Editing Longleaf pine (section)

== Native range, restoration, and protection ==
[[File:Timberpinesofsouth1896mohr 0038.jpg|left|thumb|Old growth longleaf pine stand, scorched by fire (top); longleaf pine stand after timber removal (bottom)]]
Before European settlement, longleaf pine forest dominated as much as {{convert|90000000|acre|km2}} stretching from Virginia south to Florida and west to East Texas. Its range was defined by the frequent widespread fires that were lit by humans and occurred naturally throughout the southeast. In the late 19th century, these virgin timber stands were "among the most sought-after timber trees in the country." This rich ecosystem now has been relegated to less than 5% of its presettlement range due to fire suppression and [[clear-cutting]] practices:

<blockquote>As they stripped the woods of their trees, loggers left mounds of flammable debris that frequently fueled catastrophic fires, destroying both the remaining trees and seedlings. The exposed earth left behind by clear-cutting operations was highly susceptible to erosion, and nutrients were washed from the already porous soils. This further destroyed the natural seeding process. At the peak of the timber cutting in the 1890s and first decade of the new century, the longleaf pine forests of the Sandhills were providing millions of board feet of timber each year. The timber cutters gradually moved across the South; by the 1920s, most of the "limitless" virgin longleaf pine forests were gone.
:— Jerry Simmons, "ASLC Large Operation from Beginnings"<ref>{{cite web |last=Simmons |first=Jerry |year=2009 |title=ASLC Large Operation from Beginnings |url=http://www.algersullivan.org/pdf/comp_hist_mod_3.pdf |access-date=28 October 2019}}</ref></blockquote>

<blockquote>In "[[pine barrens]]" most of the day. Low, level, sandy tracts; the pines wide apart; the sunny spaces between full of beautiful abounding grasses, [[liatris]], long, wand-like [[solidago]], [[Serenoa|saw palmettos]], etc., covering the ground in garden style. Here I sauntered in delightful freedom, meeting none of the cat-clawed vines, or shrubs, of the alluvial bottoms.
: – [[John Muir]]</blockquote>
[[Image:LongleafPine.jpg|right|thumb|Naturally regenerated longleaf pines in [[DeSoto National Forest]], [[Mississippi]]]]

Efforts are being made to restore longleaf pine ecosystems within its natural range. Some groups such as the Longleaf Alliance are actively promoting research, education, and management of the longleaf pine.<ref name="longleafalliance">{{Cite web |title=Longleaf Pine Forests and Longleaf Alliance Home |url=http://www.longleafalliance.org/ |access-date=2009-04-04 |work=Longleaf Alliance}}</ref>

The [[USDA]] offers cost-sharing and technical assistance to private landowners for longleaf restoration through the [[Natural Resources Conservation Service|NRCS]] Longleaf Pine Initiative. Similar programs are available through most state forestry agencies in the longleaf's native range. In August 2009, the Alabama Forestry Commission received $1.757 million in stimulus money to restore longleaf pines in state forests.<ref name="birminghamnews">{{Cite web |title=Stimulus to fund repopulation of longleaf pines in Alabama |url=http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/statebriefs.ssf?/base/news/1251792925311250.xml&coll=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006083924/http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/statebriefs.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews%2F1251792925311250.xml&coll=2 |archive-date=6 October 2012 |access-date=2009-09-01 |work=The Birmingham News}}</ref>

Four large core areas within the range of the species provide the opportunity to protect the biological diversity of the coastal plain and to restore wilderness areas east of the Mississippi River.<ref>Keddy, P.A. 2009. Thinking big: A conservation vision for the Southeastern coastal plain of North America. Southeastern Naturalist 8: 213-226.</ref> Each of these four ([[Eglin Air Force Base]]: 187,000+ ha; [[Apalachicola National Forest]]: 228,000+ ha; [[Okefenokee]]-[[Osceola National Forest|Osceola]]: 289,000+ ha; [[De Soto National Forest]]: 200,000+ ha) have nearby lands that offer the potential to expand the total protected territory for each area to well beyond 500,000 ha. These areas would provide the opportunity not only to restore forest stands, but also to restore populations of native plants and animals threatened by landscape fragmentation.

Notable eccentric populations exist within the [[Uwharrie National Forest]] in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina. These have survived owing to relative inaccessibility, and in one instance, intentional protection in the 20th century by a private landowner (a property now owned and conserved by the LandTrust for Central North Carolina).

