The Wilkes Wildlife Management Crew

THE SEED ROOM

2010-01-25T14:11:00.012-05:00

"What's the best thing to plant for wildlife?" is one of the most frequently asked questions that we hear, second only to: "just what do ya'll do anyway?" In answering the latter question, part of my answer is, "we also do the farming work on game-lands...", which usually leads right in to the former question.

In order to give a good answer, one must turn the tables and ask the inquirer a long list of questions: What kinds of animals are you trying to attract/feed? What time of year do you want to plant? How much acreage do you have available to plant? Is it an upland or bottomland site? Does the area get full sunlight or is it mostly shaded?What kind of equipment do you have available? What kind of vegetation is currently present? What will the grazing pressure be like?

Many entire books have been written on the subject, and there is no way to give good advice on planting for wildlife without knowing all of the above information (and more.) The agricultural work that we do involves managing the openings on game lands for the benefit of all forms of wildlife. For example, some openings are managed mostly for the benefit of small game, some are managed with the goal of providing quality forage for deer and other herbivores, and some are planted mostly to attract doves or other birds. Planting itself is only a small part of the work done in managed openings, other work includes plowing or disking, fertilizing, spraying, mowing, burning, managing the field edge, and removing rocks, stumps, and other debris.

Last year we planted a total of 86.5 acres on District 7 game lands. These plantings were done in seven months of the year and consisted of an amazing variety of crops. Here is a list of the different plant seed that has passed through our "seed room" and has been planted on game lands in recent years:

Alfalfa
Alyceclover
American Jointvetch
Arrowleaf Clover
Austrian Winter Pea
Barley
Berseem Clover
Big Bluestem
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Black Eyed Susan
Browntop Millet
Buckwheat
Chickory
Chufa
Corn
Cowpeas
Crimson Clover
Crown Vetch
Durana Clover
Eastern Gammagrass
Egyptian Wheat
Fescue*
Grain Sorghum
Hairy Vetch
Illinois Bundleflower
Indiangrass
Kale
Kobe Lespedeza
Korean Lepedeza
Lablab
Ladino Clover
Little Bluestem
Maximillian Sunflower
Oats
Okra
Orchard Grass*
Partridge Pea
Predovic Sunflower
Proso Millet
Rape
Red Clover
Rye
Ryegrass
Sesame
Sesbania
Small Burnett
Soybeans
Switchgrass
Timothy Grass
Turnips
Weeping Lovegrass*
Wheat
White Dutch Clover
Yellow Sweetclover

*note that these grasses are generally not recommended in wildlife openings, we only use them in erosion control situations.

Above is a photo of the interior of our seed room.

The NC Wildlife Resources Commission used to provide seed in annual and perennial mixtures that was intended for use as a small game food and cover planting. This program ended in the early 1990's, we no longer have any seed available to the public.

Perkins Game Land - Directions

2010-01-06T09:20:00.001-05:00

Perkins Game Land

The Perkins Game Land is located in Davie County. Perkins is not a state owned game land but is leased from Duke Power. There are three parking areas to access the Perkins Game Land on Riverview Road. To access the Perkins Game Land:

From the intersection of US Highway 64 and NC Highway 801; travel south on NC Highway 801 approximately 1.3 miles to Riverview Road on the left. After turning onto Riverview Road, travel approximately 100 yards to the gated parking area on the right.

35°51'22.14"N 80°26'41.50"W

To access the other the other two parking areas continue traveling Riverview Road approximately 1.9 miles to the end of the pavement.

35°50'22.48"N 80°26'49.93"W

And then from there continue on the graveled section another 0.6 mile to a gated parking area.

35°50'6.41"N 80°27'19.42"W

For an online interactive map of Perkins, please visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website @ www.ncwildlife.org or click HERE to link to the interactive maps.

A detailed map of Perkins in PDF form can be found HERE.

THE D7 crew repeats as "duck banding champs"

2010-01-04T12:27:00.012-05:00

During the summer of 2009, THE D7 Crew again claimed title to the Coveted GOLDEN ROCKET award by banding more wood ducks than any other Wildlife Management crew in NC. THE D7 crew banded 327 wood ducks, 233 more ducks than the Andrews crew, who was this year's runner-up. All other crews across the state combined to band 421 wood ducks over the summer. The "preseason" wood duck banding effort proved difficult for all crews as repeated flooding occurred in areas that had seen low water levels for the last few years. Several of our best duck trapping sites were simply gone, washed away or flooded throughout the trapping season. We were able to adapt by seeking out new sites and employing our new productive trapping technique of "drop netting". The drop net can be employed where there is not enough space for the traditional rocket net, and can be left in place and employed as soon as high waters recede at a flood prone site. Here are some examples of sites where we caught and banded ducks using drop nets.

Above is a "lean-to" drop net made from river cane poles.

Above is a small "hoop" net suspended from a cable, and the two pictures below are of larger hoops suspended from overhanging trees.

Above is a hoop suspended from a wooden bipod over a particularly challenging site to trap, and below is another very small hoop suspended from a tree.

Our goal for next year is to reduce our time invested in wood duck banding by 1/2 and still retain this MAJOR award here in our trophy case.

What has THE D-7 crew done lately? (October-December 2009)

2010-01-04T08:52:00.020-05:00

October 2009
- Crewmember assisted with youth hunt and collected data from three deer.
Crewmembers collected data from eight deer from meat processors and sportsmen.

-Spread 80 tons of gravel on public parking area on Three-top Mtn. GL.

-Performed routine depot, yard mowing, and site maintenance tasks.

-Mowed 3 miles of road edges on Mitchell River GL.

-Repaired and replaced rear tires on TL90 tractor.
Performed maintenance and repairs on bulldozer.
Performed maintenance and repairs on Truax planter.
Painted temporary bridge components.

-Cleared 1/2 mile of firebreaks on Mitchell River GL.
Reconnoitered layout of firebreaks for future burns on MRGL.
Installed two temporary stream crossings on MRGL firebreaks.

