Longleaf Pine Forest

This passage describes a specific type of forest called the Longleaf Pine Forest.

Lexile Level: 750L

Categories: Animals & Nature

If you take away fire, the longleaf pine forest will not live. At one time, these forests covered much of the southeastern United States. Very few are left. Native Americans understood that the longleaf pine needed the fire. They saw it was better to set controlled fires. These low-heat fires cleared out the brush and were good for the animals that lived near the pines. Fire got the ground ready for the seeds of the trees. Only someone who had studied the forest a long time could understand when and how to set a fire that is good for the forest. The foresters thought that every fire was bad. Smokey the Bear urged everyone to help prevent forest fires. At last, the foresters saw that fire had a purpose for some forests, the forests of the the longleaf pine tree. Fire helped to create, not destroy.