We have been fortunate to get lots of professional input into our land management, from state, private, and NWTF foresters along with NRCS officials and state biologists. 
It was pretty much a universal opinion that our first goal was to do a controlled burn of the forest areas. Needless to say, we needed a lot of education about this as the thought of setting fire to our woods was scary, if not outright frightening. So, the knowledge search was on! Continue reading
Tag Archives: timber
Management Plan
As mentioned before, we had a short, complementary management plan from the NC Forest Service that served to assure our tax basis as agriculture. Technically we are a Timber Farm. We are farmers! Exciting, but believe me when I say that we are glad we don’t have to make a living from this. While this plan was very useful, in our minds it didn’t offer much direction for general habitat improvement directed at all the native flora and fauna. This is where the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) in general, and Graham Hanson in particular came to the rescue. Continue reading
Now what?
We are now landowners but know nothing about owning land. Where do we start? Taxes. Insurance. Management. Etc. Much to learn. Overwhelming actually. Fortunately there are a lot of public resources in NC to help with the journey. It truly is a journey as we are learning and developing new skills with nearly every visit. Continue reading
The Decision
Which land?
While the first impetus for a land purchase was deer hunting, what we really were searching for was acreage of enough size and with enough varied features to facilitate a variety of outdoor activities. Our family likes to fish, hunt, watch wildlife, hike, etc. We set our target on 100 acres or so with woods and water. We really knew nothing about purchasing undeveloped property, and quite frankly, most of what we have learned, we learned after the purchase! Continue reading