efforts to restore the longleaf landscape, improve it and safeguard it forest in Alabama have received a major boost thanks to the latest batch of grants by the Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced $18 million in grants for conservation from the longleaf Stewardship Fund. It’s the biggest annual amount of money ever granted over the course that spans 20 years grant-giving to aid in the restoration of longleaf pine.
Together with over $14.7 million of matching donations The total impact on conservation is anticipated to exceed $32 million. This will help longleaf restoration efforts in 9 Southeast States.
Forests of longleaf pine are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world, offering habitat for 29 species that are listed as endangered or threatened, NFWF said in a news release. The type of forest was once the dominant across Virginia to Texas in the past two centuries, the longleaf forests of the past have been drastically reduced due to the development of human beings, timbering and other influences.
The Longleaf Stewardship Fund offers financial assistance to a variety of partners on projects that contribute to the greater American Longleaf Restoration Initiative, a strategy to eventually make 8 million acres more sustainable pine forest with longleaf.
The Longleaf Pine habitats are beneficial to many wildlife species in Alabama and throughout the Southeast such as the red-cockaded woodpecker Mississippi gopher tortoise, as in game species like white-tailed deer and wild turkey.
“Alabama Power has been a key partner in helping to restore the native longleaf pines in Alabama and to protect the wide variety of animals and plants that depend on them” explained Susan Comensky, Alabama Power vice president of Environmental Affairs. “This new cycle of money, which will help several of our local, non-profit conservation partners will allow us all in advancing our conservation goals. .”
“The Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund continues to increase the effectiveness of public-private partnerships to address crucial conservation requirements,” said Jeff Burleson, Southern Company senior vice president of Environment, System Planning and Sustainability. “Southern Company is extremely proud of our 20-year dedication to restoring the ecosystem of the longleaf and all the ecological benefits it brings. .”
The funds for the projects of Alabama will be distributed to five organisations that include The Longleaf Alliance, The Nature Conservancy in Alabama as well as The Forest Landowners Association, the Alabama Wildlife Federation(AWF) and the Alabama Forestry Foundation. The Alabama projects span from longleaf rehabilitation and forest expansion, as well as outreach to property owners to stimulate the planting of longleaf on private land. The projects extend across Alabama and range from initiatives to improve the ecosystems of mountain longleaf in the northeast of Alabama to the restoration of habitat for longleaf within South Alabama and along the state’s Gulf Coastal Plain.
“Longleaf landscape stewardship fund funds that are that are matched with AWF dollars, enable us to work with landowners who own private property in Alabama to help the native grassland and longleaf systems as well as the plants and wildlife that thrive in these landscapes,” said Tim L. Gothard, AWF executive director.
“Alabama Power Southern Company, Alabama Power National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as well as Alabama private landowners are our key partners for this project for over 10 years. It’s a win-win situation for both wildlife and humans,” Gothard said.
Other private and public partners are also part of the projects supported by the longleaf stewardship funds that includes The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
All in all 28 projects across the Southeast receive funds. These projects are expected to provide greater than 50,000 hectares of fresh longleaf pine forest through plantations, and improve another 450,000 acres with burns prescribed and various other techniques which include invasive species elimination, NFWF officials said.
“The 28 initiatives … are the culmination of years of work and dedication by organizations that are committed to the restoration of the longleaf ecosystem. They make for a great year of longleaf pine preservation which will lead the way in innovative ways to improve and expand the longleaf pine forest and its the habitat around them,” Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO, said.
“These initiatives can be game changers, particularly to increase nursery capacity and the reforestation effort, which is essential to meet the America’s Longleaf Regeneration Initiative’s goal of the restoration of 8 million acres.” Trandahl said.
The partnership is expected to yield another benefit, which is the growth of over 20 million longleaf seedlings in the coming five years. NFWF officials have said are essential in extending and maintaining longleaf pine regeneration. The project is expected to create over 200 jobs.
The NFWF’s investment in the restoration of longleaf pine forests started in 2004 with the Longleaf Legacy program, funded through the partnership that includes Southern Company and its affiliates which include Alabama Power. The Longleaf Stewardship Fund which was launched in 2012, taken advantage of the successes in Longleaf Legacy, expanding the list of partners for funding that include government agencies as well as other private sector and non-profit partners.
The article Grant was aimed at restoring and expand the state’s longleaf Pine forests was originally published at The Andalusia Star-News.