-Removed rocks, stumps and debris from 2 acres of openings on TCGL.
Sprayed 13 acres of openings on TCGL.
Planted 21 acres of openings on TCGL.
Planted four acres of openings on Mitchell River GL.
Removed rocks, stumps and debris from 1.5 acres of openings on MRGL.
Mowed 2 acres of openings on Mitchell River GL.

-Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended regional meeting in Marion.

-Treated 342 Hemlock trees for Hemlock Wooly Adelgid control as follows:
Treated 32 trees on Buffalo Cove GL
Treated 42 trees on Mitchell River GL
Treated 186 trees on Thurmond Chatham GL
Treated 82 trees on Three Top GL

Jim applying pesticide to control HWA

-Replaced stolen battery bank in tandem and 2-ton dump trucks.

November 2009
-Crewmembers collected data from 212 deer at various meat processors.

-Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled off trash and recyclables and scrap tires to landfill.
Crewmember met with state fire marshal for depot inspection.

-Repaired washed out culvert on MRGL.

-Maintained various non-highway equipment.

-Constructed 1.3 miles of firelanes on MRGL.

-Reviewed burn plans with regional forester and prepared burn plans.

-Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

-Maintained and inspected dump trucks and 10 & 20 ton trailers.
Maintained pumper unit truck (PM3579).

-Crewmember hauled Huntmaster trailer back to depot from Morganton depot.
Prepared, demonstrated, and signed out Huntmaster for NWTF handicap hunt.

December 2009
-Crewmembers collected data from 235 deer at various meat processors.

-Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Repaired depot security lighting system.
Plowed snow to provide access to depot.

-Repaired and performed scheduled maintenance on three tractors.
Repaired and maintained Alamo mower.
Repaired and maintained depot air compressor.
Repaired and maintained Honda ATV.

-Constructed temporary bridges needed for firelanes.

-Inspected, cleaned, and maintained 30 wood duck nest boxes at Hunting Creek waterfowl refuge.

-Inspected tracts to be burned on Perkins and MRGL, and prepared burn plans.

-Crewleader attended regional meeting at Marion depot.
Crew completed mandatory training regarding e-mail policies.
Routine office work and preparing reports.

-Had pumper unit truck inspected (PM3579).

-Prepared, demonstrated, and signed out Huntmaster for two handicapped hunts.

Mitchell River GL road repair project

2009-11-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

A few months ago, we discovered some serious damage happening on a road on Mitchell River Game Lands. This road was constructed by a local land swindler/developer who was only interested in getting a road in there, getting the timber out, and then getting people in there in order to buy parcels of property. Needless to say, great care was not taken in this road construction. Since becoming game lands, we just closed out this road to the public and use it for administrative access only. We pretty much knew that this road would create problems eventually. Twenty or more feet of poorly supported and connected culvert pipe was left extending out far above grade.

This created a 25 foot high waterfall, which over time, eroded the ground beneath it until culvert sections were left unsupported. One culvert section broke off and the process started over again at the next section of 20' culvert, until the resulting erosion shown in the photo's below threatened the stability of the road.

We came up with a fix for this area with the advice of an engineer from our Engineering Division who came out one day to observe our work. Our first task was to remove two of the extended culvert sections. The one that had broken off was pulled from the gully with the dozer winch, the next one was excavated with the backhoe.

Next, we needed to convert the very steep banks of the "cut and fill" used to create the road in this section into a better designed drainage area. The easiest way to do this was to shove soil straight down the embankment with the dozer. After careful assesment of the risks involved, Jim strapped into the dozer and shoved down the steep embankment using the mound of soil that he was pushing as his emergency brake. At this grade, the dozer just kind of slides downhill on a one way trip, a path was pushed beforehand as a way to climb back out.

The drainage basin continues to take shape, the spillway is lined, and rip rap is placed...

Some matting is placed on the steeper sections.

We lined most of the waterway with heavy fabric, installed a few log check damns, hand placed several tons of rip rap, and a large pile of brush in the bottom of the basin to help stabilize the soil and slow down any heavy water flows. We then seeded the entire area down with a mixture of grasses and crown vetch.

Finally, we mulch down the site with straw. We completed this project in less than a week.

Buffalo Cove Game Land - Directions

2009-11-17T14:13:00.017-05:00

Buffalo Cove Game Land

The Buffalo Cove Game Land is located mostly in Caldwell County, with a small portion located in western Wilkes County, in northwest North Carolina. There are two entrance roads to access the Buffalo Cove Game Land, Green Rock Road and Cove Branch Road. Both game land entrance roads can be accessed off of Buffalo Cove Road. A third access point via a small parking area and hunter trail provides access to the northern most "Long Ridge" tract. To access the Buffalo Cove Game Land:

Green Rock Road entrance - Travel NC Highway 268 to Buffalo Cove Road. Travel north on Buffalo Cove Road approximately 1.8 miles to the Green Rock access on the left.

36°2'18.10"N 81°31'18.43"W

Cove Branch Road entrance - Travel NC Highway 268 to Buffalo Cove Road. Travel north on Buffalo Cove Road approximately 2 miles to the Cove Branch Road on the right.

36°2'25.03"N 81°31'22.91"W

To access the "Long Ridge" tract via hunter trail, travel NC Highway 268 to Buffalo Cove Road. Travel north on Buffalo Cove Road approximately 6.5 miles to Old Sampson Road on the left. After turning left onto Old Sampson Road, travel approximately 0.4 miles to CC Camp Road on the left. Travel approximately 0.6 miles on the graveled CC Camp Road to the small parking area on the left. The hunter access trail begins across the creek and heads across the ridge to the game land boundary. GPS coordinates for the hunter parking area: 36°6'1.94"N 81°32'16.20"W

For an online interactive map of Buffalo Cove, please visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website @ www.ncwildlife.org or click HERE to link to the interactive maps.

A detailed map of Buffalo Cove in PDF form can be found HERE.

