Can Payments for Watershed Services Help Advance Restoration of Longleaf Pine? A Critically Engaged Research Approach

Abstract

Private forests in the southeastern US are critical for providing a variety of ecosystem services, including timber production and water resource protection. Restoration of longleaf pine (LLP) forests and savannas tends to enhance some ecosystem services, including water supply, over timber production. A variety of payments for watershed services (PWS) strategies have emerged to address the market failure associated with private forests and public water supply. The nature of these programs suggests that biodiversity protection may be a positive externality, or third-party benefit, to water resource protection. This paper uses a critically engaged research approach and expert interviews to investigate how PWS programs may help prevent land use change and promote LLP restoration. We also offer recommendations on how to sustain emerging efforts to implement PWS strategies while including LLP restoration objectives.

The Longleaf Tree-Ring Network: Reviewing and expanding the utility ofPinus palustrisMill. Dendrochronological data

“…Fortunately, a renewed and growing interest in longleaf pine for timber and habitat conservation has occurred over the past few decades. Today, numerous range-wide conservation and restoration strategies exist to help guide public and private landowners in longleaf pine reestablishment (e.g., Sellers et al, 2021; Oluoch et al, 2021). Such widespread efforts include The Longleaf Alliance—a consortium aimed at guiding longleaf restoration, stewardship, and conservation using science-based outreach, partnership engagement, and on-the-ground assistance—as well as targeted Federal programs that provide incentives to private landowners for planting longleaf pine in lieu of commercial forest species such as loblolly and slash pine.…”