As the core tree of a vanishing keystone community, longleaf pine has attracted the conservation focus in the southeastern Coastal Plain. The future of countless wild species depends upon how diligently managers will work to restore aspects of a true forest. The complete longleaf forest will disappear unless managers maintain open small-scale mosaics with treeless areas among pine groups of various areas, extend the rotation beyond economic maturity, maintain native ground cover, and shorten fire intervals. Aesthetics can be compatible with uneven-aged forestry and game production, and conservative grazing can accommodate some other resource aspects; major tradeoffs, however, are involved in trying to blend resources together. This paper contrasts some production approaches with one in which community integrity is the sole objective. Although their goals may differ, resource and ecological disciplines must work together if longleaf forests are to recover as a viable part of southern landscapes.