Above:   SLPCP continues to assist private landowners like Kim Easterling, shown here w/ 2013 coordinator Wayne Harris and NRCS partner Charles Babb (L to R). Photo by: Susan Griggs. More about the SLPCP below:

The SLPCP has been awarded $250,000 through the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Longleaf Stewardship Fund to support our continued longleaf restoration efforts in the Sandhills of Chesterfield, South Carolina. Education and outreach will be an important part of this grant project. The SLPCP will host Longleaf Alliance courses, CPFM courses, and field days focusing on private landowners. The field days will cover a variety of topics including longleaf establishment and management as well as easements, third-party forest certification and invasive species management. The SLPCP will continue to offer “learn and burn” workshops that consist of a hands-on burn day to help landowners increase their knowledge and experience with prescribed fire. In order to assist private landowners who want to burn on their own properties, a fully equipped burn trailer will be purchased with grant funds. This trailer will be offered to private landowners within the focal area at a minimal cost. The trailer will be stocked with equipment necessary for burning safely and effectively. Grant funds will allow the SLPCP to continue offering locally collected longleaf understory species seed for restoration purposes on private lands. Cost share will be available to private landowners for longleaf establishment as well as timber stand improvement and prescribed burning. The SLPCP’s goal is to have 700 acres of longleaf established, 500 acres of longleaf enhanced through burning, and 25 acres of longleaf understory restored through this project.