Looking for Longleaf

"Covering 92 million acres from Virginia to Texas, the longleaf pine ecosystem was, in its prime, one of the most extensive and biologically diverse ecosystems in North America. Today these forests have declined to a fraction of their original extent, threatening such species as the gopher tortoise, the red-cockaded woodpecker, and the Venus fly-trap. Conservationists have proclaimed longleaf restoration a major goal, but has it come too late?" "In Looking for Longleaf, Lawrence S. Earley explores the history of these forests and the astonishing biodiversity of the longleaf ecosystem by weaving together extensive research, first-person travel accounts, and interviews with foresters, ecologists, biologists, botanists, and landowners. Taking a broad ecological view, Earley places humans in the story as characters whose actions interrelate in complex ways with other life in the ecosystem."--Jacket.