Sandhills State Park | A Natural State - Episode 7

Nancy travels from her home in the Upstate to Sandhills State Park in Patrick to collect needles for her baskets. Dried needles are plentiful due to controlled burning of the park's long leaf pine forests. Controlled burns recreate a natural process that occurs when lightning sets off low intensity fires in pine forests. Fire keeps non-native, less fire tolerant species of plants in check while sustaining the native long leaf pine ecosystem. In this video, Nancy describes her connection to the park and provides words of caution for those who gather wild materials.