Prescribed Fire on Longleaf Pines

Back in February we did a burn on two year old longleaf pines.  The purpose of the burn was to help control loblolly pines that had come up in the stand from seeds.  Below are some of the pictures from the burn.

Honor From Longleaf Alliance

Felicia and I were recently featured in a web presentation by the Longleaf Alliance called Longleaf Pine: A tough tree for tough sites.  There is lots of information here for those wanting to learn more about the Mountain Longleaf Pine.  We are featured on the part Longleaf-A better choice for these sites. The bullet points on the left of the page show the titles.

Longleaf Alliance came to our property and did an interview with us and developed this story.

https://storymap.longleafalliance.org

The Longleaf Alliance does a great job promoting and bringing to the forefront the importance of this great southern tree.
In May we will be hosting an event for the Longleaf Alliance at Ekun Duts Ke Lodge.  The session will be about converting a Loblolly stand to a Longleaf Forest.

Ladies Workshop A Success

Below are pictures from the two day event where women left after a great learning experience with the goals to improve their forest land.  There were many great presenters and the outdoor activities were enjoyed by all, by being out in the beautiful early spring weather in the forest.

ForestHer Workshop

In February we will be hosting a workshop for women that are interested in forestry. If you want to register for this workshop go to https://tinyurl.com/forestherFeb2018

Hope to see you there!

A New Year

This is a welcomed sign on Dewberry Lands but it also means many task will have to be completed this year: site prep work for planting longleaf pines. This includes road work, firebreak construction, applying herbicides, prescribed burning and planting.

These two loads, one with 12 inch tops and the other with 9 inch tops will help pay the way for reforestation cost where they are being harvested from.

Snow Beautiful, but Snow Damage

Below are some of the pictures made during the snow of 2017.  Some places had 10 inches while others had up to 15 inches.  Snow can be so beautiful but it can be so aggravating once it is gone.

Tree Farm and Treasure Forest signs in the snow.

Panoramic view from Ekun Duts Ke Lodge

Snow in the mature oaks

12- 15 inches of snow at one of the game food plots 

The "Abominable Snowman" loblolly pine

Snow cover at Ekun Duts Ke Lodge

Snow in the six year old longleaf pines😏

Snow in a newly thinned loblolly stand😒

Roads covered with downed trees after the snow

The results of snow in the loblolly stand that had just been thinned.

Peregrine Falcon Visits Lodge

The other day we had a young peregrine falcon visit us at Ekun Duts Ke Lodge.

It came down the chimney into the wood heater.  The grandchildren heard a commotion in the heater and went over to check it out. At first they though it was an owl but when we opened the door of the wood heater we saw it was a falcon.  

Next we had to figure out how to get it out and set it free.  I put on gloves and opened the door to reach for the falcon and it quickly flew past me and out into the lodge it went. The granddaughters screamed as it flew by.  It flew upstairs to a window where it stayed until I could go up and there it allowed me to catch it.  All the grandchildren had to pet it before we then took the falcon out to be set free.  

The video below was made by my grandson as we set the falcon free.  It flew off into the big sky, happy to be back in his world.