Mitchell River Game Land - Directions

2009-11-16T09:26:00.020-05:00

Mitchell River Game Land

The Mitchell River Game Land is located in Surry County, in northwest North Carolina. There are two entrance roads to access the Mitchell River Game Land. One game land entrance road is located just off of River Road and the other entrance is located on Haystack Road. To access the Mitchell River Game Land:

To access the River Road entrance - Travel Interstate 77 to the Dobson Exit (#93). Head west on Zephyr Road approximately 1.5 miles to Kapps Mill Road on the right. After turning onto Kapps Mill Road, travel 1.8 miles to the end of Kapps Mill Road. At the stop sign, turn right onto River Road. Travel River Road approximately 2 miles to the game land entrance road on the left.

36°25'6.98"N 80°51'27.00"W

To access the Haystack Road parking area - Travel Interstate 77 to the Dobson Exit (#93). Head west on Zephyr Road approximately 1.5 miles to Kapps Mill Road on the right. After turning onto Kapps Mill Road, travel 1.8 miles to the end of Kapps Mill Road. At the stop sign, turn right onto River Road. Travel River Road approximately 3.5 miles to the intersection with Haystack Road. At the stop sign, turn left onto Haystack Road and travel approximately 4.5 miles to the game land entrance on the left.

36°25'7.09"N 80°55'43.14"W

For an online interactive map of Mitchell River, please visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website @ www.ncwildlife.org or click HERE to link to the interactive maps.

A detailed map of Mitchell River in PDF form can be found HERE.

Directions to game lands in District Seven

2009-11-16T09:04:00.002-05:00

We are attempting to get detailed directions posted to each of our game lands here in District 7 here on our blog. While this will take us some time, as there are many game lands, please check back for updates and notice that direct links to the directions for each game land can be found on the left-hand side of the page under the "Links" tab. Directions to the Thurmond Chatham game land, in Wilkes County, can be found there now.

Thurmond Chatham Game Land - Directions

2009-10-29T06:58:00.044-05:00

Thurmond Chatham Game Land

The Thurmond Chatham Game Land is located in Wilkes County, in northwest North Carolina. There are four entrance roads to access the Thurmond Chatham Game Land. One game land entrance road is located just off Highway 18 North known as Joshua Creek Road and three game land entrances are located off of Longbottom Road. To access the Thurmond Chatham Game Land:

From Wilkesboro, NC - From the junction of Highway 18 and Highway 268, travel Highway 18 North approximately 13.5 miles to Longbottom Road on the right.

Osborne Ridge Road - From the intersection of Highway 18 and Longbottom Road, travel east approximately 2.5 miles to the Osborne Ridge Road entrance on the left.

36°21'9.58"N 81°12'11.09"W

Pike Creek Road - From the intersection of Highway 18 and Longbottom Road, travel east approximately 3.5 miles to the Pike Creek Road entrance on the left.

36°21'21.60"N 81°11'15.51"W

Bell Branch Road - From the intersection of Highway 18 and Longbottom Road, travel east approximately 5.7 miles to the Bell Branch Road entrance on the left.

36°22'8.96"N 81° 9'16.97"W

Joshua Creek Road - From the intersection of Highway 18 and Longbottom Road, travel north on Highway 18 approximately 1.8 miles to Old Highway 18 on the right.

After turning right onto Old 18, travel approximately 0.3 miles to the Joshua Creek Road entrance on the right. GPS coordinates for the entrance: 36°21'27.22"N 81°14'11.64"W

From Elkin, NC - From the stoplight at the intersection of Highway 21 and Poplar Springs Road, travel approximately 8.5 miles north on Highway 21 to Traphill Road on the left. After taking the left onto Traphill Road, travel approximately 5.2 miles west to Longbottom Road on the right.

Bell Branch Road - From the intersection of Traphill Road and Longbottom Road, travel west approximately 8.8 miles to the Bell Branch Road entrance on the right.

36°22'8.96"N 81° 9'16.97"W

Pike Creek Road - From the intersection of Traphill Road and Longbottom Road, travel west approximately 11 miles to the Pike Creek Road entrance on the right.

36°21'21.60"N 81°11'15.51"W

Osborne Ridge Road - From the intersection of Traphill Road and Longbottom Road, travel west approximately 12.1 miles to the Osborne Ridge Road entrance on the right.

36°21'9.58"N 81°12'11.09"W

Joshua Creek Road - From the intersection of Traphill Road and Longbottom Road, travel west approximately 14.5 miles to the end of Longbottom Road to it's intersection with Highway 18. From the intersection of Highway 18 and Longbottom Road, travel north on Highway 18 approximately 1.8 miles to Old Highway 18 on the right.

After turning right onto Old 18, travel approximately 0.3 miles to the Joshua Creek Road entrance on the right. GPS coordinates for the entrance: 36°21'27.22"N 81°14'11.64"W

There is one other game lands access point that is found off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. This access road leads to a hunter parking area and the game lands are accessed by following a hunter access trail across park property to the "D Section" of the Thurmond Chatham game lands. To find this parking area travel the Blue Ridge Parkway to milepost 239. Turn onto "Air Bellows Gap" Road.
Follow Air Bellows Road south approximately 0.75 miles until reaching the terminus of the road at the hunter parking area. GPS coordinates for the parking area: 36°25'16.46"N 81°7'22.00"W

For an online interactive map of Thurmond Chatham, please visit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission website @ www.ncwildlife.org or click HERE to link to the interactive maps.

A detailed map of Thurmond Chatham in PDF form can be found HERE.

What has THE D-7 Crew done lately (July-Sept. 2009)

2009-10-14T08:45:00.010-05:00

July 2009

-Conducted bear bait station surveys in district seven (34 stations, 13 bear visits)

-Performed routine depot, yard mowing, and site maintenance tasks.
Disposed of ½ ton of trash and recyclables.

-Mowed vegetation in 12 acres of openings on Thurmond Chatham GL.

-Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended regulation proposals review meeting in Yadkinville.

-Trapped 121 wood ducks and banded 115 with new bands.

-Trapped 15 doves and banded 14 with new bands.

-Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

August 2009

-Performed routine depot, yard mowing, and site maintenance tasks.
Accompanied State Property Engineers during inspection of buildings.

