Documentary Synopsis – courtesy of The Southern Documentary Project:
A cultural and natural history of the South’s ancient primeval forest.
Towering stands of old-growth longleaf pine (pinus palustris) once covered over 90 million acres while stretching from southern Virginia to eastern Texas. Today, the total acreage is about two million, with only about two thousand of that considered old growth. As the South was settled and Northern timber supplies were exhausted, this incredible natural resource was very nearly extirpated from the South’s landscape and collective consciousness. LONGLEAF: THE HEART OF PINE is a cultural and natural history of the South’s ancient primeval forest and how it might still be saved.