Enviva Partners with Forestry Associations to Rejuvenate Longleaf Pine Growth in the South

A partnership between Enviva, the world’s largest producer of industrial wood pellets, working with the Longleaf Alliance (LLA), Wildlife Mississippi, and the Mississippi Forestry Association is trying to boost longleaf pine habitats by creating new opportunities for public and private landowners. Under the partnership, the organizations will protect and restore longleaf pine forests in southern Mississippi and southwestern Alabama by implementing Enviva’s longleaf forest restoration plan. The plan works with private landowners to develop a management plan, provide forest certification, harvest undesirable woody plant material (to be used to produce wood pellets), and monitor long-term restoration effects on appropriate sites. At one time the longleaf pine was once the dominant species in the south, covering over 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas. However, over the last 400 years, the abundance of this species was greatly diminished due to non-sustainable timber harvest, clearing of land for agriculture and development, and exclusion of fire. Thanks to the hard work of partners throughout the region, longleaf is making a comeback.