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		The Nature Conservancy in Georgia Georgia Home Contact Places We Protect Field Trips & Events Press Releases Volunteer Ways of Giving Landmarks Publications How We Work

Animals At Risk Gopher tortoise Red-cockaded woodpecker Eastern indigo snake Flatwoods salamander Gopher frog Striped newt Plants at Risk Purple honeycomb head Boykin's lobelia Hooded pitcher plant Ecosystems at Risk Longleaf pine forest Isolated wetlands Blackwater river systems Contact Information Savannah Office 145 Bull Street, 2nd Floor Savannah, GA 31401 (912) 239-9800

Located in southeast Georgia near Savannah, Fort Stewart is a vital bastion of the South Atlantic Coastal Plain’s natural diversity. The largest armor training base on the East coast, Fort Stewart extends for 280,000 acres across five coastal Georgia counties – Liberty, Long, Tattnall, Evans and Bryan.

The Canoochee River flows from the northwest corner of the installation, where it joins the Ogeechee River at Fort Stewart’s eastern boundary. The Ogeechee has been identified by The Nature Conservancy as one of Georgia’s top priority coastal freshwater river systems.

Fort Stewart contains Georgia’s largest remaining stand of longleaf pine forest. Once dominating the Southern landscape, longleaf pine forests covered as much as 90 million acres from Virginia to Florida and westward to Texas. Today, less than 3 million acres remain. The longleaf pine forest at the Fort Stewart is part of a larger forest landscape that includes various natural community types such as small stream forests and isolated wetlands.

Working in partnership with the U.S. Army, The Nature Conservancy has identified 38 plant and 26 animal species listed as threatened, rare or endangered in Fort Stewart’s longleaf pine and blackwater systems. This species inventory includes one of Georgia’s two largest populations of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker – a bird that only inhabits mature pine trees affected by red-heart disease.

Most recently, The Nature Conservancy is working with the U.S Army to protect 187 acres of forestlands recently purchased through a landmark agreement (link to IP press release) with International Paper located adjacent to Fort Stewart through the Army's compatible use buffer program.

Nature picture credits (left to right): Longleaf pine forest © Keith Lazelle; Flatwoods Salamander © D. Mikesic.