On a warm and breezy November day, FLT’s Land Stewardship team, Sam and Spence, along with FLT’s Outreach and Communications Coordinator, Savannah, visited landowner Jody Thrasher’s property in Coosa County for an annual monitoring report. The 1,129-acre parcel has been in a conservation easement with FLT since the end of 2022.
Jody is working hard on a restoration plan to replace the loblolly pines on the property until the property is fully restored to its natural montane savannah, which consists of longleaf and shortleaf pine, fire tolerant hardwoods, and native forbs and grasses. Longleaf pine was once one of Alabama’s most abundant tree species but has been greatly reduced and largely replaced by silvicultural practices. Longleaf pine forests support more Species of Greatest Conservation Need than any other terrestrial habitat in Alabama, and they depend on regular maintenance through fire.
The restoration will employ frequent use of prescribed fire to create a mosaic of successional habitats, timber stand improvements to open the canopy, and planting of longleaf saplings. Eighty acres of longleaf pines have already been planted! The use of fire also allows for natural regeneration of longleaf and shortleaf pines on the property.
A section of forest is burned every two to three years, the most recent of which was done in June, during the growing season. The colorful new growth of native forbs and grasses, whose seeds have likely been lying dormant in the seed bank for decades, that have appeared since the burn are a bright contrast to the thick bed of dried, fallen pine needles in the areas that are yet to be burned. Large swaths of lush southern brackenferns are thriving, sprinkled with native wildflowers such as black-eyed Susans. The short leaf pines are also a unique post-burn exhibit; at the base of the burned trunks, seedlings sprout from the rootstocks. This is a protective adaptation known as a basal crook.
In addition to the pine restoration, Jody is also tackling erosion control, ensuring the dirt roads that run through his property are responsibly rehabilitated in order to prevent sediment from polluting Hatchet Creek. Jody’s continued work aids in the conservation of this special property that neighbors Hatchet Creek and is home to the threatened tulotoma snail, nine species of threatened or endangered freshwater mussels, and beautiful stands of shoal lilies.
We look forward to seeing the improvements this restorative work brings to this special property.