24th Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference
to be held in Tallahassee, Florida

The 24th Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference will be held in Tallahassee, Florida, January 11-15, 2009 at the Ramada Conference Center.

Tall Timbers' Fire Ecology Conferences were begun in 1962 by Tall Timbers Research Station to provide an international forum for the presentation of new research and discussion of current topics in the area of Fire Ecology. Over the years, the conference theme has focused on various current topics and ecosystems where open discourse and sharing of information has been needed to refine research direction and thought. This year's theme will be the Future of Prescribed Fire: Public Awareness, Health, and Safety. Click here for additional details.

SAVE THE DATE!!!
2009 Tall Timbers Naturalists’ Ball

Saturday, February 14, 2009
Glen Arven Country Club
Thomasville, GA

honoring
Mr. Leigh H. Perkins, Sr.
longtime Tall Timbers Trustee
and chairman of The Orvis Company

For more information, contact Vann Middleton, 850.893.4153, x343.

Fall Field Day and Game Bird Seminar

On October 18 and 19, Tall Timbers hosted this year’s 50th Anniversary Fall Field Day and Game Bird Seminar. Much needed rain did not dampen spirits of attendees that came to hear research reports on Burning, Genetics, Feeding, Predation, Translocation, Population Dynamics, Tall Timbers history and much more.

The presentations made by Bill Palmer, Clay Sisson, Shane Wellendorf, Brant Faircloth and Ron Masters can be found in PDF format by clicking here.

Lightning-Season Burning: Friend or Foe of Breeding Birds

By Jim Cox and Brent Widener

Lightning-Season Burning: Friend or Foe of Breeding Birds reviews some of the benefits of “lightning-season” burning that recent research has documented for breeding birds. Lightning-season burning is used increasingly to manage southern pinelands, but worries about impacts to breeding birds have surfaced in some instances. As this document notes, the impacts to breeding birds are generally not as severe as once thought, and many important benefits also have been documented.

To get a PDF copy of this publication, click here. Support for this publication was provided by the Power of Flight Bird Conservation Program. The Power of Flight Program was created by the Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and protects birds through habitat and species restoration and environmental education. The program focuses on southern birds, such as Bobwhite Quail, the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, American Swallow-tailed Kite, and Bachman’s Sparrow. The program has improved quail habitat on more than 37,000 acres across the region as well as habitat for endangered Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, beach-nesting shorebirds, waterfowl, and wading birds. Southern Company has committed $3.3 million in matching funds to the program over 10 years in support of projects that benefit southern birds and their habitats.

Tall Timbers Celebrates 50 Years as
Stewards of Wildlife and Wildlands

Established on February 7, 1958, the upcoming year marks Tall Timbers’ 50th Anniversary and features yearlong activities to commemorate this historic milestone.

For a calendar of dates, events and locations of activities we have planned during the year, click here. Information about these activities will be posted on this Web site. Please visit the site regularly for updates as some dates may change or be determined. Click here to read more about Tall Timbers' 50th Anniversary Celebration.

Land Conservancy Reaches Milestone: Over 108,000 acres Protected Through Donated Conservation Easements

As Tall Timbers celebrates its 50th Anniversary in 2008, its Land Conservancy reached a milestone exceeding over 108,000 acres of land protected in southwest Georgia and north Florida through donated conservation easements. 2007 was a banner year as Tall Timbers closed on twenty-three projects conserving more than 30,000 acres of land, tripling its typical year workload and results. Beyond its conservation efforts in the Red Hills region, TTLC expanded its service area in southwest Georgia and successfully completed easements in the Albany/Moultrie longleaf/wiregrass hunting plantation belt and along key watersheds, including the Flint, Ochlockonee, and Aucilla Rivers. The results have allowed TTLC to become one of the largest regional land trusts in Georgia and Florida (Learn more about the TTLC). With Congress approving the Farm Bill in May 2008, the expanded federal tax incentives for conservation easements will continue through December 2009. With this federal incentive and new state incentives, we expect more landowners to consider conservation an option for the future planning of their properties. These incentives are making a difference and allowing families to keep their land in rural uses. Finally, Tall Timbers Research Station & Land Conservancy is please to announce that it has applied for national accreditation through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. For an opportunity to comment on the work of the TTLC, click here.