Two years ago, I stopped by the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge near McBee, South Carolina. A freelance writer, I was casting about for something to research. The refuge manager, Scott Lanier, asked if I’d write an article or two on prescribed burns for local newspapers.
Prescribed burns, though controversial, are critical for preserving longleaf habitat--a habitat I knew nothing about. I couldn’t tell a longleaf from a slash pine or loblolly.
Fifty thousand words and 10 chapters later, I’m still learning about one of America’s great and threatened forests, and still writing. I’ve witnessed prescribed burns (even pitched in), witnessed the capture and release of venomous snakes and the translocation of endangered birds, field-tripped with ornithologists, hunters, botanists, foresters, wildlife biologists, fire management officers, geologists, and conservationists intent on protecting red-cockaded woodpeckers, white wicky, wild turkey, quail, fox squirrels and the forests they depend on.
The result is an upcoming book on a fire-maintained ecosystem, the great longleaf pine habitat which once dominated the landscape of the Southeastern US. This blog is an intro to that book. Excerpts from chapters and photos illustrate some of the topics.
Frequently, the blog will be updated with other excerpts and comments from readers.