Accelerating Restoration in the Northern Great Plains and Longleaf Pine Forests in the Southeast

Working with NFWF, the Bezos Earth Fund supports an estimated 30 local groups to restore and maintain 200,000 acres of longleaf pine forest and 600,000 acres of Northern Great Plains grasslands. Taken together these activities will sequester up to 8M t CO2e by 2050 and support recovery of 10 at-risk species including the red-cocked woodpecker and black-footed ferret. 

Supported activities in the longleaf forest ecosystem include tree and native understory plantings, expansion of seedling availability, thinning over-crowded forest stands, removing invasive species, and prescribed burning. Supported activities in the Northern Great Plains include improving grazing management, restoring marginal crop ground to grass, treating invasive species, and permanently protecting highly endangered grasslands through conservation easements. In addition to supporting restoration on the ground, this project enhances restoration monitoring capacities including through use of Land and Carbon Lab data.