"It really does generate a win-win-win."

Fewer trees in managed forests could mean more water in the ground — potentially a lot more.

So, say all 800,000 acres of pine plantations in the St. Johns River Water Management District owned by private companies such as Plum Creek and public agencies were thinned of pines and burned of understory.

The result could be hundreds of millions of gallons a day available to maintain the health of springs and rivers, to drink and to grow food, said Matt Cohen, University of Florida assistant professor of forest water resources and watershed systems.

Read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.