Longleaf pine cone prospects for this fall – well there is always next year
By Dr. Ron Masters, Director of Research
The forecasts for longleaf cone crops are now out for 2011 and 2012. The crop for the Red Hills area is slightly better than last year but still is very poor for this fall, based on cone production from Tall Timbers and the closest sampling areas. Tall Timbers’ cone crop was one of the lowest recorded this year. Across the broader Coastal Plain the longleaf cone crop is rated a high fair. However, there is a lot of variation in cone counts in north Florida and in south Georgia, so your property might have better potential than our sampling. Given the natural variability of longleaf cone production, we would expect that a few areas in the Red Hills might have fair to good production. The likely crop in 2012 will be fair, based on the number of flowers this past spring. However predictions from flowers are not as reliable as cone counts. Often fewer than half will survive to become conelets the following year, as in our case at Tall Timbers this year.
Cone crop estimates from Tall Timbers (7 cones/tree) are well below the southeast regional average (48 cones/tree) for longleaf, and will not provide adequate seed to meet regeneration needs this year (Figure 1). Although some longleaf seed is generally produced each year even in poor years, the seed is highly sought after by quail and other ground foraging birds, as well as small mammals and turkey, because of its excellent nutritional quality. Typically an average of 30 cones/tree, with at least 25 mature (14-16 inch dbh) cone producing trees per acre, is considered to be the minimum requirement for successful regeneration of longleaf. The 46-year regional average is 28 cones/tree. Since 1983, the cone crop has generally been increasing across the region.
Figure 1. A comparison of longleaf cone counts on Tall Timbers (Red Hills) and averaged across the southeast region from Louisiana to North Carolina in 2010 and 2011.
This data is compiled and reported every year by Dr. Dale Brockway, Southern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service stationed in Auburn, AL. The survey samples sites from Louisiana to North Carolina and includes samples from a longleaf area on Tall Timbers Research Station. Each year binocular counts of conelets and flowers are made on 10 selected tree crowns from a single ground location at each of the cooperating sample sites. This long-term data is extremely beneficial as it gives us an understanding of the natural variability in longleaf seed crops across the region, and what we might expect locally for future planning of regeneration in relation to stand management.
Eric Staller, Natural Resources Coordinator, counting longleaf cones on Tall Timbers to determine seed crop for this fall.
Be sure to check the cone crop on your property and specifically in the stands where you may be seeking to develop regeneration. Longleaf cones are large and conspicuous so it is not exactly ‘rocket science’ to get an indication of the cone crop on your trees and in your stands. We recommend that you use this report as a prompt to go take a look at your stands. In years like this, you may want to consider planting containerized seedlings to achieve your regeneration needs, if they are pressing. Or you might consider banking whatever regeneration you get and waiting until next year to do your site preparation.
Florida Congressman Steve Southerland visits Tall Timbers
By Rose Rodriguez, Information Services Manager
On June 7, Congressman Steve Southerland, who represents Florida’s Second District, visited Tall Timbers, on a fact-finding mission, to learn more about the issues regarding management and conservation of our natural resources that affect north Florida. Congressman Southerland sits on the House Committee for Agriculture, and the subcommittee that includes conservation and forestry, as well as the House Committee on Natural Resources and the subcommittee that deals with wildlife. Key staff from Tall Timbers and Southeast Fire Ecology partners from the US Forest Service and National Park Service, Erica Taecker and Caroline Noble, respectively, attended the working lunch meeting with the Congressman, his legislative staff and guests.
Congressman Steve Southerland, center, at Tall Timbers for a working lunch. L-R, Tim Southerland, Steve Southerland, Shane Southerland (foreground), Erica Taecker and Kevin McGorty.
Executive Director, Lane Green, gave an overview of Tall Timbers and the Red Hills region. The Director of Research, Ron Masters, discussed research conducted at Tall Timbers and forest management in the Red Hills region — the private land model and selective timber harvest. And, Game Bird Program Director, Bill Palmer, discussed the Upland Ecosystem Restoration Project (UERP), a successful public lands management model in Florida coordinated by Tall Timbers.
After lunch, Southerland and his staff were taken on a tour of Tall Timbers, with stops at the Stoddard Fire Plots and the Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) cavity cluster trees. At the fire plots, Masters and Palmer discussed the importance of fire, the need for more fire in the Southeast, the causes of species declines, and cost-share/Farm Bill issues. At the cluster of RCW cavity trees, it was stressed that RCWs, a federally endangered species, coexist with game and timber management in the Red Hills, and that using the UERP model, RCWs are compatible with management of public lands.
