Landowner Corner

By Randy Browning, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / Wildlife Mississippi

Quail Hollow Ranch in Lamar County, Mississippi, is privately owned by Orby and Brenda Wright. With a strong interest in managing northern bobwhite quail (hence the property's name), the Wrights began making land acquisitions in 1989. Now a little less than 2,000 contiguous acres, the property is highly diverse and consists of a mixture of bottomland hardwoods, loblolly pine plantations, and both natural and artificially regenerated longleaf pine stands. Longleaf pine is now the dominant overstory species on approximately 50% of the property.

Having been a wildlife biologist with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks prior to joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, I was somewhat acquainted with the property. This made it easy to approach the landowners about initiating longleaf pine restoration and related management activities that would benefit not only the northern bobwhite quail but also other longleaf pine associated species, including the gopher tortoise.

The most intriguing area was a 135-acre longleaf pine stand that had been aerially seeded in the late 1970s. The stand was extremely dense (basal areas ranging from 180210 square feet) with a patchy herbaceous groundcover. Prescribed fire was the only management in the stand since its establishment. In partnership with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Wildlife Mississippi, and American Forest Foundation, the Wrights began enhancement activities, starting with pre-commercial thinning in 2003 to reduce stand density. A crew with chainsaws targeted longleaf that averaged less than 4 inches at diameter breast height. This was followed up with a second partnership project in 2004 to target understory/midstory hardwoods less than 6 inches at diameter breast height.

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina subjected the stand to 100 miles per hour sustained winds. Fortunately, minimal damage occurred. The landowners conducted a commercial thin in 2006 that further reduced stand density. The stand has been burned several times since, and a planned commercial thin will further improve gopher tortoise, black pine snake, and eastern diamondback rattlesnake habitat. This stand is the focal point for the many conservation field days held on the property.