-Cleared debris from 17 miles of public access roads on TCGL.
Opened and closed gates to allow sportsmen access onto TCGL.
Opened and closed gates to allow sportsmen access onto MRGL.
Opened and closed gates to allow sportsmen access onto BCGL.
Put up signs and improved barriers to block ATV traffic on Saddle Mtn Tract.
Met with Supervising Biologist to plan for parking area on Three-top Mtn GL.

-Mowed vegetation in 17 acres of openings on TCGL.
Mowed 14 acres of dove fields on Perkins Game Lands.
Burned 1.5 acres of field crops on Perkins GL Dove fields.
Spot sprayed invasive plants on 22 acres of openings on TCGL.

-Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

-Trapped 207 wood ducks and banded 180 with new bands.

-Trapped and banded 18 doves.

-Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

September 2009

-Installed access barrier around public parking area on Three-top Mtn. GL.

-Performed routine depot, yard mowing, and site maintenance tasks.

-Mowed 1.5 miles of access roads and parking areas on BCGL.

-Retrieved tractor from vendor in Wilkesboro after repair was completed.

-Mowed one acre opening on Thurmond Chatham GL.
Mowed nine acres of openings on Perkins Game Lands.
Burned one acre of field crops on Perkins GL Dove fields.
Sprayed and planted eight acres of openings on Buffalo Cove GL.
Mowed fifteen acres of openings on Buffalo Cove GL.

(photo above is of a strip of sunflowers, Lablab, and cowpeas we planted on Thurmond Chatham Game Lands, in early September, bears discovered the sunflowers and soon thereafter it looked like the area had been bombed as the bears visited the 2 acre patch and devoured the sunflowers, once the bears had eaten all the sunflowers, they left and the deer moved back in to feast on the Lablab and cowpeas)
-Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended Regional meeting in Marion.

-Trapped 38 wood ducks and banded 32 with new bands.
Prepared and submitted banding records to waterfowl Biologist.

-Performed scheduled maintenance of three highway vehicles.
Obtained spare tires and parts for 3 western Region Huntmaster trailers.

-Transported vehicle and two truck loads of NCWRC property from former employee’s residence to depot for storage.

What has The D-7 crew done lately? (April-June 2009)

2009-07-06T08:35:00.016-05:00

April

Development of Clearings:
Cleared debris and expanded existing openings by one acre on Perkins GL.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Worked on improvements to depot storage facilities.
Disposed of ½ ton of trash and recyclables.

Boundary Maintenance:
Unposted 1.1, and posted .6 miles of boundary on Three-Top GL.
Posted 2.6 miles of boundary on ALCOA GL in Davie County.

Maintenance of Public Use Facilities:
Mowed and cleaned up around monument site on Hunting Creek Waterfowl refuge.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleared trees and debris from seven miles of administrative roads on TCGL.
Delivered 30 tons of aggregates for road drainage repair project on MRGL.
Cleaned 20 culverts on road system on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Performed repairs and maintenance on tractors and other motorized equipment.
Repaired seed drill, disc harrow, sprayer, planter, and other tractor implements.

Firebreaks:
Installed .4 miles of firebreaks on burn areas on Perkins GL.

Herbaceous Planting:
Planted 4.5 acres of firebreaks and other openings on BCGL.
Planted two acres of openings on TCGL.
Sprayed various herbicides on 14 acres of openings on TCGL.
Disked six acres on TCGL.

Tree and Shrub Planting:
Pruned eight apple trees on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Bladed and disked ½ acre of early successional openings on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, reporting and review of budget.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crewmember attended medical appointment relative to workman's comp. injury.

May

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Disposed of ½ ton of trash and recyclables.
Completed project to waterproof depot storage facilities.

Maintenance of Public Use Facilities:
Cleared vegetation in campground and parking area at Basin Creek on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Spread 30 tons of gravel on MRGL access roads.
Delivered 45 tons of aggregates for road drainage repair project on MRGL.
Closed access road gates on MRGL and TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Performed repairs and maintenance on tractors and other motorized equipment.
Repaired sprayers, Brillion planter, ATV disk, debris loader, and Huntmaster lift.

Herbaceous Planting:
Spread two tons of fertilizer on dove fields at Perkins GL.
Disked six acres in preparation for planting on TCGL.
Sprayed 7 acres of openings on TCGL.
Planted four acres on TCGL.
Planted ½ acre of field crops on Wilkes Depot property.

Tree and Shrub Planting:
Removed 35 tree shelters from trees and shrubs planted on TCGL.
Released eight mast producing trees from entanglement with kudzu on Perkins GL.

Vegetation Control:
Spot-sprayed for kudzu control in and around 8 acres of openings on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, reporting and review of budget.

Waterfowl Banding:
Investigated several wood duck trapping sites, began preparing trapping equipment.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Assisted herpetologists with survey for bog turtles in Wilkes Depot Bog area.

June

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot, yard mowing, and site maintenance tasks.
Disposed of ½ ton of trash and recyclables.

Maintenance of Public Use Facilities:
Mowed 1/2 acre in campground and parking area at Basin Creek, TCGL.
Mowed monument area at Hunting Creek Waterfowl Refuge.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Spread 45 tons of aggregates for road repair on TCGL.
Blocked illegal ATV access onto TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Performed repairs and maintenance on tractors, implements, and other equipment.
Prepared Huntmaster lift for use, instructed user, and inspected upon return.

Herbaceous Planting:
Spread 4500 lbs of fertilizer on openings on TCGL.
Spread 7 tons of pulverized limestone on openings on TCGL.
Sprayed 8 acres while planting openings on TCGL.
Planted 11.5 acres on TCGL.
Sprayed and planted one acre on Wilkes Depot property.
Mowed vegetation in 7 acres of openings on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Spot-sprayed invasive plants in and around 2 acre Mulberry Mill Bog site.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended regional meeting in Marion.

