ATLANTA, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting an
ongoing commitment to natural resource conservation, Southern
Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today
announced $3.38 million in grants to
protect and restore the longleaf pine ecosystem, including seven
projects within the Southern Company system service area. The
announcement was made as part of a 5-year anniversary celebration
for America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative held in Washington, D.C.
The 15 total grants are part of NFWF's Longleaf Stewardship
Fund, a landmark public-private partnership that includes the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Forest
Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service; the U.S.
Department of Defense; the Fish and Wildlife Service; Southern
Company; and International Paper.
The 2014 projects awarded grants are expected to ultimately
restore more than 11,800 acres, of which more than 8,000 acres fall
within the Southern Company system service area. Of the 116,000
additional longleaf acres expected to be enhanced by the grants,
more than 74,000 acres are within the Southern Company system
service area.
"Southern Company's longstanding support of environmental
stewardship − including our partnership with NFWF in the Longleaf
Stewardship Fund − is a natural extension of our core value of
making communities we serve better off because we are there," said
Southern Company Chief Environmental Officer Dr. Larry S. Monroe. "The unprecedented level of
cooperation across public agencies, nonprofits, businesses and
private landowners is making huge conservation gains and is a
shining example of collaboration and innovation, two of the
hallmarks of our stewardship programs."
The Longleaf Stewardship Fund builds on the success of the
Longleaf Legacy program, a partnership between Southern Company and
NFWF from 2004-2011 that has invested $8.7
million in projects expected to restore 82,000 acres of
longleaf pine forest and the native species that rely on it.
Additionally, another 20,000 acres were restored through the
company's closely aligned Power of Flight program with NFWF.
"Today, we are celebrating the power of partnership to bring
resources, vision and commitment together to achieve substantial
conservation impacts for this important forest ecosystem," said
NFWF Vice President of Conservation Programs David O'Neill. "The $3.38
million in Longleaf Stewardship Fund grants announced today
will continue the significant progress we have made toward the
recovery of the longleaf pine ecosystem and its multitude of
benefits in strategic areas across the Southeast."
The majestic longleaf pine ecosystem once covered more than 90
million acres across nine states from Virginia to Texas, but dropped to only 3 percent of its
original acreage. With the diverse public-private commitment to
longleaf pine restoration in recent years, longleaf pine forest has
increased from roughly 3 million acres to an estimated 4.4 million
acres, halting and reversing a century-long decline, benefitting
many threatened and endangered species dependent on the
habitat.
The 2014 Longleaf Stewardship Fund projects within the Southern
Company system service area include:
Apalachicola National Forest Restoration
Recipient: Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance
This project will support existing longleaf management initiatives
and continue to increase local implementation team capacity around
the Apalachicola National Forest and St. Marks National Wildlife
Refuge. The Nature Conservancy, Florida and partners will establish 1,700
acres of longleaf and enhance more than 26,000 acres of existing
longleaf habitat with prescribed fire, mid-story hardwood treatment
and invasive species removal. The project will benefit the
gopher tortoise and reduce wildlife risk, which will support the
natural resource and encroachment protection goals of Tyndall Air
Force Base.
Blackwater River State Forest Longleaf Restoration
Recipient: Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership
This project will restore and manage the longleaf ecosystem in the
Florida panhandle and southern
Alabama. The Longleaf
Alliance and partners will burn 20,000 acres, control invasive
species on 350 acres, treat 1,100 acres of mid-story hardwoods and
restore 330 acres of longleaf pine in Blackwater River State
Forest. Outreach to engage private landowners will include
demonstration sites showcasing effective methods to establish
native groundcover and control invasive species. The project also
will support the natural resource and encroachment protection goals
of Eglin Air Force Base by expanding potential off-base habitat for
listed species, including the flatwoods salamander.
Big Lazer Creek Wildlife Management Area (WMA) Groundcover
Restoration
Recipient: Georgia Department of Natural Resources
This project will restore 400 acres of longleaf pine in the Big
Lazer Creek Wildlife Management Area in west-central Georgia. This project will promote native
groundcover restoration for the benefit of bobwhite quail,
Bachman's sparrow and other savanna-dependent species. The forest
also will serve as a highly visible example of longleaf habitat to
the many visitors to the Big Lazer Creek WMA.
Fort Stewart/Altamaha
Longleaf and Wildlife Restoration
Recipient: Fort Stewart/Altamaha
Longleaf Restoration Partnership
This project will continue
developing a local implementation team to expand the longleaf pine
ecosystem restoration on public and private lands in the
Fort Stewart/Altamaha vicinity of
southeast Georgia. The Longleaf
Alliance will work with partners to burn 14,000 acres on public and
private lands, plant 700 acres of longleaf, establish a 5-acre
groundcover demonstration area and conduct two landowner outreach
field days. The project will benefit the gopher tortoise and other
wildlife and support the natural resource goals and military
mission of Fort Stewart and
Townsend Bombing Range.
Alabama Longleaf Restoration
Recipient: National
Wildlife Federation and Alabama Wildlife Federation
This
project will work with partners to restore 4,000 acres of longleaf
pine on private lands and enhance an additional 1,000 acres with
prescribed fire. The project will continue progress connecting,
partnering and building a network of practitioners and advocates of
longleaf pine restoration in Alabama. The project also will provide
technical assistance and information to landowners in high-priority
areas, including cost-share programs to develop conservation plans
for establishing and managing longleaf and a prescribed fire
training series.
Coosa Wildlife Management Area Longleaf
Restoration
Recipient: Talladega-Mountain Longleaf Pine
Conservation Partnership
This project will engage private
landowners in on-the-ground longleaf restoration and education
projects. The Nature Conservancy's Alabama Chapter and partners
will establish longleaf on 100 acres of private lands and 300 acres
of the Coosa Wildlife Management Area, which is extremely important
to one of Alabama's largest
red-cockaded woodpecker populations. The project also will enhance
more than 8,100 acres of longleaf habitat through prescribed fire
and other management practices.
DeSoto National Forest Longleaf Restoration
Recipient: DeSoto National Forest/Camp Shelby Partnership
This project will engage consulting foresters to develop private
sector capacity and expertise to restore and manage longleaf around
the DeSoto National Forest area of southeast Mississippi. Mississippi
State University will support a series of longleaf courses
and workshops to train certified burn managers and consulting
foresters who work with private landowners and use workshops and
financial incentives to educate and engage private landowners in
planting longleaf and conducting prescribed burns. The project will
restore 490 acres of longleaf, enhance more than 3,000 acres of
existing longleaf habitat, and engage 100 private landowners
through education and technical assistance. Efforts will improve
habitat for a number of at-risk species on lands near Camp Shelby
while also supporting the installation's natural resource
goals.
With 4.4 million customers and nearly 46,000 megawatts of
generating capacity, Atlanta-based
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving
the Southeast through its subsidiaries. A leading U.S. producer of
clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company
owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive
generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless
communications. Southern Company brands are known for energy
innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail
electric prices that are below the national average. Southern
Company and its subsidiaries are leading the nation's nuclear
renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units
to be built in a generation of Americans and are demonstrating
their commitment to energy innovation through the development of a
state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been
recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer,
listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks and designated a
2013 Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company
received the Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute for
its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Electric Light
& Power magazine's Utility of the Year for 2012 and is
continually ranked among the top utilities in Fortune's annual
World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility
rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.
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SOURCE Southern Company