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Why Terrain Dictates Timber Harvest and Wildlife Management

Editor’s Note: If Mossy Oak Properties’ clients only use their forestlands to grow trees, they’ll lose much of the true value of their property. "My family is not only in the timber business but also in the relationship business," says Nordeck Thompson of Huntland, Tennessee. "If I'm going to do business with you, I want to be your friend. So I use my family's forestlands to build friendships and business relationships that help me grow my family's business on the land where we also grow timber."

On his property in Tennessee, Thompson only may clear-cut 30 to 50 acres of his land at a time. Thompson must consider the difficulty of gaining access to that timber when he's determining the amount of timber to harvest off any tract. "Our haul road costs often dictate the size of tract we cut," Thompson said. "You can't build a $20,000 road around the side of a mountain to harvest only 60 acres of timber. However, we do try to use small-patch clear cuts in our mountainous areas when possible." On Thompson's land in Georgia where the primarily-flat terrain makes harvesting timber easier, Thompson leaves hardwood buffers next to his roads and around the SMZs and the stream sides. "We have several-hundred acres of clear-cut land that our father cut," Thompson explained. "Initially these huge clear-cuts looked bad. However, through our game-management program and planting for wildlife, we've increased the wildlife on the land and have produced a valuable crop of timber at the same time. I can take you on our property any afternoon and show you 35 to 40 deer and two or three droves of turkeys. We have more game than any place I know of, and we still produce a high yield of timber."

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