A Few Dry Days

We were able to get this burn in under these 12 year old longleaf pines between all the rain we have been having this December. We burned about 55 acres .

President 2018 Alabama Treasure Forest Association

I recently completed my term as President of the Alabama Treasure Forest Association.  I conducted the business at our final state business meeting for 2018 in Pratville at the Alabama Landowners Conference.  This was such an honor for me to be in a line of great presidents that have guided our organization down through the years.  Our next president, Gary Cole, will be a great president for our organization.  

People usually serve two annual terms in this position but I agreed to serve only one because in November I became the State Chairman for the Alabama Tree Farm Committee.  I had already made this commitment to Tree Farm early and had been serving as vice-chair for the past four years.

These are two great organizations for forest landowners having different objectives but both do great work for those they represent!

Classroom in the Forest 2018

2018 Classroom in the Forest is in the books!  We host all the fifth graders in the county to our property each year learn the truth about the forest.  They get to see a real working, sustainable, multiple use forest and get to interact with nature where this would be impossible in the classroom. 

For more information about this program go to the Alabama Treasure Forest Association.

Farm Bill 2018

We met with Congressman Rogers yesterday to discuss the Farm Bill and its impact on Rural America here in Clay County.  It is so important to all rural people in ways we have not thought of.
We looked and talked about how the bill helps keep our water safe and pure; how it effects jobs in our community; and how wildlife habitat is protected.

Transmission Line

We have a large transmission line across part of our property where we hunt.  We try to use it to our advantage. We are planting fall crops under these openings and bush-hog only part of the area allowing small animals and birds cover where they can cross the opening of the power line.

Small grains and clover are planted where we till the soil.

Alabama Landowners Conference

This is a big forest event for Alabama.  It is a joint event between Alabama Tree Farm, Alabama Treasure Forest Association, and the Alabama Natural Resource Council.  There will be many awards presented at this meeting along with educational seminars and fellowship among forest landowners and forestry professionals.

Register now at ATFA website or AFA website to attend.  Also an event schedule can be seen here.

Event in Clay County (Wildlife Management)

The Longleaf Leader Magazine

It was such an honor to recently be featured in The Longleaf Leader magazine.  We strive to manage our longleaf forest to be productive and provide a longleaf habitat that benefits wildlife.  We have always shared with other landowners any information that we have available to us to help other landowners in managing their property.  

This article provided us the opportunity to share with some that we might not know a little about the way we manage our property.

Clear Forest Streams

If you want children to love the forest, then get them out and let them enjoy!  They love playing in the cool forest streams and whether damming it up or look for gold children love to play in a stream. 

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

Learn and Burn

Yesterday the Clay County Forestry Planning Committee, which I serve on, sponsored a Learn and Burn Workshop.  I was a burn mentor and helped show other people that are interested in using prescribed fire how to use fire safely as a tool in forest management. We had 49 to attend the workshop and burned over 500 acres.  We got a very good burn on the host landowners property.  It was a good day and a good event for landowners.  We are looking to do this again next year.

Successful Workshop For Women

The ForestHer Work Shop this week was a success.  We hosted the event on our property, sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, with a grant from Regions Bank.  This workshop gave the ladies confidence in forest management.  The ladies left the event with their own goals on how to improve their property.  Attendees ranged from Birmingham, AL to Douglasville, GA.  Several great speakers spoke to the ladies and the outdoor activities with this early spring weather was enjoyed by all!

(Below are some pictures from the workshop)

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!

New Year Plans

I love seeing these trees being harvested off of our property.  We have already made plans for reforestation of this property this year.  This property will be planted in longleaf pines.  There are many management activities on the property planed for this coming year. 

One load is of twelve inch topped hardwood trees and the second load is a load of nine inch topped hardwood trees.