This program is well intentioned (to bring back the old longleaf pine and wiregrass community), but many times these CRP longleaf are planted on sites that were more suited to loblolly and slash pine and they have major survival problems. If you plant longleaf in an old field that was previously under cultivation and fertilization, the weeds eat them up and they have to be re-planted, sometimes 3 or 4 times to get a good stand. They do best on a drier, sandy site, but the USDA is pushing this program with some romanticism, and a bunch of money has been wasted planting longleaf off-site.
