Oftentimes, when I introduce myself as the Georgia Grasslands Coordinator, I am met with a puzzled look that is usually followed by the question, “What is a grassland?” I am always glad to share the truth about Georgia’s landscape. Unfortunately, I usually have to use grasslands outside of our area to illustrate what our landscape would have looked like. Outside of the longleaf pine savanna, many of our grasslands have vanished. Today, we can only see glimpses of what used to be, and those glimpses are often found in utility right-of-ways and roadsides.

The Soak Creek Savanna Restoration Project consists of approximately 375 acres that had been clear cut on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. Approximately half of the area was recently burned, while the other half was burned in 2021. This project is being conducted in conjunction with TennGreen Land Conservancy, Panther Creek Forestry (PCF), and Austin Peay State University (APSU).

Reed Noss is the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative’s Chief Science Advisor and the author of the book, Forgotten Grasslands of the South. Reed brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and expertise in a wide variety of areas to the SGI Team. His educational background includes a B.S. in Education with an emphasis in outdoor and environmental education from the University of Dayton, an M.S. in Ecology from the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, and a PhD in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida. Recently we sat down with Reed to learn a little more about him and his role at SGI.

May has been an extremely busy and exciting month for us. Our first “annual retreat” in over 2 years, education and outreach, volunteer activities, restoration work, networking, and much more are some of the many activities that SGI has been involved with this month. Read this newsletter to hear about all our exciting news and announcements, be reminded of our recent blog articles, and find out the hot topics being discussed in our Facebook group.