Waterfowl Banding:
Investigated and prepared several wood duck trapping sites and equipment.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

productive forage plot on very dry ridge site

2009-06-16T14:20:00.017-05:00

The game lands that we manage tend to have very little potential for "normal" agricultural management. Lets face it, if the land was suitable for farming or development, it would not be game lands. As a result, we are left to do what little agriculture we can on marginal sites that are scattered across the landscape. Here in D-7, almost all of our state-owned game lands are in mountainous and steep terrain, and as a result, some of the only opportunities we have for creating an opening are on ridgetops which are most often very rocky and dry with poor soils.

Here is an opening that we created a couple years ago on dry rocky ridge. Our first planting on this site was a fall planting of wheat and ladino clover which did OK through the fall, but mostly died out through the winter and never recovered as the site dried out the following spring. So we opted to replant to a mixture of sweetclover, timothy, and chickory on this site because these plants were the most likely to survive and produce forage for wildlife. This planting grew and established a fair stand despite extreme drought conditions during the 2008 growing season. Now in it's second season, this planting has received some good rains and is producing well.

The sweetclover is the taller plant with yellow flowers, chickory is the lower growing forb that looks kind of like a dandelion, and timothy is the grass with a compact, fine seedhead. All three can be seen in the photo above.

Look closely at the photo above and you can see that this sweetclover plant has been heavily browsed by deer, and judging from the trails and tracks, this plot has become a favored feeding area for many deer. I munched on a bit of the sweetclover myself and found it to be more palatable than most field forage crops, a bit of leaves in your salad would probably give it a slightly bitter, lemon-peppery taste. The field is also abuzz with thousands of bees and other insects attracted to the blossoms of the sweetclover, which in turn brings turkeys and grouse whose young depend on insects for a large part of their diet. Here is another view of this opening with plenty of blueberries and chinkapins in the foreground, the presence of these valuable mast producing shrubs is a direct result of our very effective prescribed burning program. You can also see some dead trees in the background resulting from a burn we conducted here two years ago.

Check out the bumper crop of blueberries (or huckleberries? can anybody tell me the difference?) we have on this site.

The soil on this site is quite acidic, as they are in almost all of our work area, blueberries love it, but sweetclover does not do well in acidic soils. We applied a good dose of pulverized limestone when we planted and after testing the soil, decided to apply another dose of lime recently(see below.)

THE D-7 crew wins MAJOR award!

2009-06-04T09:15:00.030-05:00

THE D-7 Crew was recently presented the highly coveted first annual "GOLDEN ROCKET AWARD." This award was created by the waterfowl research folks to recognize the Wildlife Management Crew that captured and banded the most number of wood ducks during preseason banding efforts. Seventeen Wildlife Management Crews across the State competed hotly for this prestigious award. Through hard work, innovative techniques, superior "woodsmanship", and dedication to a military campaign style of operation, THE D-7 crew managed to emerge champions despite not being located in North Carolina's best wood duck habitat. Along with the trophy, THE Wilkes crew also received a .5% pay cut, higher insurance premiums, and loss of use of Work vehicles to travel from home office to depot to reward them for their initiative and inflexible fidelity to the Wildlife Commission.

Wes, Jim, Doug Howell (waterfowl biologist), and Mike.

The Wilkes County based crew captured and banded 226 ducks and 28 recaptures in July and August of 2008. On 21 summer mornings, crew members were up hours before dawn traveling to one or more of 22 remote sites located in six different counties in Northwest NC in order to band wood ducks. The crew employed a variety of electrically initiated rocket deployed and mechanically initiated entanglement and containment devices, and other traps in order to accomplish this important mission. Crew leader Jim Keepfer was quick to give credit to Mike Greene and Wes Duncan for their outstanding work, and to former temporary employee Tim Nixon, D-7 biologist Chris Kreh and CURE guru Johnny Riley for their help. Recognition is also extended to the many cooperating landowners who allowed the crew to hang out in their riparian areas.

The Wildlife Management Division presents other prestigious awards such as the Golden Dove, the Disdainful Turkeyfoot, the dumberer award, The bloody arm award, and others, but, among these, only the GOLDEN ROCKET has been officially declared a MAJOR award. Pictured below, among some of our trapping hardware and accouterments, is The GOLDEN ROCKET which, beside being the first MAJOR award is also the heaviest award ever presented in the history of the Wildlife Management Division. The award will reside in the well-stocked trophy display area in THE D-7 Wildlife Management Crew Depot until some other Wildlife Management crew manages to demonstrate the dedication, skill, fortitude, and luck needed to out-compete the incredibly talented Wilkes Crew (or until some major road construction, new gamelands boundary, or other project keeps them away from the creeks and rivers all summer.)

Propane tank songbird habitat

2009-05-05T11:41:00.008-05:00

While checking the amount of propane we have left in our storage tanks here at our office after this past winter, I happened to find a bird nest under the cover of one of the tanks.
With camera in hand, I went back out to the tank for a few pictures. I first wanted to try to get a shot through the small opening in the cover of the bird nest inside. After positioning myself in front of the opening and framing the shot through the viewfinder on the camera, imagine my surprise when one of the parent birds flew out of the opening and all but hit me in the face! :) I did at least get a fairly decent look at the bird and comparing that with the nest structure and markings on the eggs I'm pretty sure that what we have here is the nest of a "Carolina wren" (Thryothorus ludovicianus).
A couple of intriguing facts about Carolina wrens:
* A pair bond may form between a male and a female at any time of the year, and the pair will stay together for life. Members of a pair stay together on their territory year-round, and forage and move around the territory together.
* The Carolina Wren is sensitive to cold weather, with the northern populations decreasing markedly after severe winters.

Carolina wrens are found in a wide range of habitats, from swamps to forests to residential areas and they generally require moderately dense shrub or brushy cover. They typically utilize cavity nests and the nest is a domed cup with a side entrance. The nest is usually bulky and made of bark strips, dried grasses, dead leaves, hair, feathers, paper, plastic, or string. They can be placed in tree cavities, vine tangles, dense branches, or other artificial sites such as a mailboxes (or in our case, a propane tank).

