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Flomaton Natural Area in Alabama Has Been Logged

The Flomaton Natural Area, a fifty-eight acre tract of never-logged Longleaf Pine, with trees more than 300 years old, was clear cut in January 2008. The site, in Escambia County, was bisected by US Highway 31.

Champion International acquired the site, formerly known as the Hauss Natural Area, in the 1950s and from that time until the 1990s it was not burned. As a result, other species of pines grew into the overstory and a "substantial hardwood understory and midstory developed," John Kush reported. In 1993, as the result of deep pine-needle litter, a fire killed 91% of the Longleaf with diameters at breast height greater than 15 inches. Following the fire, Champion entered into an agreement with Auburn University, The Nature Conservancy, the US Forest Service's Southern Research Station, and other entities to cooperate in regard to restoration, management, education, and research on the forest. A restoration program including controlled burns and hardwood harvesting began in 1994.

This effort came to nothing when Champion sold the property. It ended up in the hands of a local landowner, who logged it and pulled out the stumps. The area is now to become a trailer park. Due to the scarcity of old-growth Longleaf Pine and, in fact, of Longleaf Pine in general, this is a great loss.

Sources

Kush , John S. et al. Restoration of an Old-Growth Longleaf Pine Stand in South Alabama . 1998. Proceedings of the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem Restoration Symposium. Longleaf Alliance Report No. 3.

Kush , John S. and Ralph S. Meldahl. 2000. Composition of a Virgin Stand of Longleaf Pine in South Alabama . Castanea 65:56-63.

Kush , John S., comp. 2001. Forest for Our Future - Restoration and Management of Longleaf Pine Ecosystems: Silvicultural, Ecological, Social, Political and Economic Challenges, Proceedings of the Third Longleaf Alliance Regional Conference; 2000 Oct. 16-18; Alexandria , LA. Longleaf Alliance Report No. 5.

Kush, John S. 2008. Personal communication.

Varner, J. Morgan III, John S. Kush, and Ralph S. Meldahl. 2000. The Mountain Longleaf Pine Resources of Fort McClellan , Alabama : Final Report on Their Status, Ecology, and Management Needs. Longleaf Pine Stand Dynamics Laboratory, Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

--posted August 29, 2008

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