Congressman Southerland, far left, and his staff listen to Director of Research, Ron Masters, far right, discuss burning frequency at the Stoddard Fire Plots.
After the tour, Land Conservancy Director, Kevin McGorty, discussed conservation easements and the need to make the enhanced easement incentives, which were renewed through 2011 for easement donors, permanent in this 112th Congress.
Photography volunteer, Beate Sass, exhibits photos taken at Tall Timbers
By Rose Rodriguez, Information Services Director
Tall Timbers is fortunate in the dedication and talents of it volunteers. Beate Sass is one of our volunteers who has lent her photographic talents to Tall Timbers on several occasions: Open House, the Naturalists’ Ball, and History and Archaeology Day; she even took the most recent photo of our Board of Trustee for the Annual Report. Of special interest to her, however, are the tenant families who lived on Tall Timbers during its time as a hunting plantation and the stories they have to tell; the Jones Family Tenant Farm; and the architecture and artifacts of the Beadel House, the home of Tall Timbers Research Station benefactor, Henry Beadel. Beate has taken many outstanding photographs of these subjects, creating a portfolio she calls Tall Timbers Plantation.
The fine quality of her photography has been recognized by LeMoyne Center for the Visual Arts in Tallahassee. The black and white photos of her Tall Timbers Plantation project were chosen for LeMoyne’s Dog Days – Summer in the South Photographers Interpretation exhibit. The portfolio on exhibit is grouped as follows: Portraits (photos combined into diptychs, with the left panel being of the individual and the right panel of an object special to them); The Jones Family Tenant Farm, The Landscape, and Light, Form and Expression in the Beadel House.
The exhibit opened June 6 and will continue through June 24. To view Beate’s photography, including the photos that are in the LeMoyne exhibit, visit her web site: http://beatesassphotography.com/. For gallery hours and more information about LeMoyne, visit their web site: http://www.lemoyne.org/.
Geraldine Jones Thompson stands in front of her portrait and that of her brother, Richard Jones, at the exhibit opening. Photos by Rose Rodriguez.
Supervise smoke from logging piles, and take extra caution to contain pile fires during these dry conditions.
Conduct post-burn evaluations to determine success of woody control.
Forestry
Finish timber harvests and clean up operations by mid to end of June.
Avoid having heavy equipment in the woods when soils are wet.
Where adequate longleaf cone crops are present continue conducting burns to capture seed fall that will occur later in the year. Some regrowth of understory vegetation will lower seed predation by providing some cover for seed.
Game Bird
Continue to supplemental feed at 1 to 2 bu/ac/yr. Adjust as necessary given weather conditions.
Nest predator management if needed.
Begin to mow roads as needed.
Begin herbicide applications for bicolor and bahia grass control.
Land Management
Continue treating cogon grass infestations as weather permits.
Disk strips to encourage the production of Florida pussley, a highly preferred deer forage.
Get soil tests for fall food plots at least once every two years.
Continue planting summer food plots.
Apply lime according to soil test results.
In most parts of Florida, June is usually the last month to plant aeschynomene (joint vetch), to achieve adequate reseeding in November.
Vertebrate Ecology
Leaving dead trees or snags provides valuable habitat for cavity nesters
One of the loudest songsters in our Pinewoods this time of year is the elusive Bachman’s Sparrow. This endemic sparrow is abundant on sites burned within the past 12 months, but its numbers can be almost halved on sites coming into a 2-year rough. The Bachman’s Sparrow is often thought to have one of the prettiest songs of any songbird, and to hear an example, simply follow this link: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/ornithology/sounds.htm
Lots of fledgling birds wandering the woods. Many use small brushy thickets, so hold off on mowing until late August if possible. Also a good time to keep cats in doors.
Gopher tortoise nesting reaches a peak in early June. Watch for females laying eggs and consider nest protection and predator-proof fencing.
Female free-tailed bats give birth to a single pup from May to June.
Pine snakes lay 5–12 large eggs in a burrow during June or July. The young hatch a couple of months later and start to look for mice and other rodents.
July Management Recommendations
Fire Ecology
If the rains return and prescribed burning is allowed, focus burning efforts on sites with native ground cover. Old field vegetation does not burn well unless the fuel composition is greater than 25% grass cover.
Conduct post-burn evaluations to determine success of woody control.
Forestry
Conduct survival checks on planted pines.