A link to a "Wikipedia" article on the Carolina Wren can be found HERE.

The NCWRC '2006-2008' Biennial Report

2009-04-14T14:34:00.005-05:00

The 2006-2008 biennial report, "All Things Are Connected," is now available. This 20-page publication gives a snapshot of some of the agency's activities over the past two years, and is an excellent tool to educate the public about the Wildlife Commission.

For the first time, the biennial report is also available at www.ncwildlife.org. We hope that this will make it simple to distribute the report to anyone. Download the report here (http://www.ncwildlife.org/Documents/NCWRC_Biennial_Report_2006-2008.pdf) or click the biennial report link on the home page of the Web site under "Downloads."

What has THE D-7 crew done lately? (Jan - March 2009)

2009-04-14T14:04:00.012-05:00

JANUARY

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Installed insulating materials in storage building to reduce heating costs.
Installed impact protection around propane fuel tanks.

Boundary Maintenance:
Investigated boundary problems and posted entrances to Three Top GL.
Collected data for potential land swap/ boundary change on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Consulted with engineering services in planning for repair of washout on Mitchell River GL, and installation of creek crossing on logging road on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed inventory, repairs, recovery, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Firebreaks:
Transported culvert needed on firelane to MRGL.

Herbaceous Planting:
Daylighted ¼ mile of linear opening on Thurmond Chatham GL.

Tree and Shrub Planting:
Daylighted 32 persimmon, chestnut, and apple trees on Thurmond Chatham GL.

Vegetation Control:
Prepared plans and equipment for upcoming burning.
Conducted 3 burns totaling 60 acres on TCGL.
Felled trees to create 1.25 acres of sprout openings on TCGL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended District 7 public hearing.
Crew attended budget education seminar and strategic planning meeting.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crewmember provided urinalysis sample for random drug testing of Commission
Commercial Drivers License holders.

FEBRUARY

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed inventory, repairs, recovery, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Firebreaks:
Installed culvert on firelane to MRGL.
Hauled 45 tons of aggregates for culvert installation on MRGL.

Herbaceous Planting:
Daylighted 0.7 mile of linear opening on Thurmond Chatham GL.

Tree and Shrub Planting:
Daylighted and pruned 5 apple trees on Thurmond Chatham GL.

Vegetation Control:
Prepared plans and equipment for upcoming burning.
Conducted burns on 5 blocks totaling 174 acres on MRGL.
Conducted burns on 2 bog properties totaling 10 acres in Wilkes County.
Assisted on 1 burn totaling 108 acres on South Mountain GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Made repairs and installed new tires on two equipment trailers.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crew attended pesticide re-certification course in Taylorsville.
Crew assisted DB with attempted turkey confiscation in Stokes County.
Two crewmembers attended retirement information meeting.
Crewmember visited medical facility for Workman’s Compensation injury.

MARCH

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Closed gates on Thurmond Chatham and Mitchell River game lands.
Delivered materials for constructing stream crossing to Thurmond Chatham GL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Performed repairs, preparation, and cleaning of fire fighting equipment.
Repaired seed drill, disc harrow, and other tractor implements.
Delivered and picked up UTV from vendor for repair work.

Firebreaks:
Placed 45 tons of aggregates, silt fence, and filter fabric on firebreak at MRGL.

Herbaceous Planting:
Planted 4.5 miles (7 acres) of firebreaks and other openings on MRGL.

Vegetation Control:
Conducted 40 acre burn on MRGL.
Conducted 2 burns totaling 62 acres on Buffalo Cove GL.
Assisted with two burns totaling 662 acres on South Mountain GL.
Burned seven acres of native warm season grass openings on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew conducted annual performance review with Management Biologist.
Crew completed online training as required by personnel office.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Repaired and replaced six new tires on various vehicles & trailers.
Installed new decking on 20 ton trailer.
Repaired and replaced suspension components on 10-ton trailer.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crew assisted DB with disposal of six confiscated deer.

what has THE D-7 Crew done lately? (Oct-Dec 2008)

2009-01-20T13:35:00.004-05:00

OCTOBER

Deer Mortality characteristics:
Crewmember assisted with youth hunt and collected data from 2 deer.

Development of clearings:
Cleared 2 acres while expanding openings on Perkins GL.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Hauled 82 tons of aggregates to MRGL.
Sprayed roadside vegetation along two miles of access road on Buffalo Cove GL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Routine maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Firebreaks:
Scouted and dozed one mile of old roads & skid trails for firebreak construction on MRGL.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Mowed 2 acres of corn in dove fields on perkins GL.
Planted 14 acres of openings on Perkins GL.
Planted 4 acres on Buffalo cove GL.

Nest structures:
Checked and cleaned 28, replaced two wood duck nest boxes on Hunting Creek Waterfowl refuge.

Vegetation control:
Sprayed 5 acres of vegetation on Perkins GL.
Plowed 10 acres with dozer & bog harrow for Kudzu control.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended regional meeting in Marion.

CWD investigations:
Collected sample tissues from two deer for CWD surveillance.

CURE - Call Counts
Crewmembers conducted Cure quail covey survey at Turnersburg, NC.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Conducted inventory audit with staff inspector from Raleigh.

NOVEMBER

Deer Mortality Characteristics:
Crewmembers collected data from 91 deer at various meat processors.

Bridge Construction:
Gathered information for upcoming bridge construction project.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Hauled 30 tons of aggregates to MRGL.

Firebreaks:
Constructed 1.3 miles of firelanes on MRGL.

Nest Structures:
Checked and cleaned 32 and replaced 7 wood duck nest boxes on Hunting Creek Waterfowl refuge.

Vegetation Control:
Reviewed burn plans with regional forester and prepared burn plans.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crewmember reviewed bog management plans with non-game staff.

Wildlife Diseases - CWD Investigations
Crewmembers collected CWD samples from 15 deer.

DECEMBER

Deer Mortality Characteristics:
Crewmembers collected data from 138 deer at various meat processors, and
other hunter contacts.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Firebreaks:
Cleared obstructions from .5 miles of firelanes on MRGL.

