NFWF Announces $5.2 Million in Grants to Restore and Improve Longleaf Pine Habitat and Wildlife, Marking a Decade of Partnership Investment in Ecosystem Recovery

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Longleaf Landscape Stewardship Fund, in the 10th year of grant-making through this public-private partnership, awarded 21 grants totaling $5.3 million to restore, enhance, and protect longleaf pine forests in the Southeast.  Combined with $6.9 million in matching contributions, that’s a total of $12.2 million to advance restoration and conservation on more than 415,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat in all nine states of the historic range!  These funded projects each help to advance the restoration goals of America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative laid out in the Range-wide Conservation Plan.

“In an unprecedented effort to restore one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems, over the last decade, public agencies, private companies, and other working groups have supported the Longleaf Stewardship Fund with a unified vision.  The accomplishments and resulting outcomes are a true success story and are an example of what can be achieved collaboratively on a landscape scale,” said Ken Arney, regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service Southern Region.

Longleaf pine forests provide vital habitat for imperiled wildlife species such as red-cockaded woodpeckers and gopher tortoises, contribute to the nation’s military readiness by buffering installation lands from incompatible development, and increase the landscape’s resilience to climate related threats.  This year’s selected projects will support a wide range of longleaf conservation and outreach efforts – establishing 15,000 acres of new longleaf, enhancing 400,000 acres of habitat through prescribed burning, invasive species removal, and other management activities, and engaging with landowners through trainings, workshops, and one-on-one technical assistance. 

Thank you to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and their partners for the continued support of longleaf restoration efforts!  Click here to read the announcement from NFWF and here to read the full slate of 2021 grants.

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