nitheeshgopan

Whether you are a forester, a plantation manager or owner, a naturalist, or even a certified tree-hugger, this book is required reading for anyone who values and hopes to understand the mechanics of restoring and managing North America’s native ecosystems. Please don’t take umbrage, but any Yankee who moves to the South should be required to read this before they are allowed to cross the Mason-Dixon Line. The longleaf pine forest once covered most everything from southeast Virginia to eastern Texas. And this forest burned regularly, even before the Native Americans arrived. Longleaf burned even more frequently at the hands of the Indians. Longleaf’s endemic species evolved with this fire – and without fire, these birds, frogs, plants and mosses will dissolve into the fog of extinction. Whether you were born in the South, or moved do the South – if you seek to limit our ability to use prescribed fire, then you are an invasive species. You are cogon grass, privet, or kudzu. But if you live in the South, and you learn to value our native forests, birds, animals, and landscapes, then you will come to love longleaf as much as Leon Neel does. And no matter your origin, you will seek out the longleaf forests, and you will purchase field guides so that you may identify the native legumes, frogs, and ants. And perhaps, someday, you will be lucky enough to burn these woods. After the fire, you will watch the wiregrass, the Indian grasses, and the bluestems regenerate within a few days. You will watch wildlife flock, run, crawl, and revel in a rejuvenated ecosystem. If you don’t understand what I am writing about – the prescription is simple: Read “The Art of Managing Longleaf: A Personal History of the Stoddard-Neel Approach” by Leon Neel with Paul Sutter and Albert Way. And don’t miss the afterword by Jerry F. Franklin!

2020-12-30 11:15