Hike Report: Pinus Palustris
Centuries ago, longleaf pine was dominant across 90 million acres of the eastern United States. It's coming back.
“Follow the river until you hit the trees, then go through the hardwoods, away from the river.” John Rochevot, Natural Resource Specialist for the Army Corps of Engineers, gave me this instruction on our first foray into the longleaf stand at Jordan Lake dam. At the time, we were some distance east from the river, stomping through waist deep Lespedeza cuneata, approaching the longleaf stand from the direction of Pea Ridge Road. He was advising my follow-up hike.
Adding to his instructions, I would say it’s best to park at the top of the dam, and walk across. This is a slightly longer route but offers more dramatic views of Jordan Lake, the spillway, and the continuing Haw River. Once across the dam, you follow the gravel drive down the curve of the hill, bear right to the spillway, and then left along the river to the trees. Find a spot to push through the brush and go into the forest. You'll be at the top of a slope. This leads down through old oaks and hickories, crisscrossed by stream beds and spider webs. It’s perhaps a hundred yards or so to the longleaf pines.
On that first visit, however, John and I drove across the dam, down the gravel drive, and then left away from the river. This leads to the far end of the longleaf stand, where the pines are relatively sparse and scattered among the invasive Lespedeza cuneata that we tromped through. This plant was the focus of John’s first restoration project in the dam’s overflow spillway, lasting from 2006-2009, an effort to eradicate the invasive weed and replace it with natives such as panicgrass, little bluestem, partridge pea, and more. He then planned and led the longleaf restoration project from 2013-2015. This was a project to reforest 70 acres with longleaf pines. It began with the harvest of existing loblolly pines, which provided revenues of $160,000 to fund the reforestation. The overall project succeeded in planting 55,000 longleaf pines on 70 acres. With an 80% survival rate after the first year, the trees are still going strong today. What an amazing project, thank you John!
Today, I’m following John’s instructions to hike in from the river. It’s a pleasant walk along the spillway, awash with the cries of hunting birds and the roar of the dam. Passing into the hardwood stand, it is suddenly quiet. I cross to the pines. Finding a longleaf always surprises me — until you actually have it in front of you, it's tempting to mistake a loblolly as your goal. However, the longleaf needles are much longer (up to 20 inches), glossy dark green, and mostly appear as round poofs at the end of elegantly arced branches. The bark is flaky and prickly, and the branches are covered in sharp little scales. The cones are large, not prickly, and shaped with big, open lobes. However, you won't find cones yet at Jordan dam, the pines are too young.
It's quiet. The pine needles are soft underfoot, a breeze whispers above. Distantly the dam… I daydream from photos of mature longleaf forests, silence and soft light. A flash of motion brings me back to now… a hummingbird appears in the clearing before me. Left, right, up, and away with that dense buzz. The sun slants down through the glossy green pines.
The largest tree I found was about 10 inches across at the base, and perhaps 40-50 feet tall. The trees are growing in moderate brush, including ragweed, dog fennel, shining sumac, honeysuckle. There are also little bunches of tree of heaven and sweet gum trying to establish - it's striking how different the ground is beneath these, gray with dead leaves, compared to the soft brown pine needles that cover most of the forest floor. According to John, they will begin regular burns this year, which over time will eliminate many of these competing plants. Indeed, fire is a natural part of the longleaf pine lifecycle, as it doesn't injure the longleaf but does kill competitor plants. Eventually, the stand will be thinned out, and native, fire-tolerant plants will take over the under story.
These longleaf pines are just 10 years old and may live 200 years or more. In the coming decades, they will produce cones and begin a natural regeneration cycle. A classic longleaf pine ecosystem will take shape, in which the trees tower above a rich and open understory, with a tall canopy allowing airflow and ample sunlight. Species that were diminished or even lost (locally) will return, such as gopher tortoise, red-cockaded woodpecker, and up-land game birds. Centuries will pass. The longleaf will become, again, ancient.