Tag Archive: Longleaf Pine

Longleaf Grafting 101

Longleaf Grafting 101

April 18, 2022 - By Jim Schroering, DOF Longleaf Pine Coordinator and Ellen Powell, DOF Conservation Education Coordinator Forestry usually takes place on a landscape scale. But some forestry work requires meticulous attention to detail. Just ask the team of DOF staff who recently undertook the painstaking process of grafting longleaf pines. Grafting requires splicing a scion – a growing stem with desired characteristics – onto an established rootstock of the same species. You... Read More

Native Ecosystem Restoration Expanded in Southeastern Virginia

Native Ecosystem Restoration Expanded in Southeastern Virginia

February 16, 2021 - The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) and the Meadowview Biological Research Station (MBRS) recently acquired land that expands an existing conservation easement on the Joseph Pines Preserve in Sussex County.  The 196-acre purchase by MBRS increases the preserve property to nearly 428 acres. The easement, donated to DOF by MBRS, includes the entire preserve. “This partnership exemplifies the positive impact of multiple agencies and nonprofit organizations working together with a shared... Read More

Field Notes: Longleaf Pine Planting at Big Woods

Field Notes: Longleaf Pine Planting at Big Woods

December 29, 2020 - By Jim Schroering, DOF Longleaf Pine/Southern Pine Beetle Coordinator On a cold but sunny Saturday in December, the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) completed a longleaf pine planting project on their Big Woods State Forest (BWSF). Longleaf pine once covered more than 1,000,000 acres in Virginia, but it is now considered a diminished species. Until 25 years ago, only 200 mature longleaf pines were left in southeast Virginia. Longleaf pine... Read More

Field Notes: A Crop of Cones

Field Notes: A Crop of Cones

November 10, 2020 - By Jim Schroering, DOF Longleaf Pine Coordinator, and Ellen Powell, DOF Conservation Education Coordinator Fall is harvest time in Virginia – corn, soybeans, apples, cotton, pine cones … Wait, pine cones? Pine cones, indeed. The 2020 longleaf pine cone crop was harvested at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) South Quay Sandhills Natural Area Preserve during the week of October 12 and at the Department of Forestry’s New... Read More

DOF Pine Projects Continue Despite Unusual Circumstances

DOF Pine Projects Continue Despite Unusual Circumstances

April 15, 2020 - In late March, DOF personnel completed a longleaf pine grafting project at the New Kent Forestry Center (NKFC). The longleaf pine seed orchard at NKFC has been developed in response to a need for consistent crop production to support restoration efforts for this diminished species. Read more: From the Brink! The Effort to Restore Virginia’s Native Longleaf Pine, 2014 Status Report This year during a three-day period, a crew collected... Read More

Field Notes: Protecting the Northern Source Longleaf

Field Notes: Protecting the Northern Source Longleaf

March 11, 2020 - By Senior Area Forester Scott Bachman The official start of spring may be only weeks away, but forester Scott Bachman doesn’t want to breeze past the (briefly) snowy landscape of southeastern Virginia. The scene highlights a unique landscape feature that DOF is working to protect – the northern seed source of longleaf pine. Several weeks ago, the southeastern counties and cities of Virginia received their first and only snow of... Read More

Field Notes: What's in the Woods Today? Dec. 5, 2017

Field Notes: What’s in the Woods Today? Dec. 5, 2017

December 5, 2017 - by Area Forester Lisa Deaton Baby Longleaf Last week was finally time to plant a longleaf pine project.  The landowner had spent over a year preparing a 17-acre cutover site for these seedlings.  Longleaf pine is known for its very long needles, huge pine cones, very strong “heart pine” lumber, and the naval stores it can produce.  The longleaf seedlings are in the planters’ bags. As you can see, the... Read More