Avoid thinning and logging operations during wet weather.
Game Bird
Supplemental feed at 1-2 bu/ac/yr.
Nest predator management if needed.
Mow roads.
Land Management
Plant chufas.
Plant millet for dove food plots.
Planting by mid-month is usually considered the best time to have most types of millet ready just before the October first phase of dove season in Florida.
Continue planting other summer food plots.
Vertebrate Ecology
It’s hot, but the early phase of shorebird migration occurs later this month with early records for Spotted Sandpipers.
Fledgling red-cockaded woodpeckers start looking for roost cavities to use at night beginning in late July.
Early flowering of some fall flowers commences in late July and will start to attract native butterflies.
Fox squirrels initiate a full tail molt during July-August
Second fox squirrel litters can be initiated in July and August. Older females in good physical condition usually produce litters of 2-5 young twice each year when food supplies are good.
Eastern diamondbacks give live birth to 10-14 young between July and October, but females may not breed every year.
Red Hills Spring Dinner and Easement Seminar recap
By Kevin McGorty, Land Conservancy Director
With a gentle breeze blowing off Lake Iamonia, some 200 guests celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the Red Hills Spring Dinner on April 8 at Tall Timbers. The dinner address was given by noted tax attorney, Stephen Small, who spoke at the inaugural dinner in 1991.
Noted tax attorney, Stephen Small, was the guest speaker at the 20th Anniversary Red Hills Spring Dinner held at Tall Timbers in April. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
This year’s event showcased the 2009-2010 conservation easement donors. In addition, a special tribute was given to the late Kate Ireland, one of the founders of the Tall Timbers Land Conservancy. In paying tribute to Miss Kate, Lane Green remarked that she “was the driving force behind the entire conservation movement here in the Red Hills.” On a personal note, Green stated, “She was a neighbor, mentor, boss, and ultimately my friend.”
The dinner also honored three professionals whose distinguished careers made a substantial difference in saving the Red Hills region. The late Lou Clark was considered the “dean of conservation easement appraisers” in the South. In the Red Hills, he worked with landowners to protect over 80,000 acres. His assistant, Ms. Park Palmer, fondly remembered Lou’s integrity and modesty. He was a gentle giant in both stature and in his field of expertise.
Attorneys Tommy Vann and Duby Ausley were recognized for their leadership and guidance in helping Red Hills’ landowners with conservation easements. Speaking in praise of Tommy, Vann Middleton remarked that Tommy’s firm represented “small family farms such as the historic Moody Farm in Boston, Georgia to the larger and more complex Seminole Plantation easement. Tommy has worked with a wide diversity of clients helping each of them conserve their land and its precious natural resources for future generations to enjoy.”
Vann Middleton of Tall Timbers presents attorney Tommy Vann with plaque in recognition of his exceptional leadership and distinguished legal services assisting landowners with donated conservation easements in the Red Hills. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
In his acceptance speech, Tommy observed, “The donation of a conservation easement is a team sport. If any member of the team falls down on his or her job, the whole house can collapse. It takes a charitably motivated conservation minded donor. It takes a qualified done organization, and Tall Timbers, in my opinion, is in the elite category of being qualified in this country to receive and administer conservation easements. It takes a competent lawyer to guide the client to record his or her wishes. It takes a good CPA to report the transaction and to defend it, if necessary. It takes a really good appraiser. In a recent case, I was dealing with an IRS appraiser who made an assumption at the beginning that we didn’t agree with. I said to him, ‘In railroad vernacular, when you start off on the wrong track, every station you come to is the wrong station.’ Stephen Small got us on the right track. I was at his first seminar 20 years ago, and he got me on the right track, and he got Tall Timbers on the right track. The landowners continue to be on the right track, but you have to be vigilant in your documentation, as Stephen said. You have to expect the most out of each member of the team, but remember to inspect what you expect.”
The final recipient was Duby Ausley. His firm has worked on 22 easement projects protecting over 35,000 acres in the Red Hills. Duby expressed gratitude for the honor he was given, and praised the work of Tall Timbers in preserving the beautiful Red Hills and in its quail research. Humorously, he acknowledged that he was an “accidental recipient” of honor at the dinner, since he originally opposed the idea of conservation easements for Kate Ireland’s Foshalee Plantation. Duby said he began conservation easement work when Miss Kate threatened to “get another lawyer” if he didn’t figure it out. So, he noted, “I figured it out!”In addition, he placed his own property, Mistletoe Plantation, under conservation easement with Tall Timbers. He added, “I am honored to be honored on the same podium as Tommy and Lou who are true professionals, and the same program as Kate Ireland because none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for Kate.”
