CORRECTLY TIMING BRUSH MANAGEMENT

Brush management is a land management practice that yields a variety of results. Done improperly, the results seriously alter and damage the landscape -- just one hour with an ill-considered round of chainsawing can take one hundred years to repair. But, when done correctly, brush management enhances your property's value to wildlife, aesthetics, and the surrounding ecosystem. While there are no sure things in land management, a well-considered brush management plan helps ensure the desired results are achieved.

The first step of a proper management plan is to decide the goals for your property. For properties under a 1-d-1w wildlife management use appraisal, the goal should be to improve the health of the land in a way that benefits your targeted wildlife species.

The next consideration should be when to conduct the planned work. With the exception of endangered species habitat, 1-d-1w guidelines allow brush management to be conducted anytime between January 1 and December 31. However, there are times when conducting brush management could be harmful to target wildlife species. For instance, if your wildlife management plan includes managing for songbirds, running chainsaws or equipment in songbird habitat during their breeding season could have a negative impact on the next year's population. While the cool weather of spring might be the most enticing time of year to fire up a chainsaw to clear brush, doing so might hurt the wildlife you are trying to protect. The whine of a saw and the disturbance of brush are not conducive to reproductive activities; nesting may be disrupted and newborns stressed. As the typical songbird breeding season in Central Texas lasts from March 15 to August 15, the better times for conducting brush management are from January 1 through March 15, and from August 15 through December 31.

Similarly, when conducting brush management with equipment such as a skid steer with hydraulic shears on a property being managed for quail or turkey, brush management safely occurs from January 1 through March 31 and from October 1 through December 3. These birds are ground nesting birds, and equipment can inadvertently run over and destroy nests and eggs.

An added benefit of conducting brush management with equipment during these dates is that they also coincide with the recommended dates for planting native grasses that are beneficial to both the land and wildlife. These two management practices work well together not only because of the timing, but also because using equipment to conduct brush management will disturb the soil which is a requirement of planting grass seed. By conducting these practices together, there is an increased ecological benefit. Planting the appropriate seeds can help ensure that the new vegetation will create good quality habitat for the target wildlife species.

Brush management is conducted in a variety of ways and times throughout the year to achieve any number of management goals. The benefits of brush management increase when implemented with a well developed plan, executed at the proper time, and matched with complimentary management practices.

Plateau offers selective and ecologically sound brush management which maintains the integrity of the habitat for native wildlife, while enhancing the beauty of your property. Whether high intensity, machine brush clearing or hand work, our skilled field technicians implement techniques that are tailored to the habitat needs of your property and its wildlife. Contact us for more details.

When done correctly, brush management enhances your property's value to wildlife, aesthetics, and the surrounding ecosystem.