2007 Longleaf Legacy Grants

The Longleaf Legacy program is focused on restoring the South's signature longleaf pine ecosystem to conserve biological diversity and sequester carbon. The following organizations were awarded Longleaf Legacy grants:

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Cahaba River NWR) - to restore longleaf pine on 325 acres and plant 130,000 longleaf seedlings in the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. Restored longleaf forests will be connected to two additional refuge restoration areas to the south, including a tract that was replanted through a previous Longleaf Legacy grant in 2004.
• The Nature Conservancy, Florida - to restore 300 acres of longleaf and enhance an additional 260 acres of groundcover habitat along the lower Perdido River. A total of 90,000 longleaf seedlings will be planted over a four-year period. The Perdido River Nature Preserve comprises more than 2,300 acres of land and is part of corridor of protected lands along both sides of the Perdido River. This project builds on a 2004 grant award that restored 168 acres of longleaf on this preserve.
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources - to support conservation and restoration of 8,430 acres of longleaf habitat and the planting of over 2 million trees in southwest Georgia. This project will benefit red-cockaded woodpecker and other species dependent on the longleaf ecosystem, as well as numerous isolated wetlands and other forested wetland habitats. The property will be protected in perpetuity as a State Heritage Preserve, and managed as a Wildlife Management Area.