Longleaf pine once covered an area of over 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas, along the Southeastern coast and well inland. Today, only about 5% of that original habitat remains. Karl Etters works at Tall Timbers Plantation in Tallahassee, an organization committed to the use of fire ecology in land management. We discuss the history and biology of the longleaf pine, restoration efforts, and where to see longleaf pine today in Florida.
Photo: Wikipedia.
Craig Pittman is the award-winning author of Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, The Scent of Scandal, Cat Tale, Manatee Insanity and The State You’re In, and co-author of Paving Paradise. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature.
