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                Auburn University - University Relations
                            (334) 844-9999
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6/16/95                 Mitch Emmons (emmonmb@mail.auburn.edu)

AU'S LONGLEAF ALLIANCE PROMOTES NATIVE  PINE FORESTS

      AUBURN -- The longleaf pine today covers only about three million 
of the 90 million acres of Southern forests it dominated when Europeans 
first settled this country, but Auburn University foresters are promoting 
its recovery.
      The AU program -- the Longleaf Alliance -- will organize groups 
interested in restoring longleaf forests and will focus on solving 
problems with growing seedlings and ways to expedite replanting efforts, 
says Dean Gjerstad, a professor in the School of Forestry.
      Longleaf forests provided a major economic base in the Southeast 
from colonial times through the first one-third of this century, says 
Assistant Professor Ralph Meldahl. The trees were harvested for the 
excellent lumber and sap they provided, which was used to manufacture 
turpentine.
      By the 1930s, commercial growers began to replace the longleaf 
with faster growing slash and loblolly pines. But eco-conscious foresters 
are touting the resurgence of  the native giant of Southeastern woodlands.
      "Longleaf pine forests provide one of the most diverse ecosystems 
found," Meldahl says. "They support hundreds of plant and animal species 
-- some of which are now endangered due to the decline in longleaf 
forests -- and they are more disease and fire tolerant than the slash and 
loblolly."
      But despite these attractive qualities, Meldahl says it is 
difficult to regenerate longleaf forests from seedlings -- particularly 
using current forest management techniques which de-emphasize the use of 
fire.
      "Fire is what made the longleaf so dominant in native forests," 
he said. "When fire control was not a prevalent part of forest 
management, the species literally out-competed other vegetation."
      Unlike slash and loblolly, longleaf pines produce few seeds and 
seedlings remain in a stemless, grasslike stage for years as they put out 
a deep root system, Gjerstad says.
      "Therefore, they don't seem to grow as fast (into a usable 
product)," he said.
      But that deep root system, he added, is what makes the species so
vigorous.
      "In that grass stage, they can survive and even thrive when the 
forest is burned, " he said. 
      Unwanted underbrush and ground clutter is destroyed while the 
longleaf continues to grow its roots system, Gjerstad said. A properly 
managed longleaf forest is cleaner, and by the time the seedling begins 
to produce a trunk, it is truly a stout tree, capable of thriving for 
more than 100 years.
      "The longleaf also is suited to poor sandy and rocky soils, where 
slash and loblolly aren't," Meldahl said.
      "Right now, we are doing a lot of research on its early 
establishment phase, trying to improve growth and seed production," 
Meldahl added. "It's not a miracle tree, but growing longleaf pines can 
produce a forest that provides a more attractive, balanced and diverse 
ecosystem, and it can be profitable as well."
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june95:AU-pines
            CONTACT: Gjerstad, 334/844-1020 
(gjerstad@forestry.auburn.edu); and Meldahl, 334/844-1060.