Nest Structures:
Made repairs to seven, replaced two, and installed two new wood duck nest boxes on Hunting Creek Waterfowl refuge.
Checked and cleaned 4, and installed two new wood duck, two bluebird, and one bat nest box on Thurmond Chatham GL.

Vegetation Control:
Reviewed and prepared burn plans.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew Attended Regional coordination meeting.

Wildlife Diseases - CWD Investigations
Crewmembers collected CWD samples from 35 deer.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Performed scheduled maintenance and repair on five highway vehicles.

what has THE D-7 Crew done lately? (July-Sept 2008)

2008-10-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

JULY

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Maintenance of public use facilities:
Mowed and cleaned up campground at Basin Creek (TCGL).

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Mowed 4 miles of road edges/horse trail on Mitchell River GL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed purchase, repairs, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Mowed 3 acres of openings on TCGL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended district regulation proposal meeting with Enf. & Fish Divisions.

Waterfowl banding:
Captured 135 wood ducks and banded 123 with new bands.

Mourning Dove Banding:
Captured 42 doves and banded 38 with new bands.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crewmember collected GPS data from wildfire on Buffalo Cove GL.

AUGUST

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Mowed 3 miles of road edges/horse trail on Mitchell River GL.
Mowed 8 miles of road edges on Thurmond Chatham GL.
Opened and closed gates/ inspected roads for public access on
Thurmond Chatham, Mitchell River, and Buffalo Cove game lands.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed purchase, repairs, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Firebreaks:
Installed ¼ mile of fire lane on Mitchell River GL.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Mowed 17 acres of openings on TCGL.
Sprayed 11 acres, disked 3 acres, and mowed 5 acres of openings on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

Waterfowl banding:
Captured 119 wood ducks and banded 103 with new bands at 10 locations in six counties in District Seven.

Mourning Dove banding:
Captured 19 doves and banded 15 with new bands.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Inspected 81 acre tract in Yadkin County for game lands potential. Obtained records for potential land trade at Basin Creek hunter campground.

SEPTEMBER

Development of clearings:
Cleared .75 acre opening on Mitchell River GL.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleared vegetation and debris from ½ mile of road on TCGL.
Sprayed 2 miles of roadside vegetation on Buffalo Cove GL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew repaired breakdowns on 4630 tractor, Mule UTV, Dozer, and seed drill, as well as other routine maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Planted 21 acres of openings on Thurmond Chatham GL.
Fertilized 28 acres of openings on TCGL with 8400 lbs fertilizer.
Mowed 44 acres and Sprayed 17 acres of openings on TCGL.
Planted 3 acres and fertilized 3 acres with 900 lbs of fertilizer on MRGL.
Planted 2 acres of openings on Buffalo Cove GL.
Burned 3 acres, mowed 5 acres of dove field plantings on Perkins GL.

Nest structures:
Constructed 15 wood duck, 3 bluebird nest boxes.

Tree and shrub plantings:
Daylighted 13 persimmon, 5 cherry, and 2 dogwood trees on MRGL.
Daylighted 8 saw-tooth oak trees on TCGL.
Removed damaged growth, vegetation, and debris from 8 apple trees on TCGL.

Vegetation control:
Cleared vegetation with chainsaws in 1/4 acre sprout opening on TCGL.
Spot sprayed invasive plants in 2 acres within burned areas on TCGL.
Took photos at designated photo plots in burned areas on TCGL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

Waterfowl banding:
Recovered wood duck trapping materials from trap site.

CWD investigations:
Collected sample tissues from four deer for CWD surveillance.
Met with D-7 WM personnel to plan for CWD surveillance efforts.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Crew performed scheduled maintenance and repair of highway vehicles.
Recovered 20 ton trailer from breakdown and had repaired at vendor.

what has THE D-7 Crew done lately? (Apr-Jun 2008)

2008-07-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

APRIL

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled depot garbage and recyclables to collection site.

Dam and Dike Maintenance:
Removed trees and other vegetation from one pond dam on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleaned 10 culverts on TCGL.
Placed 63 tons of aggregates for road stabilization on TCGL.
Replaced two culverts on TCGL access roads.
Closed gates to access roads on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed repairs, inventory, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Planted six miles of firelanes and openings totaling 8 acres on MRGL.
Spread one ton of fertilizer on firelanes and openings on MRGL.

Tree and Shrub Plantings:
Released one persimmon tree on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Conducted 3 burns totaling 137 acres on MRGL.
Conducted five burns totaling 137 acres on TCGL.
Assisted Marion crew in conducting 58 acre burn on Linville River tract.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of breakdowns on highway vehicles.

MAY

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled depot garbage and recyclables to collection site.

Boundary Maintenance:
Posted ½ mile of boundary on ALCOA GL in Davie County.

Maintenance of public use facilities:
Mowed and cleaned up monument area at Hunting Creek waterfowl refuge.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Closed gates on BCGL, TCGL, and MRGL after turkey season.
Graded new parking area and ½ mile of road on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed repairs, inventory, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Planted 7 acres of openings on Perkins GL.
Planted 2 acres of openings on TCGL.
Spread granular herbicide on 12 acres of openings on Perkins GL.
Spread 2 ¼ tons of fertilizer on openings on Perkins GL.
Sprayed and planted 7 acres on buffalo cove GL.

Vegetation Control:
Conducted burns of 12.5 acres of Kudzu on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew member attended agency safety committee meeting in Raleigh.

Waterfowl banding:
Established and began baiting sites for wood duck trapping.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Picked up “huntsmaster” trailer from Butner depot.

JUNE

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled depot garbage and recyclables to collection site.

Boundary development:
Inspected five miles of boundary to determine survey needs on new “Saddle Mountain” tract of Mitchell River GL.

