tortoise Called Pumpkin Spice tells the inspiring story of a rescued gopher tortoise and the lasting impact of collaborative conservation partnerships.

Burner Bob® the Bobwhite Quail, TLA’s iconic mascot promoting the benefits of prescribed fire, had a very busy year, attending ten events as well as two more “Burner Bob® Goes to College” visits to the University of Florida and Clemson University.

We collect and share technical information about longleaf through science-based education, outreach, and technical assistance, adjusting our methods to benefit each audience.

Partnerships have always been the key to sharing knowledge through the Longleaf Academy Program and other educational events. Those relationships were even more important this year as funding disruptions and uncertainties affected many.

In that spirit, we brought the Longleaf for the Landowner Academy to Tuskegee, Alabama, along with The Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife Federation, and the Alabama Heirs Property Alliance. This program (one of our newer Academies, first offered in 2023) is designed especially for beginning landowners and those who are ready to take a more active role in the management and ownership of their land.

Groundcover Restoration Academy offered a wealth of expertise in southern Georgia this past spring. Participants learned from a diverse set of public and private restoration practitioners and saw examples of restoration efforts at the Doerun Pitcherplant Bog Wildlife Management Area, with guides from Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Gopher Tortoise Academy received a large turnout in Andalusia, Alabama over the summer. Partners and landowners from every state in the gopher tortoise range convened to learn longleaf management and conservation techniques for this keystone species.

Workshops and Field Days were a source of sustained outreach efforts this year as well. In west-central Georgia, The Longleaf Alliance was one of many collaborators for events with the Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Partnership, Georgia Forestry Commission, and the Georgia Heirs Property Law Center – layering and staggering our outreach for more sustained presence on the landscape. In this way, we are all able to foster connections between landowners and the services they need to be successful.

Through active stewardship, we improve the condition of longleaf ecosystems across the range.

The Longleaf Alliance achieved a significant stewardship milestone this year — facilitating prescribed fire across 244,063 acres, a record-breaking increase of more than 100,000 acres compared to 2024. This accomplishment reflects extensive collaboration on both private and public lands.

Most of these burn acres occurred within the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP) as our field staff assisted state, federal, and nonprofit partners on prescribed fires. GCPEP personnel, including the Ecosystem Support Team (EST), Invasive Species technicians, Ambystoma bishopi (AMBBIS) biologists, and the AMBBIS Restoration Team (A.R.T.), provide critical prescribed fire capacity in the landscape. In fact, all GCPEP fire-qualified staff were assigned to five prescribed fires with five different partners on one single day in February with particularly favorable weather conditions. GCPEP also continued to assist partners with invasive species control, wetland restoration, rare species recovery including installation of Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavities, and other habitat improvement activities in Alabama and Florida.

The Longleaf Alliance also supported prescribed fire implementation on private lands through cost-share project administration, supporting prescribed burn associations like the Aiken Prescribed Fire Cooperative in South Carolina, and facilitating learn and burn field days.

First-ever Reintroduction of Reticulated Flatwoods Salamanders on Private Land

In January, The Alliance’s AMBBIS Team led a pivotal effort in the recovery of the federally endangered reticulated flatwoods salamander. Working alongside Resource Management Service, LLC (RMS) in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Eglin Air Force Base, and Naval Air Station Whiting Field, the team facilitated the release 50 larval salamanders on permanently protected private land in Northwest Florida—the first reintroduction of this species on private property. AMBBIS staff restored habitat at the release site and reared larval salamanders originating from native populations in the nearby Escribano Point Wildlife Management Area in captivity prior to their release. A follow-up survey confirmed salamanders surviving in the ephemeral wetland, marking a significant step forward for this rare species.

We work with landowners to ensure the future of longleaf by conserving high-quality, diverse longleaf forests across generations.

Longleaf Biodiversity Impact Fund

The Longleaf Alliance launched the Longleaf Biodiversity Impact Fund to help brand the longleaf biodiversity credit project, an innovative approach to valuing and financing biodiversity and longleaf restoration, and helping to bridge the gap between the private sector’s “nature-positive” commitments and the restoration and conservation impact across the longleaf range. TLA developed surveys, conducted one-on-one conversations, and held webinars to engage corporate and industry partners and landowners to help shape the biodiversity credit project and develop additional private investment opportunities that support biodiversity and longleaf restoration. Feedback from these engagements is informing project design, strengthening investment pathways, and building market awareness.

Through advocacy, policies, assistance, partners, and our own management actions, we facilitate the expansion of longleaf ecosystems across the range.

The Longleaf Alliance, working in collaboration with restoration partners, supported the planting of 5.1 million longleaf pine seedlings on 13,547 acres during the 2024-2025 planting season. Projects were completed on both private and public land, with funding from American Forests, Arbor Day Foundation, Enviva, National Forest Foundation, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, and USFWS Partners Program. We also continued our tree planting program with Appalachian Mountain Brewing.