While longleaf pine forests once encompassed more than 90 million acres across the Southeast, the past couple of centuries has seen development, timbering and fire suppression reduce the ecosystem’s range. These forests represent some of the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems and are home to nearly 600 plant and animal species. That is why USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) …
USDA to Work With Landowners to Restore Longleaf Pine Forests on Private Lands
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) released a two-year implementation strategy to help private landowners restore and protect 400,000 acres of longleaf pine forests, a unique but imperiled landscape of the Southeast. Through the strategy, NRCS furthers its ongoing effort to use existing Farm Bill programs and other resources to increase the abundance and improve the …