January 10, 2026 Before roads, towns, or farmland, longleaf pine forests stretched across more than 90 million acres from Virginia to Texas. It was an open woodland, sunlit and spacious, maintained by frequent natural fires. Wiregrass shimmered beneath tall pines. Red-cockaded woodpeckers drilled their nesting cavities. Fox squirrels bounded through the branches. It was one … More Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve