The flomaton natural area: Demostrating the benefits of fuel management and the risks of fire exclusion in an old-growth longleaf pine ecosystem

Abstract

The FNA is a microcosm of the recent history and many threats facing fire adapted longleaf pine ecosystems. Many of the remanant old-gowth longleaf pine stands which remain have been reduced to isolated, often degraded patches in the southern landscape. The FNA was one of these stands before restoration efforts began in 1995. In an effort to restore this longleaf pine habitat, an agreement to restore, manage, conduct research and to use the stand for education was entered into by and among International Paper (the current owner of the FNA), Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service, Alabama Forestry Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and the Alabama Natural Heritage Program.

Citation

Kush, John S.; Meldahl, Ralph S.; McMahon, Charles K. 2003. The flomaton natural area: Demostrating the benefits of fuel management and the risks of fire exclusion in an old-growth longleaf pine ecosystem. Joint Fire Science Workshop, March 11-13, Phoenix, AZ, p. 1-2