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Planted trees create habitat
Take a moment to look at the trees spreading out before you.
Does anything appear unusual about them? If you guessed that
they are growing in nearly perfect rows you are correct, and that
is certainly most unusual for a grouping of natural trees. This
phenomenon is not something that is unique or unexplainable;
each tree here was planted by humans.
The trees here are all longleaf pines. Duette Preserve’s many
acres have had multiple owners and caretakers over the years.
This has resulted in different approaches to caring for these
areas, and a variety of styles of management. In some places,
like this section of the preserve and closer to the check station,
the Florida Forest Service helped to restore habitat by planting
hundreds of trees.
Much of Duette, like much of Florida and the southeastern ��nited
States, was once covered in longleaf pine trees. In the late
1800’s and early 1900’s, much of the ��S’s pine forests were ��rst
tapped for turpentine, and then completely cleared for the lumber
industry. Turpentine was created from the resin of the pine tree.
Workers would slash the tree, letting the resin collect into a cup
or bowl attached to the tree. This sap would then be distilled into
pitch, a commodity with a national demand, famous for its use
as “naval stores” for caulking holes in wooden ships and coating
sailing rigging to help it last longer on ocean-going vessels. In
addition to its use in the naval industry, turpentine appeared in a
variety of products from Vicks VapoRub and makeup to furniture
polish and ��rst aid salves. Once the trees stopped producing the
resin, they were harvested for the lumber industry. “Heart Pine”
from longleafs was a favorite for cabin construction, and timber
from the trees also was heavily used in ship construction, and
the stumps were harvested for gun powder.
The Florida Forest Service’s work at Duette, along with a
large scale County-led initiative, has contributed greatly to reestablishing
hundreds of acres of longleaf pine forest. While it
will take some time for the trees to reach maturity, their presence
here is already recreating the habitat once lost.
Thinning 1/3 each decade leaves behind a natural tree canopy
and number of trees per acre that closely resembles a native
mature long leaf pine
forest. Tree harvest
also returns
income put
back to work in
managing
the preserve.
Longleaf Pine
Photo by Mark Proch
Pileated Woodpecker
Photo by Michele Swartz
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