If you can imagine being lost or misdirected in the woods without a compass, here it an easy way to get reoriented.    Find a location that is in the open and where you are exposed to full sun.    Find a stick that is reasonably straight and push it into the earth so that it remains vertical.  The longer the stick the shorter the waiting time to get a complete solution.  Find a small pebble and place it at the point where the shadow cast by the stick extends to its farthest point as in the diagram below.  If you have an earth surface you may want to etch the letter W beside the rock.  A diagram of the initial setup is below.

Wait 15 minutes or time enough to get a reasonable seperation from the tip of the shadow to a new point.  Place a pebble at the tip of the shadow that has moved.  If you like you can etch the letter E beside the rock. 

 Draw a straight line from one rock to the other.   Now draw a perpendicular line from the approximate midpoint of the previous line.  With the west on your left and east on your right the upper part of the line is North and the remaining direction is South.  You now are properly oriented to grid north.  If you check yourself with a compass, remember that grid north and magnetic north can be different by a few degrees in some areas of the United States. 

This technique of orienteering is not 100% accurate but should be accurate enough for most navigation needs.  The accuracy is best around the noon hour.  Remember this trick and you can always orient yourself except on overcast days.

Most poisonous species of snakes in our area of Georgia fall into the category of Pit Vipers.  This category includes Rattlesnakes, Cottonmouths (Moccasins), and Copperheads.  The only poisonous snake in our area that does not fall into this list is the Coral Snake, which is extremely rare here, but found more often in Georgia’s coastal plain. 

Many non venomous snakes fall victim to misidentification with poisonous species, or worse, they fall prey to the attitude that, being difficult to identify, the only good snake is a dead snake.

All Pit Vipers can be identified by two characteristic features.  They have eye slits rather than round eyes.  Like humans almost all non-poisonous snakes have round irises.  Like cats, Pit Vipers have vertically slit eyes.  Pit Vipers also have a pit which is used as a heat sensing organ for hunting prey at night.  This is in addition to its nostrils as depicted in the picture above.

Pit Vipers can also be identified by their characteristicly arrow shaped head, however, there are some species of non venomous snakes that have somewhat arrow shaped heads, such as the brown water snake. 

Remember that all snakes that have not been positively identified should be regarded as poisonous before handling.

Plant Vogtle has passed most of its state regulatory hurdles needed to begin construction of two new reactors in Burke County, Georgia.  The state utility regulators have already passed their blessing on the project.   In addition, the Georgia Public Service Commission has approved an increase in of 9% in billing to current Georgia Power customers.

It’s not a done deal yet as the federal regulators will still have their say in the process, and some environmental groups are still fighting the approval, but its looking more and more like Vogtle will be getting to build the two new reactors.

So what does this mean for wildlife enthusiasts and land owners in Burke County?

Continue reading this post…

If there is a great paradigm of our country that seems almost unnoticed, it is the urbanization of America.  The arable lands are dissappearing into high rise condominiums and urban sprawl.  Certain states, like Florida and California, have effectively depleted their most precious resource, land.  While some might argue that much land is in this country is still uninhabited, most of it is desert.   The dwindling supply of land is driving prices higher. 

If you compare our land environment with Europe, where land has been depleted for centuries, you can see where we are headed.  Land that can be developed is so expensive in Europe that only the very wealthy can afford it.  If you don’t inherit it, you may never be able to afford to own so much as a place to put a flower pot.  When you compare median incomes with median home prices, the differences are startling.   

Georgia is just beginning to suffer urbanization.  I own a map that was made at the time of the civil war.  Atlanta was the size of a small village.  Now the urban areas surrounding Atlanta encompass truly one third of the state of Georgia.  The urban areas of Augusta, Savannah, Macon, and Columbus consume their share of land.  While Georgia still has a large supply of woodlands, croplands, and natural forests, it seems clear that the ability of common people to own such properties will be diminished in our lifetime.

While we profit from the sale of such properties, I can’t help feeling ambivalence at such urbanization.  On the one hand it is lucrative, but on the other it is destroying the natural beauty which I love.

A true environmentalist is not someone who donates to the various organizations who claim to represent the environment, but to take a personal positive step to preserve such resources for the future.  I can only urge you to buy these resources and keep them in your family, so that they and their progeny might have a chance to enjoy the real Georgia.  If you don’t that chance at a legacy may be gone before you know it.

Tice Brashear

One of the most frequent questions we, as land and acreage sales experts, get asked is “how is the timber market”?  Or “what is the value of my timber”?  Now, in previous articles, and further ones to come, we have been discussing how to do an estimation of your timber.  That answers part of the two prevalent questions, however it doesn’t determine the answer to the other.

