Creating Good Woods

March 21, 2016

by Cathy Hardin, Escambia County Forester

Richard Winkler showed off his little piece of heaven recently . He is proud of his nearly 300 acres on Nokomis Road.

When asked what the name on his Forest Stewardship plaque will say, with a twinkle in his eye, he admits he calls it the Hillbilly Hunt Club. The Forest Stewardship Certification and Tree Farm Certification Winkler is receiving show he has met certain standards of forest management. His dedication to the land gives him the motivation to manage the property to such standards.

Certified landowners like Winkler are honored with signs to display on the property. The Forest Stewardship program was created to encourage active, long-term management of private forest. The American Tree Farm System was designed to promote sustainable land management and recognize landowner commitment to do the best for their land.

To qualify for certification, Winkler has thinned timber, conducted prescribed burns, treated cogongrass and maintained food plots. To make these management practices happen, he worked with private contractors, the Florida Forest Service and the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service. Why he does all this for a patch of woods is simple: He wants to see his forest live up to its ultimate potential.

Not only does his managed land benefit him, it also benefits his neighbors. Thinning timber helps prevent outbreaks of devastating pests; prescribed burning has numerous benefits including lowering wildfire risk and increasing wildlife habitat; treating cogongrass helps slow the spread of a crippling invasive species to neighboring properties.

Then there are benefits to the greater community from having trees. For instance, trees help remove pollution from the air and protect water quality. These and other benefits provided by trees are known as ecosystem services and have been valued at roughly $5,000 an acre.

If Winkler had one recommendation for other forest landowners it would be to make sure to get any professional help you need. For landowners who want to do something for their land, a first step is simply to know your property. Know where your property lines are and walk the property watching for signs of problems or potential problems such as trespassers, invasive or harmful pest or plant species and potential for damage by wildfire, flood or hurricane. If you are not sure what to look for or how to take care of what you see, take Winkler’s advice and call for help from a professional forester.

If you are interested in creating your own good woods, please contact the Escambia County Forester at (850) 587-5237 for more information.

The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages 37 state forests on more than 1 million acres of public forest land while protecting 26 million acres of homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire.

Pictured top: Escambia County Forester Cathy Hardin and Richard Winkler. Pictured inset: Winkler with his Stewardship Forest sign. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “Creating Good Woods”

  1. joe on March 24th, 2016 8:01 pm

    Thank GOD for men like this. thank you Mr. Winkler

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