Subsidies to Raise Pine Trees in Georgia

Reasons for Reforestation

• Native longleaf pine is the preferred habitat for more than 100 types of native animals and woodland plants. Wildlife endangered by loss of longleaf habitat includes varieties of quail, woodpeckers, snakes and tortoises. Native plants rely on the quality of light provided by a longleaf canopy. Faster-growing loblollies and slash pines produce more shade, making it possible for non-native and invasive plants to flourish at the cost of natives. Longleaf tolerance of pine beetles means less chemical spraying. Restoring longleaf pines also means restoring the traditional cycle of naturally occuring fires and managed burnoff, along with native understory grasses, especially wiregrass and bluestem, on which wildlife depends. Studies conducted by members of the Longleaf Alliance suggest positive links between the fire cycle and increases in native plant and animal populations.

USDA Long Leaf Initiative

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture Long Leaf Initiative is a reforestation program available in nearly every county in the state of Georgia, as well as in the eight other states that constitute the Southeast. Farmers and woodlot growers must meet program criteria: the right soil, adequate acreage and manpower, protection from grazing, and use of only approved chemicals. Once approved, they are eligible for roughly half the cost of seedlings, land rental fees and some other expenses related to planting, in the form of USDA financial subsidy. Begun in 1996, the program made available more than $12 million in 2010 to farmers in the Southeast. Research results provided at meetings and disseminated through the Longleaf Alliance keep participants and scientists informed on recent work in a wide variety of longleaf-related issues. Proceedings of the fifth regional conference, for example, contain study abstracts on pine-beetle vulnerability, invasive plant problems, native grass restoration, restoration of red-cockaded woodpecker habitat and the effect of prescribed fire on northern bobwhite populations.

Public/Private Partnerships

• While not paying direct subsidies to farmers, a complex of public/private partnerships in Georgia has made streams of money and manpower available to support reforestation. The National Wild Turkey Federation, for example, has taken a leading role in reforestation projects around Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia. Partners in this ongoing effort include The Nature Conservancy, Georgia Land Trust, Georgia Department of Transportation and Chatham County, with a goal of 678 acres of replanting on public and private land around Fort Stewart. In 2008, this project was being conducted within a larger NWTF multistate partnership with paper producer Georgia Pacific, funded by a $1.1 million grant from the Southern Co. and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This multifaceted consortium of governmental and private enterprises a provided a "win-win" response to the concerns of growers, conservationists, sportsmen and wildlife, according to an August 2008 press release quoting James Earl Kennamer, NWTF senior vice president of conservation programs.