Attorney Duby Ausley accepting his plaque for distinguished legal service at the Red Hills Dinner. Photo – Rose Rodriguez
In his dinner address, and at his seminar held earlier that day, attorney Stephen Small spoke about Conservation Easements 2011: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and the Next Decade. In referencing the good, he said that some twenty years ago when he gave his first speech at Tall Timbers, “it was all hope, it was all promise, it was a concept, it was all an idea that someday, maybe we’d get some conservation easements on some of these wonderful properties that make this a beautiful place to live. …That’s what was on the table in 1991, how special and how spectacular the Red Hills is, and is there something we can do to save it, to protect the open space, wildlife habitat, and the scenic views, and the quality of life and the lifestyle commitment that we’ve made? The good news is, it’s a reality now. There’s still a lot of work to do, but with 82 easements and 114,000 acres protected since 1991, that’s enormous. That’s real progress.”
The other good news he stated is the federal income tax incentives have never been better. Through the end of this year, a landowner donating a conservation easement can take 50% adjusted gross income off their taxes, and if a majority of a landowner’s income is derived from farming, ranching, or timbering, a deduction of 100% can be taken and carried forward fifteen years.
On the estate tax side, he commented that “the estate and gift tax rules in this country have never been more generous than they are right now.”With these incentives, he suggested landowners consider, “How does my family land fit into my overall estate tax situation, and is this a good time to do some planning to get my family land down to future generations?”
He talked about the “Bad and the Ugly,” and asked if there was anyone in the audience from the IRS. He spoke about bad conservation easement deals that are tainting the overwhelming good donations. According to Small, the IRS doesn’t like conservation easements, and is “on the warpath” auditing easements. Instead of rooting out overly inflated easement values or conservation easements that don’t have a clear public purpose, the IRS’ tactic is to win its cases on “technical points of law” such as not having acknowledgement gift letters. “You can donate the most significant easement in the history of the United States, and if you don’t have that gift letter, you can lose the deduction.” The IRS has been winning cases on these technical issues. He argued they should be going after the bad deals and bad actors.
He offered some tips on how to stay out of trouble with the IRS.
Stay away from the bad deals. “If a deal looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true.”
Don’t be intimidated by conservation easements or the IRS. Hire competent advisors including experienced appraisers.
Work with a land trust in good standing.
Make sure that the IRS return packet has all the forms filled out correctly, includes the conservation easement and related documents, and includes the acknowledgement letter. Having a completed packet cross the desk of an IRS agent stands a better chance of getting it “moved to the outbox” than a defective package that can be flagged for a technicality.
He concluded his remarks with four observations about the next decade.
There needs to be more financial sophistication in land trust deals, including linking a pool of investors to purchase landowner rights for a limited time to be used in the marketplace for such purposes as carbon sequestration credits, wetland mitigation credits, and timber income credits. This could turn a profit for all parties involved while protecting open land.
Land trusts should consider securing easements from non-traditional landowners, such as colleges and universities, religious organizations, and municipalities and government agencies. Lands under these entities are not protected and are vulnerable for sale. Land trusts should identify key strategic lands held under these entities that add benefit to a community.
Land trusts need more funding and capability, and therefore need to reach out to major donors.
To be sustainable and relevant, land trust organizations need to continually focus on community outreach and education, building membership, raising funds, and then repeating this cycle in order to carry out the work of saving the distinctiveness of their communities.
The M-CORES program, which includes the proposed Suncoast Connector Toll Road in Jefferson County, passed through the Florida Legislature at breakneck speed with little review or analysis. Tall Timbers has a number of concerns given the potential for significant and wide spread impacts. These include fragmenting public and private conservation lands, robbing business from Main Street Monticello, impacting our rivers and other water resources, and making prescribed fire more difficult and costly.
Join us in asking the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners to OPPOSE the Suncoast Connector toll road and its path through Jefferson County.
Take action now with our easy email form.
Send an email to all five Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners with one click!
Selected Publications authored by Wildland Fire Science staff.
Educating and guiding the next generation of fire researchers and managers is a key goal of Wildland Fire Science and a resource for testing new ideas in fire research.
