This small 12 acres looks nice and simple, but it has two protected bird endangered species governed by a Federal 10A permit. It was critical for us to understand and work within their rules.

When we started this project, it was the Fall of '05. We had seen Turkey, Dove and Whitetail in previous months.

The first phase was to thin out all the cedar trees with a 2" caliper or less by hand. This opened the property up for better visibility, and let us bring in a skid-steer. With tires instead of tracks we had very low impact on the top soil. By also using a hydrolic shear, we were then able to clear out the 6" or less caliper cedar trees from under the drip-line of the hardwoods.

We also want to remove the "telephone pole" tall skinny cedars that have no aesthetic value and are not located in an erosion control area. The shears allow you to cut the cedar tree off at ground level. Since cedars do not regrow, this is an excellent way to clear the cedars in sensitive areas where you really want to cause as little secondary erosion as possible.

Because the impact of the cedars on the land, to remove every cedar would leave a barren, craggy, acidic soilbed that would look ugly. So, instead of doing that, we really want to gradually clear layer by layer on this property. We kept an over-head canopy of large mature cedars as these serve as habitat for the endangered species that were present.

Finally, we did limb up almost all of the mature cedars to 6-8 ft. This served two purposes: 1) remove dry branches that are a fire hazard on such expensive property; 2) further open the under-story for wildlife.

This isn't what you would do on a larger ranch with less environmental concerns. However, in this case, the land value was $175,000 per acre so we were being very careful to keep everyone happy. Because of landowner, HOA, and various other 3rd party inspections and paperwork it took a year to finish the project.

The first group of photos below were taken Summer of '06, after the majority of clearing because we forgot to get photos before we started. What was interesting about this project was that from the road looking down, the canopy is in perfect condition and looks like we did nothing. However, once you walk into the trees there is a clear under-story with open spaces and 50 yard views that allow for great wildlife visibility and access.

It has been another year and a lot of rain so I am looking forward to getting out and taking photos of what it looks like one year later. Over the course of the year we worked this project, it barely rained once. It was so barren that literally no wildlife came to a deer feeder we set up. The corn laid on the ground for weeks at a time. We only saw birds, squirrels, and lots of coyotes. I am looking forward to seeing the results of our work.

To learn more about Wildlife Management Services by Texas Wildlife Unlimited, CLICK HERE

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