Re-creating a longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem requires fire, usually through prescribed burns, to create open savanna. During their first few years of growth, longleaf pines do not look like trees, but grass, until fire sparks their growth.

Longleaf Legacy

The Longleaf Legacy Program helps restore the South's stately longleaf pine ecosystem, with the added benefit of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The program operates through a partnership between Southern Company—including its four operating companies—and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Longleaf pine forests once carpeted 95 million acres of the southern United States. Today, less than 3 percent remains. Longleaf forests provide important habitat for bobwhite quails, red-cockaded woodpeckers, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises, and a host of other plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Longleaf ecosystems contain a stunning diversity of plants—nearly 600 species, half of which are considered rare. Restoration of the ecosystem is a top priority for government agencies, conservation groups, and the public. Millions of people enjoy hunting, fishing, birding, and hiking in longleaf forests.

The Longleaf Legacy program was launched in 2004 and is the largest public agency-private corporation conservation funding effort for this ecosystem. Southern Company and NFWF each contribute $500,000 annually to this 10-year partnership. The combined $1 million is then made available through a competitive grant program for projects within the Southern Company service territory. Grantees are required to match all awards. In addition, Southern Company provides $100,000 annually to support the NFWF's own longleaf conservation efforts.

Fact Sheet (PDF 127KB) | More about NFWF | How to apply

Funding Priorities

• Restoration of longleaf on public land
• Re-establishment of this ecosystem on sites near longleaf stands
• Replanting in high-priority wildlife conservation areas (such as red-cockaded woodpecker recovery sites)
• Outreach to private landowners to manage longleaf on their property

Accomplishments

• 27 grants to 20 different conservation organizations
• Grants totalling more than $4.9 million; with matching funds, total on the ground impact of more than $40 million
• More than 29,000 acres directly replanted with about 8 million seedlings and an additional 20,000 replanted through support of organizations that link private landowners with other funding sources*

*Figures are approximate. Includes completed and anticipate results, estimated for funded projects through 2009.

Grant Recipients: 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004