AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. (April 27, 2007) – Students from Leavelle McCampbell Middle School in Graniteville and teammates at the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) Aiken County facility recently put their green thumbs together to enhance the plant’s wildlife habitat area by planting 15,000 longleaf pine trees.

More than 150 6th graders, their teachers and plant teammates took a key first step in the Aiken County facility’s five-year biodiversity plan, which is aimed at ensuring an environmentally sound balance of plant and wildlife on the company property. The pines were planted on 23 acres within the facility’s site. Longleaf pines once occupied an estimated 90 million acres in the southeastern United States, but today less than 3 million acres remain due to fire suppression and development. A local Forester was on hand to give a presentation on the Long Leaf and discuss the life cycle with the students.

“What better way to kick off this initiative than on Arbor Day. We have a strong ongoing commitment to constantly improve the environment and quality of life for our teammates and community. BFNT Aiken County is focused on creating opportunities to beautify local lands and save natural resources,” said Mike Rose, Plant Manager. “Our team members deserve a tremendous amount of credit for their accomplishments in seeing through the first phase of the project and we are delighted to be able to present Leavelle McCampbell Middle School with the opportunity to conduct hands learning experiences for its students.”

“This lesson helps to meet many of our required teaching objectives for this subject and we are glad Bridgestone Firestone continually looks for ways to enhance our community and support the education of our youth,” said Michelle Padgett, Curriculum Coordinator at the school.

Bridgestone Firestone is located on 560 acres; of that, 400 remain in its natural state. The facility is making every effort to enhance and support the natural beauty of the property and create a sustainable habitat for indigenous South Carolina wildlife. Some of the activities have included inviting a local Girl Scout troop to help build and place blue bird houses on the land. The bird houses are being monitored by Bridgestone Firestone team members.

BFNT Aiken County is working with biologists and the Wildlife Habitat Council to create a comprehensive long-term forest management plan for the entire site—with a focus on the longleaf pine forest ecosystem.