Water


Water quality is important to all of us.  Here you will find information about how your forest land keeps the water clean and how to manage your forestland to insure it stays that way.



Stream Crossing

This is a before picture of a place where we were having to cross a stream to get to 100 acres of our property.  It was grown-up, muddy, and just about impossible to cross in anything but a tractor and that was not easy.  Also, we do everything possible to keep the water clean and pure so we were looking at ways to improve this situation.
We were able to get a crossing constructed as a joint project between several parties with the design and help of the NRCS.

Here you can see the two rock types that were used to construct the crossing.  The bed for the crossing was dug out to the bed rock then a cloth-like material was laid to help hold the rock in place. The large rock was put in place on the cloth and the smaller gravel/sand was put on the large rock to form a solid stream crossing.  The level of the stream was not changed in any way so fish and other small aquatic organisms have no change in their migration up stream.  Every where the soil was disturbed was planted back in grass, fertilized, limed and mulched with hay.

This is the finished product
with everything back in place.  My granddaughter is proud of this! (Post September 2, 2014)

Just a note: We are planning a workshop on this project for the public in the fall so we can share information about this project with others.


Spring Lizard Eggs
Here is  a rock found in one of our streams that had Spring Lizard eggs under it.  We placed it back like it was so the eggs could hatch.  We have found lots of eggs in the branch and it is full of Spring Lizards.  They say this is a sign of clean water.  Many people depend on this stream for drinking water. 

Post 1
We are now working on a joint demonstration project with several agencies on Forest Roads.  We have started the work and are now ready to add the seed to stabilize the soil.

There will be updates to this site as the project continues.  This project is to encourage others to look at all options as far as concerns for forest roads, soil erosion and water quality.

Post 2
This past weekend my son, grandson, and myself planted the places where soil was disturbed in the work on the road.  We applied pelleted limestone, fertilizer, and a mixture of seed using bahiagrass and brown-top millet.  We are going to apply the nitrogen after the germinate and stars to get established.  We have had good rain on it so germination should be soon.  
We now have a scheduled date of August 26th, in the afternoon for the educational seminar to take place.

Post 3
This week we applied the nitrogen to the roads.  They have germinated and are looking good.  This application of nitrogen should finish off the work on the road project, scheduled for the end of August.

Post 4
We added some gravel onto two spots along the road to prepare for the tour, August 26th.  It was a tight squeeze for this large truck getting down the road.  Some gravel is also being added to a ford crossing the branch to show care for water quality.
I am starting to bush hog next week to make final preparations for the tour. 

Last Post on Forest Roads
Tuesday, we hosted an educational seminar and tour on our property for agency people such as NRCS, Soil and Water District, Alabama Forestry Commission.  This was a project about "Forest Roads" and protecting the water shed.  
Many groups had a hand in making this happening possible, many individuals work hard to make this day a success.  It started at our lodge with the indoor sessions and then when Congressman Mike Rogers came by we actually went to the site where the road work was carried out.  Our goal was to give the Congressman a first hand view of forest roads and how forest landowners are working to keep the water shed clear of erosion which has been a hot topic on the national level the past few years.  We had 34 to attend the seminar.
This was the conclusion to the Forest Roads Project but the road work may be used in logger educational training and the Clay County Forestry Planning Committee may do a landowner tour here at a later date.

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