Overview

• Prescribed burn associations are proving key to conservationists’ efforts to restore a longleaf pine range forming the backbone of forest ecology in the American Southeast.
• More than 100 associations exist throughout 18 states, with the Southeast witnessing a surge in new ones.
• The longleaf pine ecosystem spans just 3% of the 140,000 square miles it encompassed before industrialization and urbanization, but some pockets remain.
• Private landowners, who hold roughly 86% of forested land in the South, are central to the coalition’s latest restoration effort.
• Climate change is reducing the number of safe burn days, making longleaf pines even more important for ecological resilience in the South.