Wildlife

James C. Barnett
GA Registered Forester
Mark D. Barnett
GA/AL Registered Forester

10800 Alpharetta Hwy.
Suite 208, #A8
Roswell, GA 30076

E-Mail Fall Line Consultants

Wildlife

LANDS AVAILABLE FOR HUNTING LEASE

Fall Line Consultants manages about 20,000 acres of timberland in Georgia (from mid-south Georgia to north Georgia). Some of these properties, on occasion, become available for short or long-term hunting rights leases. Our properties have healthy deer and turkey populations, along with ducks and various small game.

It is likely that all our leases will be renewed by the present lessees for the 2002-03 hunting season. Then again, we may have limited acreage available for the upcoming season. Generally, the hunting rights lease for $10 per acre per year, including liability insurance paid by the landowners on behalf of the hunting clubs. Multi-year leases are negotiable. E-mail Fall Line for more information.

FLASH -- We have 120 acres available for lease in Cherokee County, Georgia, just north of Lake Allatoona!

Some of our hunting clubs have (limited) openings for new members. If you would like to join an existing hunting club, please e-mail us.

Sample Hunting Lease

Whitetail Buck

Bobwhite Quail

Feral Hog

Wood Duck

PRESCRIBED BURNING

Smokey the Bear has been a little too effective -- many people believe any fire, in any forest, anywhere, is evil and destructive to timber and wildlife. Nothing could be further from the truth. While arson fires and wildfires can be damaging, there is a type of purposely-set fire which is actually beneficial to timber and wildlife.

Many of the pine species of the Southeast are resistant to fire, and owe their very existence to the fact that Native American tribes, across generations, routinely set fire to thousands of acres each year before Europeans appeared on the continent. Hardwood species (Oak, Hickory, etc.) on undisturbed land will eventually succeed the Conifers (Pines). But Pines are better at surviving fire; Longleaf Pine is particularly resistant, while some other Pines' cones respond to fire by opening and distributing seed. So the Native Americans by their actions (starting fires to promote new herbaceous growth for game species) helped to maintain the valuable Pine timber type.

Jay Barnett with Drip Torch
Setting the Fire

A Prescribed Burn is performed by trained foresters paying close attention to proper conditions: appropriate wind direction, moderate wind speed, level of humidity, smoke-dispersion elevation, and fuel load (forest floor debris).

A "backing fire" is lit against the prevailing wind direction, burning slowly against the wind to create a 'safe zone' (black-line) of already-burned ground. Then a "head fire" is set with the wind, to move rapidly across the woods (until it catches up with the backing fire). We want the fire to consume much of the "fuel" on the forest floor, while traveling fast enough to prevent damage to the (Pine) crop trees.

Georgia Foresty Commission assists with burn

Visit the Georgia Forestry Commission fire weather web site

The foremost goal is to reduce the buildup of fuel (limbs, leaves, needles, brush) on the forest floor, in order to prevent damaging wildfires in the future. Objectives are to reduce/kill competition from unwanted vegetation (typically scrub hardwoods) and to promote better habitat for wildlife.

A prescribed burn, because it covers ground quickly without intense heat or smoke, allows time for wildlife species to move to safety (underground or to nearby un-burned land). Wildlife returns to the burned ground almost immediately - often while debris are still smoking! All species of wildlife benefit because the forest floor, cleaned of built-up debris, is soon covered with new green sprouts - grasses, herbaceous and leafy growth for forage (food) and nesting.

Prescribed Burning

Fall Line Consultants manages a 5200 acre property on Lake Allatoona, north of Atlanta, Georgia. Pine Plantation thinning (see our Newsletter) has been conducted on approximately 3500 acres of the property, over a period of 11 years. To encourage a larger Bobwhite Quail population (Quail are more common in South Georgia, much less so in North Georgia) we began in 1997 a Prescribed Burning program within the thinned pine plantations.

Quail don't do well in dense pine stands. They need small openings (created by the log loading sites), thinned timber, abundant browse (food) and tall grass in which to nest (and hide). About 1700 acres have been burned to date, with timber stands scheduled for prescribed burning (again) on a two-to-three year cycle. Small patches are left unburned to provide temporary cover. Numerous coveys of quail, previously unknown on the Allatoona property, have been spotted over the last three years.

Bobwhite Quail Black Bear

Not only is Quail habitat improved, turkeys, deer and smaller game also benefit from the increased food resource of new, green growth! The Pines are helped too -- the competition from low-grade hardwood species is reduced and pines receive a "fertilizer effect" from the nutrients released in the ash of the burned forest debris! Prescribed burning is a Win-Win proposition.

Whitetail Doe Turkey

More on Wildlife:

	Quail Habitat and Forest Management
	Quality Deer Management (QDMA)
	More Quality Deer Management
	Watermelons and White-Tails
	Timber Management to Enhance Wildlife Habitat
	Wildfires!
	More Wildfires!