Tall Timbers hosts the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, a national network of researchers and managers who promote integrated research and management to advance next generation tools for fire practitioners. https://arcg.is/1DSjDT
Working with partners in the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium, the program is building nexgen 3-D fuel beds using terrestrial LiDAR and novel sampling techniques to power new fire behavior models for prescribed fire managers. This work links to Tall Timbers work in wildlife habitat usage and ecological forestry.
Tall Timbers is leading an effort to map fire regimes at the landscape scale. Staff work with numerous agencies to evaluate fire records and satellite imagery to build this critical conservation database. https://skfb.ly/6DqOY
We are linking physics and field observations to understand the fluid dynamics of fire behavior surface fire regimes. Our work combines field observations using advanced thermal imaging techniques, laboratory studies, and coupled fire-atmospheric modeling to help managers improve outcomes of managed fire regimes.
Burn prioritization modeling seminars and fire modeling tools are supported by Wildland Fire Science to train managers in the important planning stages of prescribed fires.
The conserved lands of the Greater Red Hills region are found on working, income-producing properties that support agriculture, forestry, and recreational hunting. These properties contribute $272 million annually to local economies and support 2,300 jobs. [link to Planning & Advocacy section] The landowners’ strong stewardship ethic preserves their working lands while replenishing drinking water supplies, protecting water quality, and providing wildlife habitat for dozens of rare and endangered species. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements on these working properties encourage landowners to retain their traditional livelihood by keeping farms in family ownership.
Home to world-class wild quail populations, the Greater Red Hills region contains the largest concentration of gamebird preserves in the United States. These preserves also support the largest community of Red-cockaded woodpeckers on private lands. Indicators of high quality habitat found here include the gopher tortoise, Bachman’s sparrow, fox squirrel, and many amphibians. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements identify and protect the critical habitats of these species.
The region also boasts outstanding aquatic resources. Large river systems, like the Flint/Apalachicola, Ochlockonee, and Aucilla, flow from Georgia and feed into the Gulf of Mexico to support some of the world’s most productive estuaries. Large disappearing sinkhole lakes, like Iamonia, Miccosukee, and Jackson, provide habitat for an array of aquatic species and migratory birds. Tall Timbers’ conservation easements protect these vital watersheds and wetlands that are the lifeblood for the ecological health of the region.
Once dominated by longleaf pine, our pine woodlands support abundant wildlife and local economies. These forests need prescribed fire to stay healthy. Herbert L. Stoddard and his associates Ed and Roy Komarek were pioneers in this emerging scientific field during the mid-20th century. Tall Timbers continues that legacy with applied research on prescribed fire and land management. Today, there is a tremendous need to expand prescribed fire use beyond the Red Hills to ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. Additionally, Tall Timbers uses conservation easements to permanently protect private woodlands while balancing the need for economic return from selective timbering.
Tall Timbers hosts the premier fire technology transfer organization—the Southern Fire Exchange. This JFSP funded effort helps connect research to management through webinars, workshops, and support of the Prescribed Fire Science Consortium.
The Longleaf Legacy landscape prescribed fire burn team arm of Wildland Fire Science works directly with landowners and partners to effectively put fire on the ground and promote prescribed fire throughout the region.
Staff and researchers support Federal fire training by serving as a cadre for NWCG training courses, ranging from basic wildland fire to advanced fire effects.
(PFTC) specializes in training fire fighters the principles and techniques of prescribed fire through practical hands-on experience. https://www.fws.gov/fire/pftc/
Private land owners are the largest source of prescribed fire in the country. These land owners and the culture of fire that was maintained by them during decades of suppression are a part of why Tall Timbers is a world-wide center for prescribed fire science. Workshops and fire training are a critical focus of the Longleaf Legacy Landscape Burn Team and our support of the Georgia Forestry Commission Prescribed Fire Center in Marion County.
.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&w=600 "Using binoculars to count cones")
Tall Timbers is fortunate in the dedication and talents of it volunteers. Beate Sass is one of our volunteers who has lent her photographic talents to Tall Timbers on several occasions: Open House, the Naturalists’ Ball, and History and Archaeology Day; she even took the most recent photo of our Board of Trustee for the Annual Report. Of special interest to her, however, are the tenant families who lived on Tall Timbers during its time as a hunting plantation and the stories they have to tell; the Jones Family Tenant Farm; and the architecture and artifacts of the Beadel House, the home of Tall Timbers Research Station benefactor, Henry Beadel. Beate has taken many outstanding photographs of these subjects, creating a portfolio she calls Tall Timbers Plantation.
