The Dance of the Trees: Piney Grove Preserve, Virginia
by Brian van Eerden
Brian van Eerden is the Director of The Nature Conservancy's Southern Rivers Program. He has been with the Conservancy since 1999.
"Look at the trees dance in the wind, Dad," Abigail said.
My two-year-old daughter sat on my shoulders as we waded through waist-high grass. We stood still for a moment, enjoying the sweeping vista surrounding us in the middle of the Conservancy's 2,700-acre Piney Grove Preserve. Although Piney Grove features one of southeastern Virginia's most spectacular pine savannas, it was the sounds that captured our imaginations on a windy late-January day.
I wondered if Abigail would hear one of my favorite forest sounds -- wind pulsing through the open pine canopy. I said, "Do you hear the ocean, sweetheart?"
"I do, Dad," she said.
But after a pause, she asked, "Where's the water?"
I explained that the wind made the sound as it blew through the tops of the pine trees. We stopped talking, closed our eyes, and, for a couple of minutes, just listened to the sound of the surf breaking 60 feet above our heads.
Abigail finally broke the silence when she said, "Dad, I like this place." And she squeezed my head in a big hug.
These pine savannas once blanketed Virginia's Tidewater region, but now have become merely ghosts across much of the landscape.
But at Piney Grove, the Conservancy is demonstrating the viability and immense value of restoring these beautiful, ecologically rich habitats. The restoration also is fueling the recovery of Virginia's rarest bird — the red-cockaded woodpecker. With tremendous support from diverse partners, the Conservancy is pulling the woodpecker back from the brink of extinction in Virginia.
I will always cherish that visit to Piney Grove with my sweet Abigail and the affirmation she gave to me that day for the investments we're making to protect the world's special places. She represents to me all the future generations that inspire our dedication to conservation, and I'm particularly thrilled to be part of the team that is reviving Virginia's majestic pine forests.
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Comments: 19
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It's nice to know that the pines are being protected and that the habitat of the red-cockaded woodpecker is being restored. Here in southern Ontario, many bird species are making a comeback after so many years of being invisible. Thanks for a great read.
You might be interested in a recent Nature Stories podcast we aired about a "natural radio" recordist who listens to the music inherent in the earth's own radio waves.
Sound interesting? You can listen to it here (link to mp3 file).
I did some quick research on southern pine trees in Missouri, and it seems like there's a problem with invasive species. That said, the remaining forests of Missouri are also home to the red-cockaded woodpecker, according to Wikipedia.
So: what do you find when you go into nature? What do you see, hear, smell, taste, and feel?
In West Oz, pine trees are an introduced species (now mostly for commercial harvesting) seen by many conservationists as being a blight. We have wonderful eucalyptus forests - though much of these have been clear-felled, with disastrous consequence for native fauna.
Magi