A few days ago I was talking to a local wildlife biologist about habitat improvement, and she made the comment that now was the time to get started. She didn't elaborate as to what she was specifically referring, but she could've been talking about a lot of things.
Considering it usually takes 4-5 years to see an optimal effect from habitat management, the landowner/ lessor or lessee has a lot of planning to do before any ground can be broken. The first thing that is needed is an initial assessment of the lay of the land and the goals that might be accomplished. No matter what this assessment reveals for each individual property, there are certain things that have to be done at specific windows of opportunity during any given year. From the clearing of land to the harvesting of game, timing can be crucial to success.
Whether you manage the property as a naturalist or employ agricultural methods to improve the habitat, now is the time to begin. Prescribed fire has to be implemented when conditions are within specific parameters. Clearing land for firebreaks or food plots needs to be done before heavy spring rains begin... and so does seed bed preparation so that seeds can be planted at optimum times.
So if your considering any of these projects, that initial assessment is the first step and may take a few days depending on the size of the property. But in most cases that part is free... So why procrastinate? The first, and most important, step to solving a problem is to determine the problem. Then you can decide whether to throw money at it or not, and how much...
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