Historically, longleaf pine ecosystems were the dominant forest type across the Southeast United States. Fire suppression and changes in land use have now reduced longleaf acreage to less than 5 precent of its original extent.
To restore these legacy forests, Texas A&M NRI is working with the America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative – a coalition of federal and state agencies, non-profit organizations, forest industry, private landowners, and other stakeholders. The initiative’s objective is to restore healthy and viable longleaf pine forests to the landscape, along with the full spectrum of cultural, ecological, economic and social benefits produced by this important ecosystem.
Protection and restoration of longleaf pine forests will provide valuable habitat for wildlife; clean air and water for communities; economic opportunities for landowners through timber harvest; and stronger military readiness through compatible land uses near military test and training facilities.
NRI understands the unique relationship between natural resources and national defense and has taken an active leadership role in the restoration initiative since its inception in 2007 by providing project management and outreach expertise, geospatial analyses, and policy development support.
Stephanie Hertz
stephanie.hertz@ag.tamu.edu
Stephanie Hertz serves as the Recovery and Sustainment Partnership (RASP) Coordinator for the Department of Defense (DoD) Natural Resources Program within the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Environment a…
Hannah Sodolak
Hannah.Sodolak@ag.tamu.edu
Hannah supports the operations of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute’s Wildlife Conservation and Mitigation Program and Military Land Sustainability Program, serving as a liaison between the team members and the In…
Brittany Wegner
brittany.wegner@ag.tamu.edu
As a program manager for partnerships for the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, Brittany works with our partners to build strategies to grow the recognition and use of sound science, expanding conversations around co…
LPC Releases New Fact Sheet on Advantages of Longleaf in Windstorms
The Longleaf Partnership Council (LPC) is pleased to announce a new communications fact sheet, Blowing in the Wind: Advantages of Longleaf Pine in Wind Storms. This informational product demonstrates the benefits of longleaf pine during windstorms such as hurricanes and tornadoes.
America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative 2019 Range-wide Accomplishment Report is published
In 2019, we celebrated more than 1.7 million acres of accomplishments on public and private lands. Flip open the latest Range-Wide Accomplishments Report to read what else 2019 had in store for longleaf conservation.
America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative Range-Wide Accomplishment Report is here!
Rather than producing a report solely on what has been accomplished over the past year, this report is a tool showcasing what can be done to reach ALRI's goal of 8 million acres of longleaf pine habitat by 2025.
Longing for Longleaf: A Tale of Forest Restoration
Several SERPPAS partners appear in the Fall 2018 edition of The Longleaf Alliance’s The Longleaf Leader, “Longing for Longleaf: A Tale of Forest Restoration.” The article focuses extensively on how partnerships between conservation groups, state and federal agencies, and private landowners are working together to restore an important endangered ecosystem, as well as why this successful model of cooperation can be used for other at-risk habitats.
Project Manager Stephanie Hertz appears in The Longleaf Leader
Hear from NRI's Stephanie Hertz in The Longleaf Leader Winter 2018 on what inspires her to be among the next generation of longleaf leaders.
NRI Partners Awarded Grants Through America the Beautiful Challenge
The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program is pleased to join the Council on Environmental Quality and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in announcing over $141 million in grants through the new America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC). The 74 new grants will support projects that conserve, restore, and connect habitats for wildlife while improving community and installation resilience across 46 states and three U.S. territories.
Range-wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine Released
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests once dominated the landscape of the Southeastern United States. From the Atlantic coastal plain of southeastern Virginia to the West Gulf Coastal Plain of Texas, these forests encompassed over 90 million acres and represented an extraordinary wealth and diversity of cultural, ecological, and socio-economic values.
When America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative (America’s Longleaf) was first formed, the extent of longleaf pine forests had been greatly reduced with an estimated 3.4 million acres remaining. Through the collaborative restoration and conservation efforts of partners involved in America’s Longleaf, that downward trend has been reversed and the current data indicate that the acreage of longleaf pine has increased to approximately 5.2 million acres. This progress is encouraging, but there is still much work to be done to achieve the restoration goals outlined in this Conservation Plan.
