ATLANTA, June 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In a
continuous effort to support wildlife protection and natural
resource conservation, Southern Company and the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced $4.6 million in grants to establish and enhance
more than 173,000 acres of longleaf pine. Among the grants are 11
projects within the Southern Company system service area in
Alabama, Florida, Georgia and
Mississippi.
The 2015 grants will support 22 projects that are a part of
NFWF's Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a landmark public-private
partnership that includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Forest Service and Natural Resources
Conservation Service; the U.S. Department of Defense; the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service; Southern Company; International Paper's
Forestland Stewards Initiative; and Altria Group.
These projects are designed to establish more than 11,600 acres
and enhance more than 163,000 additional acres of longleaf pine
habitat across the historic longleaf range. The 11 projects within
the Southern Company system service territory are expected to
impact more than 132,000 acres. Two of these projects are also
receiving funding through the company's Power of Flight program, in
partnership with NFWF.
"The Longleaf Stewardship program continues to expand and
leverage the power of public-private partnerships to support
critical conservation needs in the Southeast," said Southern
Company Chief Environmental Officer Dr. Larry S. Monroe. "We join with these partners in
our shared commitment to restore the longleaf ecosystem with all of
its ecological, economic and cultural benefits."
The Longleaf Stewardship Fund builds on the success of the
Longleaf Legacy program, a partnership between Southern Company and
NFWF that from 2004–2011 invested $8.7
million in projects to restore 82,000 acres of longleaf pine
forest and the native species that rely on it. Additionally,
another 20,000 acres were restored through the company's closely
aligned Power of Flight program with NFWF.
"The progress made over the past decade in restoring the
longleaf ecosystem is truly remarkable," said NFWF Executive
Director and CEO Jeff Trandahl. "The
$4.6 million in Longleaf Stewardship
Fund grants announced today will continue to build on that record
of success and serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of
public-private partnerships in conserving America's natural
wonders."
The majestic longleaf pine ecosystem once covered more than 90
million acres across nine states from Virginia to Texas, but dropped to only 3 percent of its
original acreage. With the diverse public-private commitment to
longleaf pine restoration in recent years, longleaf pine forest has
increased from roughly 3 million acres to an estimated 4.4 million
acres, halting and reversing a century-long decline, benefitting
many threatened and endangered species dependent on the
habitat.
Of the 11 projects within the Southern Company system service
area, six are located in significant geographic areas (SGAs) for
longleaf pine conservation, which are areas anchored by federal
lands including military bases, national forests and national
wildlife areas.
The 2015 Longleaf Stewardship Fund planned projects within the
Southern Company system service area include:
The Nature Conservancy's Alabama Chapter and the
American Forest Foundation
will partner on a strategic education and outreach effort to
increase longleaf restoration on private lands in southwest
Alabama. Partners will implement a
social marketing outreach effort to engage private landowners in
sustainable forest management. In total, outreach activities
conducted across Alabama will
result in 2,500 landowners contacted, 160 citizens engaged and 10
landowners certified to sustainability programs. Partners will
establish 200 acres of longleaf pine and assist with delivery of
prescribed fire and other management treatments on an additional
4,000 acres.
The Alabama Forest Resources Center and partners will
continue habitat management benefitting the red-cockaded woodpecker
(RCW) on Enon and Sehoy
plantations and adjacent properties. Work performed from 2007 to
2014 including annual provisioning of artificial cavities,
monitoring and competitor management resulted in 29 RCW groups,
with the two subpopulations separated by less than 3 miles.
Continued management through this project will help the RCWs
maintain 30 or more self-sustaining groups. The project will also
maintain habitats through regular prescribed burning and mid-story
control, along with planting 100 acres of longleaf pine in gaps of
dying shortleaf. Additional partners include U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. Forest Service, Alabama Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Defense, Auburn University, Alabama Wildlife Federation, The
Longleaf Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, Alabama Natural Heritage
Program and private landowners.
