What if your land received a report card?

I’ve looked at a lot of tracts of land over the last three decades. It is rare for me to see a truly healthy piece of land. Most tracts have been repeatedly plowed, cut, overgrazed, poisoned with chemicals, and generally neglected, with never a thought to improving land health. Most of the time this neglect is due to ignorance—the modern landowner is more disconnected from the land than at any point in history. Often, these owners turn the care of their land over to leaseholders (hunters and farmers) who further degrade it. The typical tract of land I see would score a C- or D+ if it were to get a report card.

What can you do to improve your land health and value?

The first step is to have someone who knows what healthy land looks like to assess your property. Since the land can’t speak, you need someone who can read the signs of poor health. The assessment can take place as part of updating your forest management plan.

Key Areas to Assess

Soil protection and erosion control.

• Are your woods roads stabilized?

• Does your lessee farmer practice “no till” and utilize cover crops to protect the soil?

• Are your drain pipes in creek crossings large enough and installed properly to prevent washout?

• Are turf buffers utilized in open areas/farm fields susceptible to erosion?

By the time this 1934 map was produced, much of the Piedmont was severely eroded.

This lessee farmer has left his soils exposed. Rills have formed (shallow channels that form from rain runoff as it concentrates down a slope), carrying away the topsoil into the woods and eventually into the nearby creek. Looking back at historic aerial photos, this farmer has done this repeatedly for years. The farmer is destroying his landlord’s soils.

A healthy soil will have organic content (carbon), which helps retain water and promotes a vibrant biome (bugs, bacterial, fungi) within the soil. Unfortunately, most of our farmland is essential "dead."

Water quality protection

• Do you have adequate buffers established along streams and drains?

• Do you have cattle in your creeks? Note: Cows erode banks and can poop between 50 and 150 lbs per day per cow, polluting your waters and all waters downstream.

Cows erode stream banks and can poop 50 to 150 lbs per day per cow, poisoning our water supply.

Forest products, health, and plant diversity

• Are your pine plantations stressed from overstocking?

• Are there markets for the products on your property?

• Do you have a variety of species and products, or are you putting all your eggs in one basket?

• Are there any insect infestations or fungal diseases present? What are your risk based on stand conditions and species composition?

Wildlife habitat

• Do you have a variety of habitats and native plants that provide cover and food for wildlife?

Invasive plant control

• Are there invasives present? If so, what can be done to control them?

Aesthetics

• How can you improve the visual appeal of your property? A healthy property is generally a beautiful property.

Adding wildflowers and native grasses is a good way to improve wildlife habitat and visual appeal.

Recreation

• What steps can be taken to improve your enjoyment of the land?

The assessment should identify problem areas and provide steps (and costs) for improvement. Your land doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Your management, or lack thereof, impacts both you and the land around you.

Awareness is the first step toward responsible conservation.

Contact me today to get on the road to better, more responsible land management.