News Filed Under Forest Management
If you celebrate with a real tree, you’ll have to decide how to dispose of it once the holiday is over. You have some good options for recycling the tree instead of sending it to the landfill.
CHUNKY, Miss. -- The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted countless traditions in 2020, but it will not keep living rooms across Mississippi from featuring Christmas decor, nor will it deter customer demand for fresh trees.
In fact, business is booming at farms that have opened for the season, said Southern Christmas Tree Association President Michael May.
“Where are all the bucks?”
Several years ago, Larry Castle, formerly of Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP), and Steve Demarais of the Mississippi State University Deer Lab got together to discuss what could be done to address deer hunter questions and concerns regarding where bucks were going during hunting season. For years, Larry and his team at MDWFP would get questions from hunters who were frustrated with not seeing the deer they think they should be seeing.
Choosing, cutting, and bringing home a real Christmas tree is a fun, family tradition that makes memories to last a lifetime. If you plan to have a real tree this year, be sure to observe some safety rules.
Mississippi’s timber industry remained its second highest producing agricultural commodity again in 2019.
Coming in with an estimated production value of $1.15 billion, timber followed the state’s poultry industry, which generated an estimated value of $2.78 billion in 2019. Timber’s value of production is estimated by monthly severance taxes collected by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Mississippians pondering ideas for a side business could consider investing in land and planting stem cuttings of Leyland and Murray cypress trees.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- There are major differences between hardwood management and pine management, but they have one goal in common: Landowner objectives should drive the course of action.
Since the downfall of the housing market in 2007 and the subsequent recession, stumpage prices have fallen for every sector of the pine forestry market for pulpwood, chip-and-saw and sawtimber.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi is one of just two states east of the Mississippi River not infested with emerald ash borers, and landscapes need everyone’s help to keep it that way.
Blake Layton, Mississippi State University Extension Service entomologist, said the emerald ash borer -- or EAB -- is an invasive, nonnative pest that has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in the eastern U.S. Fairly expensive, annual treatments can protect high-value landscape trees, but they have to be applied preventatively.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service invites private landowners to a workshop to learn about the benefits prescribed burns provide for wildlife habitat.
The prescribed burning workshop will be held at the Black Prairie Wildlife Management Area in Crawford, Mississippi, on Feb. 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Many landowners want to make changes in Conservation Reserve Program hardwood plantations because of declining populations of game animals, especially deer.
Many forest landowners wonder if best management practices really matter on their property, and the simple answer is yes. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/John Auel)
Streamside management zones have become critical tools forestry landowners and professionals use for protecting water quality during and after timber harvests.
Growth and survival of planted hardwood seedlings are not guaranteed, and forest managers may need to learn more about establishment methods to avoid failed plantings.
Mississippians looking for locally grown Christmas trees have several varieties to choose from but should be prepared to shop early for the best selection.
John Kushla, a Mississippi State University Extension Service specialist and research professor who specializes in agroforestry and Christmas trees, said there are several ways to test for freshness when choosing the perfect tree at a tree farm.
Housing start fluctuations and an abundance of timber are limiting the ceiling on stumpage prices in Mississippi now, but expect the market to improve when sawmills begin stocking up for winter.
Landowners and charter boat owners who want to branch out and earn extra income are invited to attend a Natural Resource Enterprises (NRE) Business Workshop on Sept. 26 at the Longfellow Civic Center in Bay St. Louis.
Acres of pine forests cover Mississippi and the Southeast, but good forest management is not necessarily good wildlife management.
Landowners and hunting clubs who want to branch out and earn extra income are encouraged to attend one of three upcoming Natural Resource Enterprises business workshops.
The workshops will be held Sept. 18 in Woodville, Sept. 27 in Natchez and Oct. 9 in Cleveland.