Tree Farmer - March/April 2010 - (Page 18)

The Tree Farming Tradition The 160-acre tract was clearcut in the mid-1990s, and my wife, Carol, and I then bought the bare land from Dad, our first purchase of timberland. We have site prepared and planted it in loblolly, slash, and longleaf pines. One small plot of the trees I planted in 1969 still remains. In the mid- to late 1990s, right before pulpwood and sawtimber prices started their big plunge, Dad made two timber sales on the 167-acre tract that assured he would have adequate income for the next several years. Carol and I had an agreement with Dad to eventually own this property, so we paid to have the clearcut areas site prepared and replanted and then remodeled a small house on the site. Dad liked the convenience of this small house so much that in 2004, at age 90, he asked us to purchase the much larger house he had built on the tract in 1980, as well as 110 acres of the timberland. He moved into the small house, where he lived out the last years of his life, enjoying occasionally working on and riding around his 57 acres of timberland. At 88 he hand planted a few hundred longleaf pine seedlings. He always tried to plant a pine seedling on his birthday. Neighbors often mention how they were amazed to see how he kept up the 8-acre mature pine plantation at the front of his property, mowing, and picking up limbs. He also hand cleared hardwood tree and brush competition from an adjacent pine stand planted in 1991. Dad turned 95 one month before his death in March 2009; he had lived independently on his Tree Farm up until the last two months of his life. As an expression of appreciation for his place in the woods, he called the long winding road to his house, Thank You Dear Lord Road. put out the decoys. At sunrise we could hear the ducks coming in and lighting right in our decoys, but we couldn’t see them because the mosquitoes were swarming so thick. After an hour of fighting mosquitoes, Dad said he’d had enough, so we picked up our decoys and left without firing a shot. Dad also hunted deer and turkey on the Farmton Hunting Area in Brevard and Volusia Counties, where he killed an 11-point buck, which put him in the Big Buck Club of Florida. In his later years, Dad just enjoyed being out in his woods with the pine trees and wildlife. Often, deer would hang around him while he worked. They knew they were safe. Legacy of a Good Steward When I think back over Dad’s long lifetime of managing the woods, several thoughts come to mind. Even though his Tree Farm did provide most of his income for many years, he received great pleasure from just being in it and observing all of the natural habitat and wildlife. He was an environmentalist long before the word was popular, but in a practical way that respected the land and used it. He was a good steward of the land and managed it not just for profit. Dad was quite knowledgeable in most areas of forestry, even learning to cruise timber, but he always had high regard for the knowledge and experience of professional foresters and frequently consulted them for advice. This is the legacy he passed on to me as a Tree Farmer, and that I hope to pass on to my children and grandchildren. Dad made it clear that one of his last joys in life was seeing Carol and me selected as the 2006 Florida Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year. “They’re No. 1, and you can’t get any better than that!” he would proudly tell people. Jon Gould is the 2006 Florida Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year, and manages a 639acre Tree Farm around Vernon, Florida. He is also a geotechnical engineering consultant in Birmingham, Alabama, where he lives. Other Interests in the Land Even though the focus of Dad’s life through the last 50 years was his Tree Farm, whether it was more than 5,000 acres at its largest size or the 57 acres during his last few years, he also had many other interests. Probably his favorite hobby was collecting, mounting, and displaying Indian artifacts he picked up during frequent trips out West and throughout the Southeast. He confined his arrowhead hunting to abandoned or recently plowed fields, woods roads, and open woods. He became interested in finding arrowheads as a boy, picking up rocks working on a farm in Connecticut. That interest was dormant for many years until he found a beautiful flint arrowhead while disking in his citrus grove on Merritt Island. He always said there was nothing like the excitement of finding a nice arrowhead. Duck hunting on Merritt Island and along the St. Johns River was another pastime. Dad was an outstanding wing shot, shooting drake ducks crossing when we ran low on shotgun shells, killing two with one shot. In the mid-1950s, Dad and I were duck hunting along the Banana River near Cape Canaveral. We got to our pond well before sunrise and Reader Service No. 131 Tree Farmer MARCH/APRIL 2010 http://link.argifocus.com/165-131 http://link.argifocus.com/165-131 http://www.argifocus.com/Client/AmericanFA/LM1/lm/rsdefault.asp

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tree Farmer - March/April 2010

Tree Farmer - March/April 2010
Contents
Cover Story
Create a Recreational Trail
A Life Spent in the Woods
Ties to the Land
Public Policy
Wildlife Matters
From your Committees

Tree Farmer - March/April 2010