EGLIN AFB — Sometimes you have to tear something down to build it up.
At least that’s the philosophy behind logging on Eglin’s reservation.
Motorists in north Okaloosa County may have noticed small sections of the forest are being nearly clear-cut.
The loggers are removing sand pine trees, which have invaded the area from their habitat closer to the coast. The process helps restore the native longleaf pine ecosystem, home to old-growth trees and a host of plants and animals, some of them endangered.
The logging is a practice land managers have been using for years, just often not in public view.
“Probably 365 days a year we have a logger working somewhere on Eglin. This one just happens to be visible to the public, so it’s generated a few questions,” said Al Sutsko, timber management forester for Eglin’s natural resource department.
He noted that the reservation, which covers 724 square miles, has plenty of places for loggers to hide, even though they’re not trying.
Loggers now are working on a 325-acre parcel at the northwest corner of State Road 285 and Bob Sikes Road near Mossy Head. The land is within the footprint of the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal school.
The loggers should begin clearing another 450 acres on the west side of State Road 85 about two miles north of the intersection of State Road 123 within the next two weeks.
The sand pine, a fast-growth tree, originally was located in dune ecosystems and on barrier islands in Northwest Florida. Over time, they moved inland and spread quickly in the sandy soils on the Eglin reservation.
“The sand pine really has taken over,” Sutsko said. “It has become the No. 1 threat to our longleafs because it grows faster and reproduces at a much earlier age.”
The threat has grown over the past 50 or 60 years as foresters moved toward more fire suppression. Before that, naturally occurring wildfires would help clear out the scrappy sand pines, which are less fire-tolerant than the longleafs.
Now, land managers use a combination of logging and prescribed burns to clear the forests and make room for the longleaf ecosystem to thrive.
Every year loggers clear about 85,000 acres and harvest about 75,000 tons of vegetation, primarily sand pines, for timber.
Companies buy the timber for pulp wood, which is used to make cardboard boxes, fluff for diapers and other paper products.
The revenue from the timber sales goes to Eglin’s land management program and covers most of its operating budget, Sutsko said.
That includes funding the arduous process of hand-planting longleaf seedlings where needed.
On average, about 750,000 seedlings are planted each year. One year Eglin planted more than 1 million, Sutsko noted.
The International Paper mill in Pensacola has purchased the timber from the current logging project near Mossy head.
The sellable-size trees will be used for the usual pulp wood, but the smaller ones also will be harvested and chipped for fuel wood. The plant will burn that wood in a boiler that runs the paper mill.
That saves Eglin time and money it would take to clear out the smaller trees after logging is complete.
“It’s a pretty good deal for us, almost like instant restoration,” Sutsko said.
Eglin’s land managers have been working for decades to protect the longleaf forest.
Among other species, the forest is home to the red-cockaded woodpecker, which is listed as an endangered species.
The population status of the birds — they are about 7 inches long with a 15-inch wingspan — is considered an indicator of the overall health of the forest.
Over the last 20 years the woodpecker population has been rebuilding on Eglin.
“We’ve seen the population grow year after year,” Sutsko said. “The red-cockaded woodpecker is thriving and the habitat is in really good shape.”
In 2011, the federal government deemed Eglin’s population of the woodpeckers recovered, or no longer close to extinction, said Mike Spaits, environmental spokesman for Eglin
Eglin has 416 potential breeding pairs. Pairs must number 350 to be considered recovered.
Spaits said Eglin’s population is doing so well that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has asked to take some of its birds to other forests where the population isn’t fairing so well.
He said that’s a testament to land managers’ efforts to create a healthier habitat at Eglin.
“For land managers to be able to say that their efforts to restore the ecosystem back to its natural state has also had the impact that they are bringing back a whole species, well you could say that’s a real feather in their cap.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Lauren Sage Reinlie at 850-315-4440 or lreinlie@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @LaurenRnwfdn.