The Fort Stewart/Altamaha
Longleaf Restoration Partnership will continue efforts to
restore and enhance longleaf pine habitat in the Fort Stewart/Altamaha SGA. Partners will
establish 210 acres of longleaf pine within the Sansavilla Wildlife
Management Area, which contains the second-largest gopher tortoise
population in Georgia and provides
a critical buffer to Townsend Bombing Range. The project will
enhance 8,000 acres of longleaf habitat on public and private lands
using prescribed fire and establish native groundcover seed
collection sites on private lands. Additional partners include
Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield,
Marine Corps Air Station – Beaufort,
S.C., Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia
Forestry Commission, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, The Georgia Land Trust, The Nature
Conservancy, The Longleaf Alliance, The Conservation Fund,
International Forest Company, Southern Company subsidiary Georgia
Power, The Orianne Society and Reese
Thompson.
The Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance will build
upon its previous programs through a focus on longleaf restoration
efficiencies and novel outreach tools. The project will plant 1,300
acres of longleaf pine and enhance an additional 20,800 acres of
existing longleaf habitat. Partners will continue to fund long-term
projects that balance restoration scale and complexity, such as the
complete sandhill reconstruction at Torreya State Park, and bring
new properties in strategic geographies into the beginning stages
of longleaf conversion. The project will also pursue innovative
communication approaches to further educate the local community on
longleaf pine. Partners include The Nature Conservancy – Florida,
U.S. Department of Defense – Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida
Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, Northwest Florida Water Management District, North
Florida Program of The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service –
Apalachicola National Forest, Florida
Forest Service – Tate's Hell State Forest and Private
Landowner Financial Assistance, Wallwood Boy Scout Camp and the
University of Florida.
The Talladega Mountain Longleaf Pine Conservation
Partnership will further longleaf restoration throughout the
mountain longleaf pine region of Alabama and northwest Georgia. The project
will create and support a prescribed fire crew that will operate
within the project range for direct support of restoration efforts,
including burns on 12,500 acres of existing longleaf habitat.
Partners will also establish longleaf on 282 acres of the
Choccolocco State Forest – an important corridor and linkage
between two of the most important areas in the montane longleaf
range, the Mountain Longleaf National Wildlife Refuge and the
Talladega National Forest. Partners include The Nature Conservancy
– Alabama, U.S. Forest Service,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Longleaf Alliance, Alabama Wildlife Federation,
National Wild Turkey Federation, Natural Resource Conservation
Service, Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division,
Alabama Forestry Commission, Georgia Department of Natural
Resources, Munford School,
Jacksonville State University and
Berry College.
The Okefenokee/Osceola Longleaf Implementation Team will
conduct longleaf pine restoration and hazard fuel reduction on
public and private lands in one of the most fire-prone areas of the
U.S. The project will establish longleaf pine on 444 acres of
public and private lands and use hazard fuel mapping to prioritize
5,000 acres for prescribed fire and other fuel-reduction
techniques. Goals include prescribed burns conducted on 20,000
acres of public and private lands and an additional 360 acres of
private land treated to reduce fuel levels. Workshops will provide
at least 100 private landowners with information on longleaf pine
management and restoration. Partners include The Nature Conservancy
– Georgia, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, Florida Forest Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Georgia
Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Wildlife Federation,
Greater Okefenokee Association of Landowners, National Wild Turkey
Federation, The Conservation Fund, The Longleaf Alliance, The
Nature Conservancy, Rayonier, Superior Pine and Toledo
Manufacturing.
