Vernon Compton

November 19, 2020

Vernon graduated from Louisiana State University in 1983 with a B.S. in Forest Management after growing up in the piney woods of central Louisiana near the Kisatchie National Forest. After graduation he worked in wood procurement and southern pine tree improvement before becoming a Forest Resource Administrator at Blackwater River State Forest, the largest state forest in Florida. After almost nine years with the Florida Division of Forestry, Vernon became the first Project Director for the Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (GCPEP), and has continued in that role since 1998. Vernon has been active in organizations such as the Society of American Foresters, The Nature Conservancy, the Florida Trail Association, the Blackwater River Foundation, and several organizations working to protect southern history ranging from buildings to written and oral history. Besides having a keen interest in longleaf pine restoration, groundcover, and prescribed burning, he also has a personal interest in stories and photos associated with longleaf pine and logging/sawmill towns, southern vernacular architecture, and connecting people in both urban and rural areas to places where they can see and learn about longleaf pine. Vernon has lived in one of the old longleaf logging towns of northwest Florida, Milton, for over 20 years.