[[File:Post-burn longleaf pine saplings.jpg|left|thumb|Longleaf pine saplings post-burn, all trees are still alive]]
The United States Forest Service is conducting prescribed burning programs in the 258,864-acre [[Francis Marion National Forest]], located outside of [[Charleston, South Carolina]]. They are hoping to increase the longleaf pine forest type to {{convert|44700|acre|km2}} by 2017 and {{convert|53500|acre|km2}} in the long term.  In addition to longleaf restoration, prescribed burning will enhance the endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers' preferred habitat of open, park-like stands, provide habitat for wildlife dependent on grass-shrub habitat, which is very limited, and reduce the risk of damaging wildfires.<ref>{{cite web |date=2007-09-26 |title=Fiscal Year 2006 Monitoring and Evaluation Annual Report |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/fms/fmarion/resources/documents/FM_2006_MonitoringRpt_final.pdf |access-date=2009-06-16 |work=Francis Marion National Forest |publisher=United States Forest Service}}</ref>

Since the 1960s, longleaf restoration has been ongoing on almost 95,000 acres of state and federal land in the [[Sandhills (Carolina)|sandhills]] region of South Carolina, between the [[Piedmont (United States)|piedmont]] and coastal plain.  The region is characterized by deep, infertile sands deposited by a prehistoric sea, with generally arid conditions. By the 1930s, most of the native longleaf had been logged, and the land was heavily eroded. Between 1935 and 1939, the federal government purchased large portions of this area from local landowners as a relief measure under the [[Resettlement Administration]]. These landowners were resettled on more fertile land elsewhere. Today, the South Carolina Sand Hills State Forest comprises about half of the acreage, and half is owned by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] as the adjacent [[Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge]]. At first, restoration of forest cover was the goal. Fire suppression was practiced until the 1960s, when prescribed fire was introduced on both the state forest<ref>{{cite web |title=SCFC Sand Hills |url=http://www.state.sc.us/forest/refshill.htm |website=www.state.sc.us}}</ref> and the Sandhills NWR<ref>{{cite web |title=Carolina Sandhills NWR History |url=http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Carolina_Sandhills/about.html}}</ref><ref name="USFWSburn">{{cite web |title=Refuge to Begin Conducting Prescribed Burns in February |url=http://www.fws.gov/carolinasandhills/pdf/RXBurning2011.pdf |access-date=2011-12-14 |work=[[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]}}</ref> as part of the restoration of the longleaf/wiregrass ecosystem.

[[Nokuse Plantation]] is a 53,000-acre private nature preserve located around 100 miles east of [[Pensacola, Florida]]. The preserve was established by M.C. Davis, a wealthy philanthropist who made his fortune buying and selling land and mineral rights, and who has spent $90 million purchasing land for the preserve, primarily from timber companies.  One of its main goals is the restoration of longleaf pine forest, to which end he has had 8 million longleaf pine seedlings planted on the land.<ref name="Block2015">{{cite news |last1=Block |first1=Melissa |date=17 June 2015 |title=Gambler-Turned-Conservationist Devotes Fortune To Florida Nature Preserve |work=All Things Considered |agency=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/06/17/415226300/gambler-turned-conservationist-devotes-fortune-to-florida-nature-preserve |access-date=18 June 2015}}</ref>

A 2009 study by the National Wildlife Federation says that longleaf pine forests will be particularly well adapted to environmental changes caused by [[global warming|climate disruption]].
<ref>{{cite web |date=2009-12-12 |title=Restoring roots of Southeast: Environmental benefits, quality of wood touted |url=http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/dec/12/restoring-roots-of-southeast/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409090452/https://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/dec/12/restoring-roots-of-southeast/ |archive-date=9 April 2010 |access-date=2009-12-12 |publisher=The (Charleston, SC) Post and Courier}}</ref>

In 2023, the [[Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation]] announced a plan to reintroduce longleaf pines to the [[Dendron Swamp Natural Area Preserve]], with seedlings propagated from cones collected at [[South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harlow |first=Katelyn |date=7 August 2023 |title=Native pine tree species to be restored in Southeast Virginia |url=https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/native-pine-tree-species-to-be-restored-in-southeast-virginia |access-date=22 July 2024 |work=8News}}</ref>