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Public Story
All Now You See
When this land was still occupied by those who gave the creek its name, pines ruled, though not the fast growing, scrawny species preferred for pulp, but the longleaf. Stalwart and slow growing, these pines populated the land across the southeast with a canopy that provided an open understory allowing for the range of wildlife native to the area. The southern landscape of today would be unrecognizable to anyone who knew it before logging and fire suppression.
My cousin moved into my grandparents’ house after my grandmother died, another generation in a long line to occupy this land, and she brought along a new husband. He brought along a wealth of knowledge about conservation, in particular prescribed burning to promote longleaf growth, and a new vision for this stretch of land. Significantly transformed after only a few years, the farm is now home to a growing number of native species including quail and the fox squirrel, as well as yellow Indiangrass, and of course longleaf. Many of the young pines are still spending their energy sending extremely long taproots down through layers of sandy soil to find water. Others have begun their path upward. It will be about thirty years before they mature creating a new landscape for my cousin’s daughter, and perhaps her family.
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