Historically, the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forest extended for approximately 92 million acres across the southeastern US, from the Piedmont region to the Gulf Coastal Plain, and from Virginia to Texas. It was one of the most important species in different ecosystems supporting a complex web of life and human livelihoods for millennia. …However, less than 4% of the original longleaf range remains intact today, due to logging, fire exclusion, and land use change. Very few old-growth longleaf remnants exist only in four of the nine longleaf states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina), and some ecosystem types have no remaining representatives of the primary forest. Fortunately, a growing interest in restoring longleaf for wildlife habitat, climate resilience, and cultural heritage is sparking renewed efforts across public and private lands. This publication aims to track the origins and decline of the longleaf pine ecosystem from a historical and social point of view.