The last option we discussed was chipping or mulching brush piles into small pieces. Steven and Robert also discussed the size of piles that are easiest to burn, how to best position them before burning, how to start the actual fire and what to do with the burn scar that is left behind once the flames are put out. Some of these include proper weather conditions (Steven calls this the “teasing condition” where it looks like it’s going to rain but doesn’t quite start raining – a mist or heavy fog), not burning when your county is under a burn ban, and having a water source nearby to put out the fire if needed. However, they can quickly become dangerous without proper safety precautions. You can also repurpose downed brush for erosion control by stacking it on hills or in gullies to help slow down water flow, increase infiltration, and reduce soil run-off.īurning brush piles can be an effective, efficient, and inexpensive method to get rid of unwanted plant materials. These piles can also protect beneficial tree seedlings you may want to keep from grazers and browsers on your property. Robert demonstrated how we can stack juniper limbs in tight or loose piles to provide shelter for songbirds, small mammals and reptiles. Plan to implement this practice in the summer, fall, and winter if possible, to minimize nest disturbance.īut once you’ve cleared a bunch of brush on your property, what do you do with all the material? Steven and Robert discussed three options: burn, chip or repurpose. When it comes to planning selective thinning on your property, it’s important to consider the nesting season for birds. We then kicked it back over to Steven to talk about selective thinning as a method to open up forest understories while leaving large and beneficial trees for wildlife, such as hackberry and persimmon, intact. Robert’s recommendation is to never prune oak trees from February through June, but you are usually safe to do so the rest of the year. While the storm itself was unlikely to cause oak wilt, the cutting and pruning of any resultant dangling limbs certainly could! The sap-feeding beetles that carry the fungus are attracted to open wounds in the oak, so these need to be painted over as soon as possible to prevent infection. The most pressing of these is oak wilt, a potentially lethal fungal disease which is transmitted by beetles. Robert Edmonson from the Texas A&M Forest Service, who spoke about brush management issues related to Winter Storm Uri. He also described some of the methods they use to manage brush species, with special care given to areas where they want to maintain open grasslands on hilltops while minimizing impacts on their aquifer recharge zones below. untreated area on the ranch and explained how quickly woody plant species, such as live oak, can grow back without continued treatments. In this episode we were joined by Bamberger’s ranch manager, Steven Fulton, to discuss how brush clearing and brush piles can be used in your wildlife habitat management planning. To start off, Steven showed us a treated vs. April Sansom, introduced this new chapter of Leopold Live! and explained how new episodes will be a little different from what we covered Chapter 1. Lights, camera, Leopold Live! Last month we premiered our third episode of Leopold Live!: Chapter 2 with our incredible partners at Selah, Bamberger Ranch Preserve, and we truly enjoyed getting to share more about wildlife management practices through the series. Shelby McCay Leopold Live, private land stewardship, wildlife management
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