nmurph
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My brother and I own and manage the family farm in SE GA. We are gradually restoring it to the forestation it had when our Grandfather moved to the area from the Sandhill region of NC in 1914. At that time the land was covered with Longleaf Pine and Live Oak. As the timber industry became commercialized the Longleaf was replaced with the faster growing Slash and Loblolly Pine. Along with the change in the preferred pine, there was wide spread damage to the sandhills of SE GA. They were inhabited with Bobwhite Quail, Eastern Diamondback Rattlers, Indigo snakes, and Gopher Tortise. Much of their habitat has been dozed away since the 60's. We grew up at our Dad's boots shooting quail. Now you can't find a quail. About 20yrs ago we endeavored to begin to restore some of what has been lost. In addition to gradually removing the Slash Pine that our Dad planted, not understanding the long-term implications, and replanting with Longleaf. We also do lots of selective removal of competitive species which tend to hop up quickly and crowd out the slower-to-establish Longleaf. We've spent the last 8yrs removing lots of oak to make room for the Longleaf.
Long before man came into the picture, fire was a major force in maintaining the balance of hardwood/pine, keeping the understory open, and promoting native grasses that were once wide spread. Since the local forestry department speeds to the sight of any fire larger than a match stick, we do a good bit of burning to achieve our goals. Here are a few pics of a burn we did this past weekend on a small section of the farm.
The weather was pretty good, the winds were fairly consistent, but we had some times when the heading wind would stop and the fire would stall. We also had some rain earlier in the week and some of the understory was still a little damp until mid-afternoon. We kept waiting for a perfect day to burn, but the optimal time to burn is coming to a close and we needed to get some fire laid on the ground.
Before- this area is mostly Sagebrush and Wax Myrtle. We clear-cut it several years ago and have left it unplanted. The deer love to bed in it and the quail like it as well.
Setting the back-fire on the east side of the area-
Burning around a deer stand-
The firebreak on the west side-
Long before man came into the picture, fire was a major force in maintaining the balance of hardwood/pine, keeping the understory open, and promoting native grasses that were once wide spread. Since the local forestry department speeds to the sight of any fire larger than a match stick, we do a good bit of burning to achieve our goals. Here are a few pics of a burn we did this past weekend on a small section of the farm.
The weather was pretty good, the winds were fairly consistent, but we had some times when the heading wind would stop and the fire would stall. We also had some rain earlier in the week and some of the understory was still a little damp until mid-afternoon. We kept waiting for a perfect day to burn, but the optimal time to burn is coming to a close and we needed to get some fire laid on the ground.
Before- this area is mostly Sagebrush and Wax Myrtle. We clear-cut it several years ago and have left it unplanted. The deer love to bed in it and the quail like it as well.
Setting the back-fire on the east side of the area-
Burning around a deer stand-
The firebreak on the west side-
