Visiting Longleaf

An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

I visited my brother, Jack over the weekend. He works for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as forester at the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge in McBee, South Carolina. This 45,000 acre refuge is devoted to restoring and protecting the longleaf pine ecosystem which once covered 90 million acres across the southeast. Fewer than two million acres of longleaf pine forest remain. As this habitat disappears, so do many of the species that thrive there. The red cockaded woodpecker, on the endangered list since 1970, is given special attention at the refuge. The current world-wide population is estimated at about 12,500. This is the only woodpecker that nests in living pine trees (preferably longleaf pines). While other woodpeckers bore into the decaying wood of dead trees, the red cockaded woodpecker bores a cavity into a living, mature tree. They establish a "neighborhood" of nesting trees and live out their lives in a tightknit extended-family setting. For their survival, they require large, open, longleaf pine forests. At the refuge nesting trees are identified and marked so that the population of this endangered bird can be monitored and protected.

Jack has the good fortune of living on the refuge. His house sits pretty much in the middle of this 45,000 acre national treasure. There are several lakes within walking distance of his house and hiking trails in every direction. Saturday morning we took a long hike -- some of it on trails, some of it through the forest. We left shortly after breakfast and got back just in time to watch the Georgia game on TV. It was a perfect day. Sunday morning we went for a shorter hike in a different direction. I'll be sharing some of the photos from my visit on the blog this week.

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~