Georgia has big conservation goals, and the military is helping to achieve them

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with WABE and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

One of Georgia’s oldest longleaf pine forests grows in the midst of Ceylon Wildlife Management Area — state-owned land on the coast between Brunswick and Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. 

The trees there were planted shortly after the Civil War. The soaring longleaf pines stand generously spaced apart, with knee-high, golden wiregrass in between. It’s the ideal habitat for unique species like the gopher tortoise, red-cockaded woodpecker and indigo snake.