Conserving Southern Longleaf: Herbert Stoddard and the Rise of Ecological Land Management (Environmental History and the American South)

Way, Professor Albert G.

ISBN 10: 0820340170 / ISBN 13: 9780820340173

Published by University of Georgia Press, 2011

About this Item

Cover is worn. Item has staining. Paperback.

Seller Inventory # COBV.0820340170.A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Conserving Southern Longleaf: Herbert Stoddard and the Rise of Ecological Land Management (Environmental History and the American South)
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820340170
• ISBN 13: 9780820340173
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

The Red Hills region of south Georgia and north Florida contains one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in North America, with longleaf pine trees that are up to four hundred years old and an understory of unparalleled plant life. At first glance, the longleaf woodlands at plantations like Greenwood, outside Thomasville, Georgia, seem undisturbed by market economics and human activity, but Albert G. Way contends that this environment was socially produced and that its story adds nuance to the broader narrative of American conservation.

The Red Hills woodlands were thought of primarily as a healthful refuge for northern industrialists in the early twentieth century. When notable wildlife biologist Herbert Stoddard arrived in 1924, he began to recognize the area’s ecological value. Stoddard was with the federal government, but he drew on local knowledge to craft his land management practices, to the point where a distinctly southern, agrarian form of ecological conservation emerged. This set of practices was in many respects progressive, particularly in its approach to fire management and species diversity, and much of it remains in effect today.

Using Stoddard as a window into this unique conservation landscape, Conserving Southern Longleaf positions the Red Hills as a valuable center for research into and understanding of wildlife biology, fire ecology, and the environmental appreciation of a region once dubbed simply the “pine barrens.”

About the Author

ALBERT G. WAY is an assistant professor of history at Kennesaw State University. He is coauthor of The Art of Managing Longleaf: A Personal History of the Stoddard-Neel Approach (Georgia).