Hey y’all! Welcome to Fast Facts for Gen Z. I’m your host, Callie, and I don’t know anything about anything. Come with me on my exploration of the world, and I’ll tell you everything you ever (and never) wanted to know, through the eyes of Gen Z.
I have some exciting news for you today. Stay tuned to find out what.
Today’s episode: Longleaf pines, sustainable forestry, and the privilege to buy things you don’t need. Don’t be scared, you know I connect it all in the end.
Let’s start with longleaf pines. I live in North Carolina, and if you look outside, chances are, the pine trees you see are not longleaf pines. This is partially because there are eight species of pine trees in the state. You’re probably looking at a loblolly pine, which are also called black pines, and also Carolina pines. They’re the most common in the Piedmont and Coastal Plains, by far. Many years ago, you’d see a lot more longleaf pine trees, but not so much anymore. Loblollies are more popular for lumber, so most of the pine forests that are regularly logged are loblolly. But longleaf pines are a really major tree in the southeast, in both biology and culture. They’re even the state tree of Alabama. Why?
Well, lots of reasons. Let’s start with biology. Longleaf pines are one of those trees that needs fire to survive, which is really cool. Regular forest fires, oddly, promote the growth of longleaf pines. The adult bark is very thick and can survive a fire fairly easily. Fires are also essential to the reproduction of the species. The pinecones that the trees drop survive the fire, but open after it’s over. That way, the seeds are protected, and they’re released into fertile soil full of lots of new carbon and other nutrients from the fire. Colonized America decided it didn’t like forest fires, which is probably another reason that longleaf pines aren’t as prolific anymore. Just like lots of things we do, that choice backfired, which is why the forest fires that do happen are a lot worse because the dead undergrowth doesn’t get regularly cleared away and all goes up at once, causing a lot more damage to the environment and posing a bigger threat to human life. Anyway. Trees.
Because longleaf pine forests have been so shaped by forest fires, they’ve made themselves home to many endemic species that thrive in habitats created by fire. Endemic species are species that don’t live anywhere else in the world, so if their one habitat goes away, that’s it for that animal. The biggest squirrel in the southeast, the southeastern fox squirrel, is endemic to longleaf pine forests, as are northern pine snakes and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Red-cockaded woodpeckers peck their way into trees to make their own homes. That’s wild! Many of these animals are threatened or endangered now, due mostly to habitat loss.
Culturally, these trees are hugely significant. I know it’s odd to think of trees as having significant cultural impact, but it’s true. When they’re everywhere, they’re nearly impossible to ignore. They’re beautiful in every stage of life, from their young age with short branches and long, green, drooping needles, to their adolescence which resembles a saguaro cactus, to their tall, straight, noble adulthood we would recognize as, “yeah, that’s a pine tree.” As I said before, they’re the official state tree of Alabama, and many people think they’re the official state tree of North Carolina too. Apparently that’s because they’re named in the North Carolina State Toast. Did you know we had a state toast? What even is a state toast? It starts out: “Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine, The summer land where the sun doth shine.” So it makes sense why people would think it’s the state tree, but no, we’re not that specific. The official state tree of North Carolina is just “pine.” So take your pick of the eight, I guess.
Most of the reason that longleaf pines aren’t around much anymore is logging. I know, big surprise, I’m going all Lorax on you. Look, logging isn’t inherently bad. Sustainable forestry is a thing that can happen! It’s just that sustainable forestry takes both time and care, and people who only care about money want the money RIGHT NOW and don’t care about the consequences, so here we are. Let me teach you a new word that I didn’t know before: silviculture. I think that word is so pretty. Silviculture is the growth and cultivation of trees, like agriculture is for crops and aquaculture is for fish. Silviculture is a class you can take at some colleges, so keep your eyes peeled for that if you think trees are neat. It might be under other names, like, you know, forestry, so that normal people who don’t know the word “silviculture” might still take the class. But look at you now knowing words! Fancy fancy.
Anyway, proper silviculture for longleaf pines can actually be done in a lot of ways, since they can hold up to group selection and shelterwood harvests and can be sustained in an uneven-age forest. Group selection is a harvesting method where groups of trees are harvested together, and the groups are spread out over the forest. This allows for plants who need a lot more sunlight to return and get a chance to grow before being blocked out by more trees. Shelterwood harvesting is a more controlled method of forestry for people who are growing lumber just for harvest, and it allows farmers to thin out the forest of undesired species and promote the growth of the trees they want in a series of cuts spread out over many years. Uneven-aged forests are just forests where not all the trees are the same age, or even really around the same age. Usually forests that get clear-cut are even-aged, since all the trees start growing at the same time and get cut at the same time.
Alright, alright, I promised you a connection to impulse-buys. My personal connection to longleaf pine trees comes in the form of a fifty dollar stick. You heard me right. I’ll tell you the story.
Last fall, though it feels like longer, I was talking to a craftsman at my local farmer’s market who was selling walking sticks he made. He told me the stories of each walking stick he made: the tall, strong pieces of cedar that bragged “I’m a hiker,” the short, thin, pure white sticks that looked like a statement piece and felt like your best friend, and the lengths of oak with woodburned patterns he had designed. I knew he was trying to sell me something, but that didn’t make his stories less engaging. Most of his pieces, though all unique, had a partner or a few others of the same kind of wood, but there was one straight, plain stick that seemed to be all alone. I asked him about it, and he told me its story.
You can’t find longleaf pine anywhere anymore, except for one little protected forest at Fort Bragg. There, they plant new longleaf pine trees and do regular controlled burns to promote the forest’s growth. He had a friend who worked there, and before a controlled burn, his friend called him up and said, “Hey, we mark some of the trees that we think won’t survive the burn, so if you want to come down and take any wood you want, go for it.” So he did, and now this was his last piece of longleaf pine.
How could I not buy it?
It was fifty dollars. I know that there aren’t that many people in the world who can drop fifty dollars on a stick. I don’t spend money very often, but because I cannot tell you exactly where I got those fifty dollars, I know that I bought this stick with money, yes, but also privilege. Not everybody can buy something they don’t need. Not everybody wants a stick. I suppose every artist has their audience, and I guess this craftsman’s audience is me.
It’s important to be aware of the privileges we encounter in our daily lives. I could buy that stick if I wanted to and not have to make any sacrifices for it, because I grew up middle-class. I could walk down the school hallways without a hall pass and not get in trouble for it, because I regularly have good grades. I could walk or drive past a police officer without fear, because I’m white.
I would say it’s important to be aware of the privileges we do not have too, but I feel like I don’t need to. I know that I can’t always hold my partner’s hand in public, because I’m gay. I know I can’t take a walk or go somewhere at night without a plan to protect myself, because I’m a woman. So instead I’ll say that it’s important to be aware of the privileges that other people do not have. Try to hold those thoughts with you, and you’ll find that it’s easier to understand others when you understand what they can and truly cannot do.
Thank you for listening to Facts for Gen Z. There are now transcripts of all episodes of the podcast available at www.fastfactsforgenz.wordpress.com. There, you can read along, catch up with things you can’t quite remember, or just read instead of listen if that’s what you want to do. That page will be updated weekly as new episodes are released. Go check it out! This is Callie, signing off.
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