Ecology center maintains ancient Southern forests

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Posted 8:59AM on Sunday, November 10, 2002

NEWTON - For tree experts, visiting the 29,000-acre Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center is a lot like architects studying the Taj Mahal or geologists examining the Grand Canyon. The towering stand of 80-foot longleaf pines is an example of an ancient Southern forest that has almost completely disappeared. ``I see trees every day, but these trees captivate you: their height, their straightness, there are so many of them,'' said Sam Dunbar, a southwest Georgia plantation worker who attended a recent field day for about 50 landowners and land managers. The group, which also included ecologists and foresters, stood almost reverently, awed by the center's 18,000 acres of longleaf pines, most of them 70 to 90 years old. ``When I see a stand like this I get enthused,'' said Haywood Parrish, a special projects manager for several southwest Georgia plantations. ``I see multiage trees. As one matures and fades away, others come to take its place. This is nature. You have a perpetual property and that's what you want.'' The Jones Center, founded in 1991 at Ichauway Plantation, south of Albany, has established itself as a world-class institution for studying the longleaf pine ecosystem, which supports endangered species such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, the indigo snake and the gopher tortoise. ``In spite of the many land use changes, our longleaf pine woodlands, our wetlands and our rivers in southwest Georgia are still remarkable and beautiful ecosystems,'' director Lindsay Boring said. ``We can be concerned about their conservation and stewardship, or we can go the sole route of resource exploitation. ... In my opinion, that would be selling out.'' Ichauway was the quail-hunting preserve of former Coca-Cola Company Chairman Robert W. Woodruff. An avid outdoorsman, Woodruff allowed only 5,000 acres to be farmed. He preserved the rest. After his death in 1985, the Woodruff Foundation decided to turn the property into an outdoor laboratory for ecology and natural resource management studies. Ichauway is considered one of the most species-rich habitats in North America with more than 1,100 plant species - sometimes as many as 50 per square yard - and more than 280 fish, reptile, mammal and bird species. A major focus of the center's research is on understanding and restoring the complex longleaf ecosystem, which has the highest plant and animal density of any outside the tropics. Scientists are also studying aquatic creatures, such as mussels, and the effect of predators such as bobcats and raccoons on the quail population, which is vital to the many hunting plantations stretching from the Albany area to Tallahassee, Fla. The center also hosts outreach programs, a monthlong college program and graduate studies through partnerships with several universities. Ichauway's terrain ranges from cypress-gum ponds, grassy wetlands and cypress sloughs in the lowlands to pine forests, live oak depressions and agricultural fields in the uplands. Fifteen miles of the Ichawaynochaway Creek flows through the property and a 13-mile stretch of the Flint River forms Ichauway's eastern boundary. Two-hundred years ago, the Southeastern Coastal Plain was covered with more than 90 million acres of longleaf. Now, less than 3 percent of the original forest remains. Among landowners, there's been a renewed interest in longleaf. Government cost-sharing programs helped fuel the revolution, but landowners also recognized the benefits of growing trees that were more attractive, provided better wildlife habitat and were more valuable as sawtimber. About 920,000 acres of longleaf have been planted in the Southeast since 1996, including 125,000 acres in Georgia. Landowners in the region are expected to plant another 100,000 to 120,000 acres this year. Through its publications and outreach programs, the Jones Center has been aiding the restoration effort. The goal is to create an environment that supports native plants and animals, while also providing an adequate return for landowners. Besides touring the older longleaf stands, the field day participants visited farmland and slash pine forests that are being converted to longleaf, they learned about the critical need for fires in the ecosystem and about the importance of wiregrass and other native ground cover. Ecologist Todd Engstrom, a participant, said the Jones Center was carefully planned and its scientists strive to offer practical ideas. ``Water and income from timber are two important parts of the lifeblood of southwestern Georgia,'' said Engstrom, who is managing the Nature Conservancy's acquisition of a 5,200-acre Thomasville plantation that has 1,000 acres of old-growth longleaf. ``It's a very difficult balancing act to do good science and at the same time make it relevant to the manager on the ground,'' Engstrom said. ``I'd say they're doing as well as anybody in trying to keep those lines of communication open. It's a two-way street because the land managers have a lot to teach the scientists. It has to start with mutual respect."