Sandbar Lecture Series: Longleaf Pine Forests

Before Europeans colonized the present day United States, longleaf pine forests covered almost all of the southeastern region.  In fact, the longleaf pine forests of pre-colonial times were believed to cover an estimated 90 million acres from southern Virginia down through the Carolinas to Florida and across the Gulf Coast states to East Texas. It was the most extensive forest dominated by a single tree species ever to be found in the United States. These rich forests were like treasure chests full of usable products for indigenous people, along with a diversity of plants and animals. Colonization dramatically changed the longleaf pine forest ecosystem and brought about many factors that contributed to the decline of the longleaf pine ecosystem. From about the mid-1700’s to late 1800’s, longleaf pine trees were “tapped” for their naval stores, i.e., tar and pitch, which were collected from the trees to waterproof boats including Navy ships.  Years of tapping and harvesting longleaf… View Source