Berry College Longleaf Pine Project

03/31/2026

One week ago, Berry College Land Resources conducted a prescribed burn in an area of campus containing relict old-growth Longleaf pines (the area on Lavender Mountain to the southwest of the House O’ Dreams). The Land Resources group was led by Berry Forester Tim Chesnut, assisted by Coosa Ecological, LLC field team, Dr. Zach Taylor and Lindsey Lanford (Environmental Science and Studies [ESS]), and Professor Emeritus of Biology Dr. Martin Cipollini. This area was first burned by prescription in 2024 after decades of fire suppression which had led to a dangerous accumulation of ground fuels and duff (partially decomposed organic material just below the leaf litter). This material does not normally accumulate in frequently burned stands, hence is considered unnatural. The burn was intended to 1) reduce the risk of hazardous wildfires by the careful reduction of ground fuels and 2) improve habitat for plants, birds, and other animals. The burn was partially funded by a Georgia Ornithological Society grant to Dr. Adrienne Ernst (ESS).

Because the area had been burned only once in decades, it was important to protect relict Longleaf pines that had accumulated deep litter and duff layers around their bases. If this material ignites and smolders into ash, the intense heat can damage fine feeder roots that have extended upward into the duff over time. When this happens, the trees may become stressed and susceptible to beetle damage or may die outright. So, in 2024 and again this year, groups led by Dr. Cipollini raked around relict trees just prior to the burn and then went in immediately after the fire to “mop up” any potential hot spots. Between 2024 and this year, it appears that only two mature Longleaf pines were lost. No significant smoldering was observed following this year’s burn, which suggests that these rare relict trees are safe again and may contribute to the next generation of Longleaf pines on Lavender Mountain. It may take a couple more cycles of raking and burning until the hazardous fuels can finally be held in check by burning alone.

The photos posted here show some of the process involved.

Great work everyone!

03/17/2026

It's Pi Day! As we celebrate everyone’s favorite irrational number (and maybe a slice of actual pie), here’s some food for thought:

If the historic longleaf pine ecosystem were a pie, the Southeast once had a full 90‑million‑acre dish to share. By the late 20th century, we were down to crumbs –only about 3 million acres left.

When there’s not enough “pie” to go around, the plants and animals that depend on longleaf forests feel the loss first.

But here’s the sweet part: because of decades of restoration and conservation from our dedicated partners, the South is now back up to an estimated 5 million acres of longleaf pine and growing.

Thank you to every landowner, manager, biologist, educator, student, volunteer, and longleaf champion out there helping rebuild this iconic ecosystem!

10/28/2025

We realize that you haven't heard much from us since Dr. Cipollini retired in May. We want to make sure everyone knows that the Berry College Longleaf Pine Project remains alive and well! Dr. Cipollini remains an advisor to the project which is now headed by Dr. Adrienne Ernst (ESS Faculty) and our Forester Tim Chesnut. Dr. Cipollini recently gave a lecture and field tour to The Nature Convervancy staff and Dr. Ernst gave a well received presentation to our Board of Trustees. Look for updates soon about other Fall 2025 activities.

The image included here shows one of the 300+ seedlings that were added to the largest of our seed orchards in April of this year. 91% of those planted were alive and well in September when spots were treated with herbicide. Looking great so far!

05/04/2025

The Tree Man himself. Longtime Longleaf pine and American chestnut project supporter. Oh, and he plays with the Stones...

We’re thrilled to announce piano legend returns to headline the 31st Annual Blind Willie McTell Music Festival on Sept 6, 2025 in Thomson, GA- He’ll take the stage with the — 15 years after their last McTell Fest set!

We’ve been working hard to bring a great day of music and fun to rural Georgia!

Also joining the lineup:
• – one of the best bluegrass/jamgrass bands led by Del McCoury’s sons Ronnie and Rob
• (full set and backing Chuck)
• - Legendary singer-songwriter celebrating his 6th decade of touring
• - Blues guitar powerhouse

Advanced tickets on sale June 1 — don’t miss Georgia’s best day of music!

04/23/2025

Berry College faculty, staff, and students have been doing a lot of prescribed burns in support of the Longleaf pine project the last few weeks. Here are some photos. The areas that are included in these photos are the area directly around the House O'Dreams, the old growth slopes to the southeast of HOD on Lavender Mountain including the SAVE area where we first planting longleaf pines nearly 25 years ago. Also, the entirety of Stretch Road (Lavender Mountain Road) including our Longleaf pine seed orchard and Martha's Meadow xeric limestone barrens and nearby Calcareous flatwoods areas.
In addition to restoring key species and habitats, these prescribed burns are designed to reduce risk of dangerous wildfires. A little bit of prevention goes a long way...
Organized primarily by Berry's forester Tim Chesnut, many Berry College students, staff and faculty were involved, as were some outside contractors. Many thanks to all who were involved in planning, facilitating, and implementing these important prescribed burns!
Funds to support this work came from The Longleaf Alliance, Georgia Ornithological Society, and Pirelli Tire North America, Inc.
We will post recovery photos of all of these areas in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

04/07/2025

Berry College students have been busy planting longleaf pine seedlings in both seed orchard and natural sites at the college. Check out these pics that include students Anna Rose and Henry Antrobus. Aurora Hampton has also been very involved in this effort.

03/03/2025

Wildfire and Prescribed Fire: A Lesson

Sometime on Saturday (during Red Flag conditions nonetheless) someone left a campfire unattended in one of Berry College's managed old growth Longleaf pine stands. Luckily, the area had been burned by prescription just last spring (and 4 times before that in the last 20 years). Prior reduction of fuels enabled the first responders (Berry College's Land Resource department and the Georgia Forestry Commission) to contain the fire to just 1 acre total. So, two lessons here: 1) Don't mess with fire in wooded areas during this kind of weather, and 2) Prescribed fire can be very effective at reducing risk from wildfires when they do break out!

02/26/2025

Today, with help from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Lavender Mountain Earthworks, and Berry College's Land Resource department, the Berry Longleaf crew helped complete a prescribed burn centered in our 11 acre Longleaf Pine seed orchard. Things got a little toasty in the "doghair thicket" of loblolly pines just up slope from the orchard. Let's just say that we eliminated any pine beetle and fusarium rust problems there...

The seed orchard itself burned very uniformly, having been prepped ahead of time by several rounds of vegetative control. It is now ready for some in fill planting which will bring the number of trees in the orchard back up to about 1560. All told, about 80 acres were burned including a nice stand of mature pines further upslope beyond the younger loblollies that got scorched a bit. Many thanks to all who were involved. Here are some pictures of the Berry crew, led by Forester Tim Chestnut and Biology's Dr. Martin Cipollini. Students included Anna Rose, Tristan Christensen, Gavin McClellan, Mitchell Ryder, Savonnah Mitchell, Lilly Dunn, and Aurora Hampton. ESS Faculty member Dr. Zach Taylor also participated in the afternoon.

01/28/2025

Emily Rapach is a Berry College graduate who took Field Botany with Dr. Cipollini in 2021 (who also served as her academic advisor). Her botany term project centered on a floristic survey of Longleaf Pine stands undergoing restoration at the college. This photo is from last Sunday's front page AJC article. Go Emily!

01/28/2025

FYI - AL/GA Mountain Longleaf Prescribed Burn Association Workshop is scheduled for March 25 in Centre, AL. See details here: https://MountainLongleafPBA.eventbrite.com