Rewarded for our conservation efforts

Well, I got the official email today, so its real. We are receiving the Richland County Forestry Conservations of the Year award at a dinner held at the end of the month. This is in recognition of the Forestry and Habitat Restoration project that I have been doing on my farm. To some, its just a Mega plot play ground. To me, it has been a huge investment for the future of both my daughters and the habitat that is needed for wildlife to thrive. I’m very grateful for the recognition, but there are a number of people that need a special Thank You!

My Father – He’s in his 70’s and lives on my farm. He was the primary driving force to look forward to what this land could be. He spends countless hours doing so many small projects around there. He has stated many times that he will not be around to see this grow, but knows what we will have down the road.

My wife and daughters – When it comes to man power, these ladies get down and dirty making things happen on the limited weekends we have.

Mike Finlay of the Forestry Dept. He has such a huge knowledge and insight to give us direct and great advise. He invested a lot of time in guiding us to what we have.

Here is a couple links to info about my farm

Mega Plot Update Mega Plot Start

Congratulations Randy to your family and you! I truly believe your hard work and dedication will pay dividends for many, many years to come in the future. I hope you get to see your grand-kids and great grand-kids enjoy what you’ve invested so much in!

Awesome!!

Awesome

Well deserved! Congrats! And great job getting the kids involved!

Good stuff ! I am sure watching the land develop into what it has and will is reward enough for you but a little official recognition never hurts . Congratulations

Randy, you and your family have made a tremendous effort to build an absolutely amazing piece of habitat. I congratulate you on your award, but much more so on your dedication to wildlife and the future of hunting throughout generations to come. I recall your initial post about this land, and I will say that the heritage of wildlife conservation you are leaving behind shadows any banquet or plaque. You deserve some serious and besides the local public recognition.

Thank you for your contribution to the wildlife that owns a place in all our hearts.

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Randy, you and your family have made a tremendous effort to build an absolutely amazing piece of habitat. I congratulate you on your award, but much more so on your dedication to wildlife and the future of hunting throughout generations to come. I recall your initial post about this land, and I will say that the heritage of wildlife conservation you are leaving behind shadows any banquet or plaque. You deserve some serious and besides the local public recognition.

Thank you for your contribution to the wildlife that owns a place in all our hearts.

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I could not have said it any better myself!!!

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Randy, you and your family have made a tremendous effort to build an absolutely amazing piece of habitat. I congratulate you on your award, but much more so on your dedication to wildlife and the future of hunting throughout generations to come. I recall your initial post about this land, and I will say that the heritage of wildlife conservation you are leaving behind shadows any banquet or plaque. You deserve some serious and besides the local public recognition.

Thank you for your contribution to the wildlife that owns a place in all our hearts.

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I could not have said it any better myself!!!

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X2 congrats

Thank You! I was up there for the youth deer hunt with my youngest daughter this weekend. After all these years, I really sat in a treestand and relaxed….Literally, my daughter let me take about a 1/2 hr snooze. To wake up to squirrels tromping through the leaves, the rustling of the 20 mph winds blowing leaves down, and so on gave me such a sense of relief that I am actually over the hump of getting the big parts done.
I’ve got a number of PMs regarding the pics I have of all the down trees and the “war-zone” looking pic.
Before the CWD crap started, we ran an active beef farm here with 35 to 50 head. That made up for a mixture of pasture, crop, forest,ect. This farm had been butchered by a logging group about 5 years before I bought. No selective harvest or plan for reconstruction.

We groomed the weeds back, managed trees for as little as we knew about, and in the first 10 years, had a canopy established. Hunting in the jungle was great, because of the over-population of deer and crops. We ended the beef operation and began to focus on re-establishing the property to everything it should be and have.

In 2007, we were hit with 3 consecutive days of abnormal rain and flooding. The following morning, we had near 100mph line winds on the front of a thunderstorm. It up rooted hundreds of mature trees and made all of our property look like it was a Germany in WWII. The pic of me standing in a white shirt is 60 yards from one of my treestand. 6 months earlier, this was all mature oak trees averaging 30″ or better. Gone… I have tyhis pic at my farm and is title WTF. I’ll never forget looking at all the vast holes in the woods and just dumbfounded as to how restore it all.
The road is HWY 80, just west of my farm. It speaks for itself as to the volume of water that ripped everything apart that weekend.
I had 5 acres that looked like a perfectly manacured parkway as you entered the driveway. That’s all gone and just a few scrapy trees remain.
But my Dads dedication to having something to do everyday, and remembering that “If I don’t do it, who the heck will?” attitude really gave me the endurance to invest the 1000’s of hours to clean this up and turn it around. This is my piece of heaven where I feel like I’m at home. No difference than doing the maintenance on where you live I guess. Here’s a few shots on how its all rebounding

Congrats Randy and well deserved!!

Eric