The Longleaf Alliance is pleased to announce a three-year prescribed fire pilot project in partnership with the Georgia Sentinel Landscape. The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership is a federal, state, local, and private collaboration dedicated to promoting natural resource sustainability in areas surrounding military installations and conserving both working and natural lands. The Georgia Sentinel Landscape Partnership was formed in 2017 to coordinate conservation priorities across the landscape that benefit natural resources as well as national defense.

The goals for the pilot project are to increase communication and collaboration between agencies and private landowners and increase prescribed burning across the landscape by 35,000 acres over the next three years by providing additional technical and financial resources to private landowners.  Funding through this initiative will provide cost-share for landowners to obtain burn plans, install firebreaks, and conduct burning on their properties. Two burn trailers, housed with the Georgia Forestry Commission, will also be made available for landowner use.

“The Longleaf Alliance is excited to be a part of the Georgia Sentinel Landscape prescribed fire pilot project. This collaborative effort will help private landowners obtain the financial and technical resources they need to manage their land with prescribed fire,” says Carol Denhof, The Longleaf Alliance’s President. “Programs like this are an excellent example of how we can work together to restore and maintain longleaf forests, while also benefiting at-risk species, supporting rural communities, and contributing to our national defense.”

Retaining and improving natural resources in Georgia benefits wildlife habitat and at-risk species, while also strengthening Georgia’s rural economies and securing the future of the nine military installations within the landscape. This initiative complements existing programs while also providing additional financial and technical resources to benefit private lands efforts within the Georgia Sentinel Landscape.  “The reality is no habitat goals of any agency or non-profit in Georgia can be reached without private landowners participating as well,” said Ken Bradley, the Georgia Sentinel Landscape Coordinator.  “In the last decade, the Department of Defense has recognized that maintaining the needed training areas on installations is also heavily influenced by local land management practices.  This project demonstrates that commitment to their neighbors and local communities’ efforts.”