Reforesting a deep East TX Tract with Longleaf Pine – Opinions Needed

[WDH]

Only a few thousand acres left?  That is somewhat of an overstatement.

[Clark]

A lot of the longleaf restoration is a romantic attempt to return to the old ecosystem, but we have brainwashed the public for decades that fire in the forest is a bad thing.  Plus, many longleaf restoration projects struggle because the longleaf is being planted on sites that it is not adapted to.

WDH - I am curious, because you have made statements like this several times concerning longleaf, what is the difference in a longleaf pine site versus loblolly, shortleaf, slash, etc?  What did the original longleaf pine forests get turned into?   All your different pine interest me but feel free to give the condensed version.  Remember, I'm just a Yank to whom all these pine would probably look the same!

Clark

[WDH]

Before colonization, the southern landscape was burned by the native americans.  There were extensive open savannas populated by scattered longleaf pine in the flatwoods and the lower coastal plains.  On the more upland areas with good soils, stands of loblolly and shortleaf pine dominated but they were not as fire resistant.  In the wettest areas, slash pine and pond cypress predominated.  In the true bottomlands, the various hardwoods were found. 

The better soils where the loblolly usually grew were mainly cleared for agriculture.  Ultimately, people cleared the longleaf pine savannas for wet pasture and agriculture.  Today, the flatwoods and lower coastal plains where the old longleaf savannas once thrived have been converted to loblolly and slash pine plantations, mainly loblolly because the longleaf system was low productivity from a timber volume standpoint.  However, the savannas were diverse with a mix of animal and plant species that were uniquely adapted to the fire ecology.  The settlers saw fire as a destructive force, and along with Smokey the Bear in later years, the fire ecology was destroyed. 

The USDA is promoting restoration of longleaf.  This is a FSA CRP type program with cost shares and annual rental payments.  However, to qualify, you have to convert cropland back into longleaf.  The rub is that many of these cropland sites were originally loblolly pine sites and longleaf is not as adapted to them.  There have been many failures, but with some research, successful planting techniques have been developed. 

My cynical comments apply to the notion that you can restore the old longleaf ecosystem the way it once was.  That is not possible because humans will not tolerate the fire ecology.  Fire and people do not mix well as populations increase, even rural populations.  Burning expansive areas for longleaf management creates a host of people problems primarily around smoke management. 

Without frequent fire, planting longleaf in rows is akin to planting loblolly in rows or any other crop.  To restore the ecosystem with all the fire adapted birds, mammals, and reptiles along with all the bunch grasses, forbs, herbs, etc. one must burn on a managed cycle.  In the more populated areas down here, you cannot even burn leaves anymore.
Like Thomas Wolfe wrote in a famous novel, "You Can't Go Home Again".

[Rocky_Ranger]

I sort of feel the same way for some of the animal species we are "restoring"; it's not that they can't be reintroduced, it's they won't prosper with all the human interactions we now have.  You sure hit the proverbial nail on the head with longleaf.........  We sometimes need to take a step back and pay attention to what we are really trying to accomplish.

[Clark]

Thanks WDH, that helps me understand the various roles the different pine played down south.

I figured as much about your comments, it seems that many gov't programs designed to help certain natural resources have good intentions but rarely hit the mark as well as they should have.  The Forest Service spent thousands in the 1950's (or there abouts) in the lake states pulling gooseberry to reduce the impact of white pine blister rust.  The intention was good but they should have spent the money re-establishing white pine.  There are thousands of acres in northern MN with no white pine whatsoever and only 150 years ago white pine likely dominated.  And we still have blister rust.  The irony of it all is almost too much.

Clark

[WDH]

I was in the mountains of West Virginia looking at logging a few years ago.  On one site, on the slope of the mountain, there was these enormous perfect cherry trees 24" - 36" in diameter and 100 feet tall.  They were dominant logs in the stand, and there were quite a lot of them.  It did not hit me till later, after walking in a newly clearcut area that was covered in natural cherry regeneration, that the reason for the big beautiful cherry trees being there was because these mountains had been clearcut 80 - 100 years ago and the cherry seeded in.  Cherry is a pioneer species and is one of the first to get established in disturbed ground.  It is ironic that the mountains of West Virginia was the place where the big anti-clearcut campaign started in the 1970's.

If those mountains had of been high graded instead of being clearcut, that cherry that is so desirable today would not even have been there.  It would not have had the opportunity to seed back in as it did.  What we do today has everything to do with what will be there tomorrow.

[Texas Ranger]

]2011 WHIP Longleaf Pine Federal Initiative Guidelines for Texas

Allocated Money: $576,500 in both technical and financial assistance

 

Priority Counties: Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Houston, Jasper, Liberty, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Polk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Walker. Lands outside these counties that are determined to be suitable for growing Longleaf Pine will also be considered.

 

Approved Practices: Tree establishment, installation of firebreaks, conducting prescribed burns, herbicide application, and site preparation

 

Contact Length: Typical WHIP contract is for one to two years with some contracts extending for five years. For contracts longer than one year in length at least one conservation practice must be completed within the first 12 months of the contract period.

 

Example: If a landowner applies for practice 490 (tree/shrub site preparation) and practice 612 (tree/shrub establishment) and the contract length is for two years then practice 490 must be completed within the first 12 months of signing the contract. Practice 612 can be completed the following planting season if not sooner.

 

Cost Share Rate: WHIP contracts can cost share up to 75% of the NRCS approved practice cost but realistically landowners can expect to receive a 50% cost share of approved practices.

 

**Disclaimer**: Landowners should be made aware that if they enroll into the WHIP Longleaf Pine special initiative that LLP seedlings may not be available for two to three years.  There is the possibility of LLP seedlings being transported from other southern nurseries depending on the demand and supply available. The lack of seedlings can be an issue for the landowner if they cannot get their enrolled acres established before the end of their contract.

 

Landowners will not be able to receive cost share assistance for seedlings until they are planted and the enrolled acres have passed inspection. There was hope that NRCS would break out the cost of seedlings from establishment cost to allow landowners to pre-order seedlings a year in advance and receive cost share assistance. NRCS has informed me that they cannot do that so if a landowner does pre-order and purchase their seedlings in advance then that landowner will have to carry that cost until the seedlings are planted.