The most honest answer to timber market prices is largely, it depends.  It can depend on any number of factors.  It can depend on the type of trees being cut, their age and their size.  Each subtype of timber from pine saw timber to hardwood pulp has a different fluctuating market.  So where does one get an accurate idea of what timber prices are?  Well, the answer is not easy.  Your region can drastically effect what price is being paid for your timber as well.  What one is getting paid for pine pulpwood in Tifton, GA is not necessarily the same as what one may get in Dalton, GA.

If you’re just looking for some general idea of what the market is doing Continue reading this post…

It’s approaching that time of year again. Soon, it’ll be hunting season. As such, now seems like a good time to revisit the hunting regulations in Georgia. Fortunately, that job has been made much easier this year as the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, has placed the new regulations online.  (This is really a great website for all kind of info about state parks, recreation and outdoors activites in Georgia.  I highly recommend taking a few minutes and perusing through here when you get a moment.)

These regulations should be the gospel to any avid georgia outdoorsman. The popular guide, as it is referred to, provides not only the regulations, including any changes for the year, but also information on new hunting areas available, seasons for all game species, and bag limits. It also gives a fairly comprehensive list of the WMA’s in Georgia and what game they allow to be hunted. The new regulations can be found here.

There are a couple of major changes of which hunters should be aware.

Continue reading this post…

Determining tonnage of timber in a tree 

Armed with the Diameter of the tree in question, the height, the species and the category in which the tree falls, we are now ready to relate this to its weight expressed in tons. 

Pulpwood:

Below are volume tables for loblolly, shortleaf, longleaf, and slash pines, expressed in pounds.  Thus a loblolly pine with a usable height of 60′ with a DBH of 9″ should weigh approximately 632 pounds.  Dividing by 2000 yields 0.316 tons.  This table is useful for evaluating pulpwood pines.  This might be for plantation pines or just natural regrowth.

Continue reading this post…

Estimating Timber Volume in a Standing Tree

Measuring an Individual Tree

The first step is to measure the Diameter of the tree at Breast Height, usually abbreviated as DBH.  This is important for both classification purposes and determining volume of the tree.  Measurement can be done using a Biltmore Stick, calipers, Standard Tape, or diameter tape.  We prefer to use diameter tape, also sometimes called a pi tape.  Standard tape is a ruler tape that would be used to measure circumference such as used by tailors to measure waistlines.  Diameter tapes are similar but measure directly in diameter instead of circumference.  You can use a standard tape and divide by pi ( 3.14 ) to achieve the same result but diameter tapes save you the conversion problem.

The DBH is used to classify the tree according to its potential uses.

Continue reading this post…

Braye Boardman of Augusta has been named Chairman of the Georgia Board of Trustees for the Nature Conservancy.  We’d like to offer a tip of the hat to Mr. Boardman for his work with this program.  We here at Georgia Country are nature lovers at heart and we do appreciate all the hard work put in by organizations such as these to preserve our environment and wildlife habitats.

We also always like to recognize Augusta businessmen who represent Augusta and Georgia well.  Congratulations, and good luck Mr. Boardman. 

There is good news for the wildlife enthusiasts and nature conservationists in Georgia this week.  According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources an aerial survey by DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division in May showed an estimated number of 2,255  Wood Stork Nests in Georgia.  This number eclipses the previous record of 1,928 estimated nests recorded in 2006.

The Wood Stork is a federally endangered species that is native to the southeast.  It’s numbers have significantly declined since the 1930’s and have been federally listed as endangered since the 1970’s.  This is an excellent development for the future of this species that has been decimated by loss of habitat.

According to the news report, the state of Florida is also making an effort to help provide some habitat for this endangered species by purchasing nearly 300 square miles of land in the Everglades from a commercial operation.  This will be a boon for this water dependant species.  As the Everglades has little commercial use, this seems to me a great way to preserve our wildlife with no huge negative impact on the individuals or their private property rights.  This looks to be a classic example of win-win situation for our wildlife and for the rights of private property owners.

One can actually often find this species in the wild here in Georgia.  Particularly in the southern portion of the state.  However, one can often find them right here in the CSRA.  I have quite frequently seen them loitering around in Phinizy Swamp.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to see one in person, take a trek down to Phinizy and you might see one.  If not, you’ll still have the opportunity to see quite a bit of locally indigenous wildlife and a beautiful stroll in the woods.