Red Clay Forestry, LLC Videos

I’ve had three clients that have questioned the dead branch tips that are evident in areas where the 13-year cicadas were present this past month. The last step in their life cycle involves the female creating crevices in the twigs / branch ends to lay her eggs. Many of these growing tips die and are left hanging in the trees. Not really a big impact on the trees (in my opinion) but part of God’s creation. In my area, many never heard these insects last month, but where they occurred, they were impossible not to hear the ongoing roar all day long. I’m not hearing them anymore so assume almost all have completed this portion of their amazing life cycle.

Southern pine beetle are active! An old infestation (pictures of pines without needles) from last fall has begun killing more trees this spring! The pictures of red topped trees - these were green 2 weeks ago. The pictures of the stems showing pitch tubes where the pine beetles have entered the trees and resin exudes and dries. Thousands of pitch tubes on trees that are still green! They will be dead by next week. The underlying condition is this pine timber should have been thinned 10-15 years ago! These crowded trees fight for water, nutrients and sunshine and are not healthy making them vulnerable to southern pine beetles. THINNED PINES = HEALTHY TREES THAT CAN RESIST BEETLE DAMAGE.

Cleaning off the slate so fresh herbaceous growth can emerge and benefit wildlife.

A video clip of the gang saw. Logs are fed in front the left, and are discharged as boards and slabs to the right.

That time of year… aerial spraying.

Road construction and maintenance is a necessary part of managing our forests. This often involves crossing streams and creeks. Here is an example of how to install a culvert pipe in a stream. Once the work was done, seed was sown to prevent this fresh dirt from washing. I'll provide more insight into forest road construction with future posts. This is a complex phase of forest management and the industry has fully endorsed Best Management Practices which outlines how to do this correctly so our roads (and other forest management actions) do not allow sediment to wash into streams, creeks, and rivers. Forests actually cleanse the water that is discharged! If you appreciate clean water, thank a forest landowner....

Tree planting can be done by hand. Each year, (legal) migrant workers plant millions of seedlings in Georgia to renew our forests. Without this migrant workforce, I don't know how we'd get this planting work accomplished. With all the current discussions on immigration, keep in mind that many phases of agriculture (including forestry) depend on migrant workers each year! This is very hard work, with planters typically planting 3,000 to 4,000 seedlings each day! These workers work in America for 3-4 months and earn enough money to live comfortably back home for the remainder of the year - but all have jobs there too. Over my career, the crews I've used came from Mexico or Guatemala.

Winter time is the right time to conduct prescribed burns. Yes, setting fires under the right conditions benefit the pine forest by clearing away herbaceous and woody brush. This allows succulent tender growth to emerge which is favored by many species of wildlife including deer, turkey, quail and others. By allowing fire under the right conditions, the pines aren’t harmed and reduces the risk in case a wildfire occurs during the wrong conditions (higher temperatures during drought conditions) Establishing firebreaks to halt the fire is a necessary step with planning a prescribed burn. Monitoring weather, field moisture in the leaf layer, wind direction and speed are all factors that must be considered when picking the day to conduct the burn.