The Chattahoochee Fall Line Conservation Partnership will
accelerate and demonstrate longleaf conservation on more than
22,000 acres in west Georgia and east Alabama, including 1,500 acres of longleaf
planted and more than 20,000 acres enhanced through prescribed fire
and other treatments. The project will build on a network of model
demonstration sites for landowners to observe restoration and
management results and understand the economic and ecological costs
and benefits of longleaf. Outreach will build on past successes in
Georgia and expand into
Alabama, engaging 1,000
stakeholders and introducing 200 private landowners to cost-share
programs. Partners include The Nature Conservancy – Georgia, The
Longleaf Alliance, Jones Ecological Research Center, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia
Forestry Commission, Fort Benning,
National Resources Conservation Service, The Nature Conservancy,
Auburn University, Columbus State University, Tuskegee University, Alabama Forestry Commission,
Tuskegee National Forest, Alabama Wildlife Federation, Alabama
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, East Gulf Coast
Joint Venture, National Wildlife Federation and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
The Longleaf Alliance and partners will monitor
approximately 110 groups of RCWs for breeding activity, band
nestlings of successful breeding pairs and translocate
approximately 30 subadults from the pool of successful fledglings
on the Apalachicola National Forest (ANF) in Florida. The project will also collect
cluster, cavity-tree and cavity-status data on multiple clusters on
the ANF. These efforts provide critical status data annually on 275
of the approximately 559 active RCW clusters on the ANF, a
significant contribution to the world's largest RCW population.
The Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership will
complete 24,000 acres of prescribed fire, 250 acres of invasive
species control and 575 acres of mechanical treatments. The project
will establish more than 730 acres of longleaf pine, including on
an important parcel linking Blackwater River State Forest to Eglin
Air Force Base. Partners will use ecological monitoring, surveying
and mapping to continue to improve longleaf restoration through
adaptive management. Habitat improvements will benefit both the
reticulated salamander and the RCW. In addition, partners will
increase private landowner outreach, education and technical
assistance. Partners include The Longleaf Alliance, U.S. Department
of Defense, Florida Forest Service,
Northwest Florida Water Management District, National Forests in
Alabama, Florida Department of
Environmental Protection, Nokuse Plantation, National Park Service,
Southern Company subsidiary Gulf Power, The Nature Conservancy –
Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission and Westervelt Ecological Services.
The Alabama Forestry Association and partners will
establish community-based landowner prescribed fire networks in
order to increase prescribed fire capacity, resulting in 200 acres
of longleaf pine established and 7,000 acres of existing habitat
enhanced to benefit fire-dependent species including the black pine
snake. Partners will train landowners to become active burners and
coordinate access to technical and cost-share assistance, which
will create a replicable model for increasing regional prescribed
fire capacity. The project will directly distribute information to
5,900 landowners in the 14 counties of Alabama and Mississippi historically occupied by the black
pine snake. Additional partners include Mississippi Forestry
Association, American Forest
Foundation, Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Wildlife
and Freshwater Fisheries Division, Alabama Prescribed Fire Council,
Mississippi Forestry Commission, Mississippi Department of
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Mississippi Prescribed Fire Council,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, U.S. Forest Service and National Forests of Mississippi.
The Longleaf Alliance will maintain a longleaf consul
position. The consul will coordinate and exchange information
between 17 local implementation teams (LITs), multipartner groups
responsible for organizing, planning and delivering conservation
actions to restore and enhance the longleaf pine ecosystem across
the historic longleaf range. The position will serve an integral
role in assisting LITs with conservation business plan development
for their respective SGAs, which will establish spatially explicit
conservation priorities and outcomes.
With more than 4.5 million customers and approximately 46,000
megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is
the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its
subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and
affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in
four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well
as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company
brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service,
high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the
national average. Southern Company and its subsidiaries are leading
the nation's nuclear renaissance through the construction of the
first new nuclear units to be built in a generation of Americans
and are demonstrating their commitment to energy innovation through
the development of a state-of-the-art coal gasification plant.
Southern Company has been recognized by the U.S. Department of
Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a
top military employer, listed by DiversityInc as a top company for
Blacks and designated a 2013 Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic
Network. The company received the Edison Award from the Edison
Electric Institute for its leadership in new nuclear development,
was named Electric Light & Power magazine's Utility of the Year
for 2012 and is continually ranked among the top utilities in
Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas
Utility rankings. Visit our website at
www.southerncompany.com.
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