Forest and Clean Water

We are doing a major pre-commercial thinning of a pine stand right now.  This thinning will help the trees to grow faster and improve the habitat for wildlife.  Plans are two years from now thinning this stand again but this time it will be for money instead of costing money like it is now.  It cost $175 an hour to have this process done and it takes hours on several acres.  This machine is amazing how it eats through these trees.

You might ask why do you choose to do it this way?  The answer is on the ground.  The mulch acts as a sponge and helps purify the water as it goes through the mulch.  The mulch holds the soil in place and keeps the water clean.  The people of Clay County drink the water that falls as rain on this property then flows down the streams.  The picture below shows what the ground looks like after the thin.

Work and Meetings

This week started with firebreaks being cleaned out.  We are going to burn 125 acres next week if the weather cooperates.  Nic Jordan with the Alabama Forestry Commission is the best and deserves an award because of his commitment to doing a good job. 

The next day I was in Birmingham for a State Wildlife Committee meeting at the Farmers Federation Commodity Organizational meetings.  One speaker spoke on the best trap doors to use to catch wild hogs.  The next speaker spoke on the black bears in Alabama and how there are probable more than we know.  He told about several bears that they  had worked with to try to help them survive.  The last speaker spoke on Whitetail deer and the research Auburn University is doing at the deer research facility.  The next day I had a major pre-commercial thinning project started.  The pines are too thick and we are trying to cut down on competition.

Before thinning.

After thinning, more sunlight comes through and not only helps the trees grow but it helps the wildlife have more browse.

This is what the ground looks like after the machine has gone through the trees and cut them down.  The mulch helps keep the water clean and makes for no erosion.  

The next day we had a meeting with Tree Farm at Auburn University put together by Dr. Salem Saloom on Private Family Forest advocacy.  Melissa Moeller with the American Forestry Foundation in Washington DC was the main speaker for the seminar.   The meeting started with dinner at the Auburn University Conference Center.  The meetings started the next morning at breakfast at the Forestry and Wildlife Science Building.

Melissa Moeller and Dr. Salem Saloom

Dr. James Shepard, Dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Science, is a great asset to Alabama.  He is such a worker wanting to help the people of this state.

The Speaker of the House in Alabama, Mike Hubbard, spoke about forestry issues and gave his support for forestry and what we are doing to make Alabama a Great State.  Tom Saunders and Chris Isaacson with the Alabama Forestry Association also spoke on Alabama forestry issues.

Dr. Shepard had graduate students do posters on their research projects so we could see what is going on as far as research in forestry and wildlife.  This was very interesting.

That night at the Conference Center was the forestry awards banquet.  Dr. Shepard put his support behind this and made it a great success.  A huge plaque was unveiled at the meeting with all of the names of the  former Helene Mosley Award winners.  This will hang in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Science Building  at Auburn.  It is such an honor to be on that board with other great individuals that love and care for our natural resources.

It was a good two days visiting and spending time with old friends and meeting and making new friends.  Looking forward to next year!

Deer Season Ends

As the day begins to end on the last day of deer season the sunrise was a morning to remember.  Looking back on the season we took two eight pointers, and probably five does off the property (two does we trailed but could never find).  That was well and good but just being in the outdoors was what makes hunting special:  seeing my grandson so in-tentatively watching his first deer through the binoculars from a stand, Abby and I tracking a deer into the night and hearing all the noises in the woods after dark, seeing an otter traveling up a small branch on the property, the sunrises and sunsets, a hawk flying over a field looking for breakfast and being with family in the outdoors, hearing the stories of past experiences.

I think of Native Americans and their love for the land and the resources.  I know the land has changed some with the non-native species we see today.  Every time I pick up an arrowhead on the property I wonder what they were shooting at here many years before.  If this arrowhead could speak, what a story could it tell!

Is the land better today than it was then?  NO! Too many damages made by man but on our property we want to make it as close to being like it was then, as possible today.  It was a good season but now it is over. Time to get back to work and make the land better!

Wet Day

How the weather can change in a week!  I hunted alone today and I did not see anything.  I started out this morning, there was no rain until I opened the gate to go in  and it began to pour down.  I had an apple tree to plant for the deer but when I got to Bowden Grove it was raining hard so I quickly unloaded the tree, soil and shovel and realized I had left my rifle at home:(  so I started back home to get my rifle.  I quickly returned to Bowden Grove to plant the tree and to hunt.  I could hear thunder in the distant so I hurried to plant the tree and staple velcro in the spaceship stand to hold the windows shut. I had to do this in a hurry.  It started thundering and lighting close by and I did not want to be in that metal stand and in an open field.  I saw a track of a deer in the road near the jeep that I scared out when I went to the stand.  It began to pour rain again so I went back home.
This evening I sat in a wet stand and I saw nothing but today I did get my trees planted!

Cold Morning

Looking out over a frosty field as the sun came up Saturday it was cold.  Frost still collected on me as I watched for deer.  It was in the lower 20's but Abby, Jay and myself were bundled up so that we were able to stand the cold.  Jay took out a doe but where I was and where Abby was, we saw nothing.  It was impossible to walk in quietly because the ground was spewed up with ice. 

It was beautiful but cold.  It seemed the sun would never come over the hill from the east of me.

Past Few Days of Hunting

Pawpaw took a two and half year old eight pointer Saturday morning after the rain.  We saw sixteen deer Saturday but this was the only one harvested.  Abby saw a huge buck but it saw her first and she could not get a good shot at it.  Then Monday evening Abby takes out another predator on the property.  The fawns, rabbits and turkeys will be glad of this.  This bobcat was slipping around in the swamp looking for what it might catch.  We are looking forward to this weekend when the weather is suppose to be cooler.  The past few days have been too hot and we have been on the lookout for snakes.

Playground

The forest is a play ground.  For the last three days James, Selah, (grandchildren) and I have played in the forest.  We built a hut out of pine saplings on the coldest day and laid in the pine straw and talked.  We walked around the pond and looked where the bucks were rubbing the trees.  We made swords like used in "Star Wars" out of tree branches, and made a spear that we could throw and stick in the ground.  We looked at a deer hide being made ready for a project. We climbed trees, walked a foot log and collected moss for James's turtle back in Kentucky.  We watched deer out the window on the coldest morning.  Who can say there is nothing to do in the forest?  We had so much fun!