Looking for Longleaf: The Fall and Rise of an American Forest
The longleaf pine once comprised the largest ecosystem in North America, extending from Texas to Virginia and south to Florida. The forest was so vast that one early traveler, finding the landscape monotonous, summarized the woodlands as "entirely too immense." Part of the geographic success of the pine resided in its flammable resins; seasonal fires triggered seed production of the longleaf and its plant associates, enabling them to propagate over wide areas. These same resins, however, led to the forest's downfall, because they were sought-after ingredients in the manufacture of tar and turpentine. Out of the original 92 million acres of longleaf, fewer than 3 million remain. Recently, however, collaborations between ecologists and foresters have brought new hope to the beleaguered ecosystem, and painstaking effort may bring back not only the longleaf but also the forest-dwelling gopher tortoise and the red-cockaded woodpecker. Earley's enthusiasm for the forest's restoration doesn't quite make up for his uninspired prose, but green-minded readers will be drawn to this ode to the piney woods.Rebecca MakselCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved