Prescribed Burn Associations Key to Restoring Longleaf Pine Range

With over 100 associations across 18 states, these volunteer groups are crucial in managing forest fires and promoting ecological resilience amid climate change.

• 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.

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