DeSoto National Forest benefits from grant to restore longleaf pine

The DeSoto National Forest/Camp Shelby Partnership has received a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant – one of 15 projects aimed at restoring and re-establishing the vanishing longleaf pine forests across eight southeastern states.

The grants are part of the NFWF Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a public/private partnership that includes the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southern Company and International Paper. Seven of the projects receiving grants are within the Southern Company service area.

The DeSoto National Forest/Camp Shelby Partnership grant is being distributed to Mississippi State University to promote good private lands stewardship and habitat management. It will support a series of longleaf courses and workshops to train certified burn managers and consulting foresters who work with private landowners to educate and engage them in planting longleaf and conducting prescribed burns.

The project will restore 490 acres of longleaf and enhance more than 3,000 acres of existing longleaf habitat.

“These grants are important because they provide financial leverage to a variety of projects from different non-governmental organizations and encourage these groups to share a common goal with each other,” said Patrick Chubb, an environmental specialist with Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company.

“Local grantees then realize their efforts are shared across the Southeast which reinforces the fact that the longleaf pine ecosystem should not just be confined to the National Forests, but that it also should extend across the entire Southeast,” he added.

These grants are important to the company because they build upon environmental work Mississippi Power is already involved in.

“We are a part of the communities we serve and it’s our duty to care for the environment today and for future generations,” Chubb said.

Currently, the Mississippi Power Company Environmental Stewardship Council is looking for other groups who might be interested in applying for Southern Company/NFWF grants. In addition to the Longleaf Stewardship Fund, Southern Company also administers the Power of Flight grant, for bird-related projects and the Five Star Restoration grant which focuses on Urban Watershed projects. Potential grant applicants can contact Chubb at pachubb@southernco.com.