Covering 92 million acres from Virginia to Texas, the longleaf pine
ecosystem was, in its prime, one of the most extensive and
biologically diverse ecosystems in North America. Today these
magnificent forests have declined to a fraction of their original
extent, threatening such species as the gopher tortoise, the
red-cockaded woodpecker, and the Venus fly-trap. Conservationists
have proclaimed longleaf restoration a major goal, but has it come
too late?
In
Looking for Longleaf, Lawrence S. Earley explores the
history of these forests and the astonishing biodiversity of the
longleaf ecosystem, drawing on extensive research and telling the
story through first-person travel accounts and interviews with
foresters, ecologists, biologists, botanists, and landowners. For
centuries, these vast grass-covered forests provided pasture for
large cattle herds, in addition to serving as the world's greatest
source of naval stores. They sustained the exploitative turpentine
and lumber industries until nearly all of the virgin longleaf had
vanished.
Looking for Longleaf demonstrates how, in the twentieth
century, forest managers and ecologists struggled to understand the
special demands of longleaf and to halt its overall decline. The
compelling story Earley tells here offers hope that with continued
human commitment, the longleaf pine might not just survive, but
once again thrive.