Longleaf Forever

Longleaf Forever is a compelling, short documentary film that plunges viewers into one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet.
Divided into chapters, the film begins with an introduction by a forester, Paul Massey, who has spent his life conserving longleaf ecosystems in Georgia's Red Hills. The focus shifts to the remarkable life cycle of longleaf pines, beginning with seedlings that grow into 100-foot trees. In South Carolina, Nancy Basket, a Native pine needle basket maker, narrates how the histories of Indigenous peoples and longleaf forests are intertwined. On the Florida Panhandle, we discover the essential role of fire in longleaf forests, where animals, insects, and plants have evolved to thrive with regular fire cycles. With more than 1 million acres of longleaf restored, the future of these ancient forests looks more hopeful.
Today, landowners, biologists, and land managers are turning a story of habitat loss and decline into a hopeful environmental narrative of restoration and renewal.