A research project at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Onslow County, NC is evaluating site preparation methods for restoring longleaf pine to poorly drained sites. The primary soil type within the study is Leon, acidic fine sand with a spodic horizon (Bh) that is often cemented. Leon soils are typically low in nutrients, somewhat poorly to poorly drained and covered with an abundant understory competing for limited resources. The study design is a split-plot with eight treatments replicated on six blocks. Treatments are an herbicide application or a single-pass chop prior to burning, followed by flat planting, mounding and planting, or bedding and planting. Included in each block are a control treatment (burned and flat planted) and a combination treatment (herbicide and chop prior to bedding). Results on early treatment impacts on soil chemistry indicate large variability on a small scale and little effect on nutrient status due to mechanical treatments. Modest increases in nutrient contents seen on the bedded and mounded plots were mostly insignificant (p £ 0.05) and unlikely to persist over time. Bedding and mounding do not appear to impact drainage beyond the surface soil. Seedling survival was not impacted by silviculture treatments after the first year, when the majority of longleaf seedling mortality is documented. Treatment differences detected at 6 months were no longer significant after one year.