The State Botanical Garden of Georgia at the University of Georgia is a founding member of the Piedmont Prairie Partnership, a group of non-profit, state and federal agencies that are documenting the history of Piedmont Prairies and taking steps to bring them back.
Piedmont Prairies are a top three conservation priority in the Georgia State Wildlife Action Plan.
Historically, much of the Piedmont, which stretches from North Carolina into Alabama, was covered in grasslands and grassy savannas with widely spaced trees. These open areas, maintained by regular fire, supported a great diversity and large numbers of flowering plants, pollinators, and other wildlife such as bobwhite quail. Most of these areas have now grown into thick forests, but with climate change forests are expected to thin out once again.
In Georgia, the State Botanical Garden, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Department of Transportation are working natural areas, roadsides, powerline rights-of-way and their own backyards to bring back this rare ecosystem and help prepare for the future. At the garden, conservation staff are restoring a 10 acre piedmont prairie remnant with support from the Georgia Power Foundation and Wildlife Conservation Society.
The Piedmont Prairie video is now an official selection of the NC Longleaf Film Festival
