There is a flurry of activity today at the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center as our staff and volunteers plant trees and work to bring back Native plants.

There is a flurry of activity today at the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center as our staff and volunteers plant trees and work to bring back Native plants. The Lumbee Tribe Agriculture and Natural Resources Staff is planting 450 Long Leaf Pine Trees in the area of our first Cultural Controlled burn which was in December. In addition to the trees, they are also planting Wire Grass and other Native grasses. The planting is part of the Longleaf Pine Savanna Restoration project at the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center. The trees and grasses seeds were provided by the Sandhills Prescribed Burn Association (Jesse Wimberley, director) and the Lumbee Cultural Burn Association (Courtney Steed, director). The grass seeds were collected from Calloway Forest in Hoke County, which is owned by the Nature Conservancy. Dr. Lisa Kelly, a Biology professor from UNC Pembroke and two students from her class also joined in the planting. Also members of UNC’s Apple Service Learning program helped with the planting as well as Mikayah Locklear (Lumbee Tribe Natural Resources Intern, who is a recent UNC graduate.