The Escambia Experimental Forest Marks Fifty Years of Research on the Ecology and Management of Longleaf Pine

Abstract

The Escambia Experimental Forest was formally established on April 1,1947, when the T.R. Miller Mill Company of Brewton, AL, provided land, at no cost, to the USDA Forest Service through a 99 yr lease. This 3000 ac tract in southwest Alabama was selected as typical of second-growth longleaf pine forests that, at the time, covered about 6.2 million ac in south Alabama and northwest Florida. Research on the Escambia was initially aimed at solving the principal management problems associated with longleaf pine including natural regeneration, management alternatives, growth and yield, rotation lengths, thinning regimes, forest grazing, and economic costs and returns.

Citation

Boyer, William D.; Ward, George A.; Kush, John S. 1997. The Escambia Experimental Forest Marks Fifty Years of Research on the Ecology and Management of Longleaf Pine. SJAF 21(1) 1997