BROOKHAVEN — Part of the United States Forest Service mission in Mississippi is to transition the forestland from loblolly pines to longleaf pines. It is one of several reasons the Homochitto National Forest burns. 

Homochitto District Fire Management Officer Trey Bolt said the areas longleaf is found in is typically on ridge tops with grasses. The habitat burns well which is great for longleafs which tolerate fire, encourage fire and need fire to survive. 

Bolt oversees fire suppression and prescribed fire use on 190,000 acres of forest land in the Homochitto National Forest. The forest needs to burn on average around 32,000 acres a year to accomplish the missions laid out in the HNF master plan. 

He said a lot of their naturally started fires by lightning occur on those ridges where longleaf pines and grasses are found. 

 

Longleaf system healing

The latest report from America’s Longleaf Restoration Initiative reported range-wide numbers on longleaf work in the southeast from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023.  The initiative started 15 years ago. 

According to the initiative, 2.17 million acres of longleaf management activities were recorded with 1,759,969 acres managed using prescribed fire. Along with the Department of Defense, Department of the Interior and United States Department of Agriculture, the initiative entered a memorandum of understanding to continue longleaf restoration work for another 15 years. 

In Mississippi, the initiative established 3,517 acres of longleaf forests, 824 acres of longleaf through silviculture, used prescribed fire on 113,527 acres of public land and maintained 6,917 acres of longleaf pine. On private land, 6,837 acres of longleaf were established, 23,222 acres were managed with prescribed fire, 5,108 acres were maintained.