The 2023 REPI Report to Congress is here
We are pleased to share that the REPI Program has officially delivered the 2023 REPI Report to Congress. The congressional report provides information on the REPI Program and supportive DOD efforts to conserve land and address threats to military readiness from development pressures, environmental constraints, and extreme weather events.
America's Longleaf releases the 2021 range-wide accomplishments report
America's Longleaf released the new 2021 Range-wide Accomplishment Report showcasing a landmark year and the success of tireless efforts across the 9-state historic range to bring back longleaf pine.
HEB Funds Texas Longleaf Team’s Longleaf Pine Conservation
The Texas Longleaf Team is excited to partner with HEB to promote the restoration of the longleaf ecosystem in support of private landowners and rural communities in East Texas. Their support will promote carbon sequestration, water infiltration, biodiversity, recreation, and rural economies.
New film: How the Texas Longleaf Team works with landowners to restore the longleaf ecosystem
The NRI Texas Longleaf Team recently had a chance to work with Texan by Nature to produce a film celebrating the work we do, highlighting one of our landowner partners, Pine Island.
Helping Texas’ unique snakes through research
NRI as a unit of Texas A&M AgriLife, has been doing a lot of work researching three unique snakes; the Louisiana pinesnake, the eastern indigo and the massasauga rattlesnake.
ALRI Celebrates Landmark Year With 2020 Range-wide Accomplishment Report
America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative released its 2020 Range-wide Accomplishment Report celebrating a decade’s worth of accomplishments and significant progress towards restoring longleaf pine.
Calling all landowners: a two-minute survey about longleaf pine
To amplify our restoration impacts in East Texas, we developed a short survey to learn more about how we can best serve possible landowner partners.
CultureMap: Laura Bush nature group picks 4 Texas conservation projects to help
Texas conservation nonprofit Texan by Nature has named its picks for conservation projects for 2021, which include water, pine trees, birds, and horned lizards.
TLIT Named 2021 Conservation Wrangler by Texan by Nature
Texan by Nature (TxN), a Texas-led conservation non-profit today announces the selection of the 2021 Conservation Wranglers. Conservation Wrangler is an accelerator program that catalyzes the very best Texan-led conservation projects occurring in the state. Selected projects are science-based and demonstrate a positive Return on Conservation for people, prosperity, and natural resources.
A Story Map: Texas Longleaf Landscapes
Explore the historic southeast range of Texas longleaf with us as we dive into their richly diverse conservation value.
Fall 2020 Sourcebook: Volume 1, Issue 2
The Fall 2020 NRI Sourcebook (V1:I2) is here, a digital collection complete with the recently published peer-reviewed scientific publications, research reports, and resources developed to support the improvement of conservation, natural resource management and private land stewardship.
Twenty-three grants will support efforts to conserve nearly 350,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat and help recover populations of at-risk wildlife
Bird Species of the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem
Longleaf pine and birds go hand in hand. A well-managed longleaf pine forest that utilizes frequent prescribed burning can provide ideal habitat for a variety of bird species, as well as other wildlife.
LPC Releases New Fact Sheet on Advantages of Longleaf in Windstorms
The Longleaf Partnership Council (LPC) is pleased to announce a new communications fact sheet, Blowing in the Wind: Advantages of Longleaf Pine in Wind Storms. This informational product demonstrates the benefits of longleaf pine during windstorms such as hurricanes and tornadoes.
The Landowner Longleaf Challenge: A case study
Finally, as the campaign came to a close in 2019, we took a real look at how a digital data campaign created face-to-face connections, putting the social back in social media and trees in the ground.
From Facebook timeline to longleaf lifeline
Through a partnership between the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute and the Texas Longleaf Taskforce, a counterpart of the America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative working to restore longleaf pine ecosystems on private and public forestlands in Texas, the Landowner Longleaf Challenge launched in March of this year gaining an unrivaled momentum over the last 5 months.
The Texas Longleaf Taskforce is developing new efforts to reach forest landowners
The Texas Longleaf Taskforce launched a campaign to reach more Texas forest landowners looking to bring back the longleaf pine by connecting to longleaf resource specialists.