Maintenance of public use facilities:
Mowed and cleaned up monument area at Hunting Creek waterfowl refuge.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Had 207 tons of gravel spread on access road on Mitchell River GL.
Had 201 tons of Gravel stockpiled on TCGL for future road maintenance.
Sprayed two miles of road edges on TCGL roads.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed purchase, repairs, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Planted 14 acres of openings on Perkins GL.
Mowed 12 acres of openings on TCGL.
Sprayed 7 acres of openings on TCGL.
Sprayed herbicide on 5 acres of openings on Perkins GL.

Vegetation Control:
Sprayed 9 acres of Kudzu on Perkins GL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended regional meeting in Marion.

Waterfowl banding:
Established and began baiting sites for wood duck trapping.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of highway vehicles.

Land acquisition activities (Mountain):
Assisted with tour of Pond Mountain tract with NHTF board members.

Burning kudzu on Perkins Game Lands

2008-05-07T06:43:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, with the help of Justin and Brian from the Morganton crew along with our regional forester Dean, we performed a prescribed fire on the Perkins game land in order to try to eradicate kudzu patches.

The patches need to be burned off, then we will allow the kudzu to begin growing again, and then we will go back and apply a special herbicide to kill the new sprouts. Obviously, we took care of the burning!

The burns went well, however we did have an unusual hazard on the fireline. Perkins is owned by Duke Power and there used to be homes on this tract of land. Fortunately for Jim and Brian, they were able to stop the Kubota before ending up in this septic tank!
Thanks to Justin, Brian, and Dean for all their help.

what has THE D-7 Crew done lately? (Jan-March 2008)

2008-04-01T12:49:00.000-05:00

JANUARY
Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.

Boundary Maintenance:
Chopped, posted, and painted 2 miles of boundary on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleaned 25 culverts on TCGL.
Closed gates on access roads on BCGL.
Cleared debris and graded 1.5 miles of road on TCGL.
Spread 120 tons of gravel on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed repairs, inventory, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Firebreaks:
Installed 0.5 mile firelane on MRGL.

Nest Structures:
Constructed and installed 2 wood duck boxes at Hunting Creek Swamp.
Checked and cleaned 30 wood duck boxes at Hunting Creek Swamp.
Checked and cleaned 5 wood duck boxes on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Prepared plans and equipment for upcoming burning.
Conducted 3 burns totaling 32 acres on TCGL.
Conducted 2 burns totaling 76 acres on MRGL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended District 7 public hearing.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Crewmembers attended wildland fire course in Morganton.
Crew worked towards safety standard compliance.

FEBRUARY
Development of Clearings:
Constructed 1 acre opening on MRGL.

Bridge Maintenance:
Picked up bridge materials from vendor in Albemarle.

Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled depot garbage and recyclables to collection site.

Dam and Dike Maintenance:
Removed trees and other vegetation from 3 pond dams on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleaned 104 culverts on TCGL.
Closed gates on access roads on MRGL and TCGL.
Cleared storm debris from TCGL roads.
Placed 28 tons of aggregates for road stabilization on TCGL.
Spread 132 tons of gravel and graded 2 miles of road on TTGL.
Spread 45 tons of gravel on MRGL.
Installed 2 replacement gates on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed repairs, inventory, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Nest Structures:
Constructed and installed 2 wood duck boxes at Hunting Creek Swamp.
Checked and cleaned 33 wood duck boxes at Hunting Creek Swamp.
Checked and cleaned 1 wood duck boxes on TCGL.

Tree and Shrub Plantings:
Released 20 persimmon trees on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Prepared plans and equipment for upcoming burning.
Conducted burn totaling 44 acres on MRGL.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.
Crew attended pesticide recertification class.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance of highway vehicles.

Miscellaneous State Funded Activities:
Two crewmembers performed random drug testing in Mt. Airy.
Crewmember attended EDC meeting in Raleigh.

MARCH
Building Maintenance:
Performed routine depot and site maintenance tasks.
Hauled depot garbage and recyclables to collection site.

Dam and Dike Maintenance:
Removed trees and other vegetation from one pond dam on TCGL.

Road and Trail Maintenance:
Cleaned 10 culverts on TCGL.
Placed 63 tons of aggregates for road stabilization on TCGL.
Replaced two culverts on TCGL access roads.
Closed gates to access roads on TCGL.

Maintenance, Repair & Purchase of Non-Highway Equipment:
Crew performed repairs, inventory, and maintenance on various non-highway equipment.

Herbaceous Plantings:
Planted six miles of firelanes and openings totaling 8 acres on MRGL.
Spread one ton of fertilizer on firelanes and openings on MRGL.

Tree and Shrub Plantings:
Released one persimmon tree on TCGL.

Vegetation Control:
Conducted 3 burns totaling 137 acres on MRGL.
Conducted five burns totaling 137 acres on TCGL.
Assisted Marion crew in conducting 58 acre burn on Linville River tract.

Planning, Coordination, Evaluation & Reporting:
Routine office work, purchasing, and reporting.

Maintenance, Repair, and Purchase of Highway Vehicles:
Scheduled maintenance and repair of breakdowns on highway vehicles.

The Bamboo Patch

2008-03-04T08:41:00.010-05:00

Thanks to the recent lifting of the burning ban we were able to get out and do some much needed burning of a bamboo patch to try to reclaim a significant portion of one of our fields on the Thurmond Chatham Game Lands.

Jim started the day by starting a small "test fire" so we could evaluate conditions.

After determining that the conditions were favorable and that the field would burn, we proceeded with lighting the field around the bamboo patch to give us a good amount of "black" around the bamboo patch.

* Note the bamboo in the background.

Once the majority of the field was black, we began dripping fire closer to the bamboo itself and once it got started it burned very well.

Bamboo tends to burn quite impressively. It makes very loud popping and cracking noises as it burns. A quick watch and listen (make sure speakers are on) to this small video will give you an idea!

After the fire burnt through the majority of the patch we began "mop up". This is where we extinguish any hotspots and/or open flame so as to not allow for flare ups or spot overs (getting out of the intended burn area) after we leave the area.

The bamboo burnt quite hot in the very middle of the patch and eliminated almost every single stalk of the bamboo. The outer edges still had some standing plants but due to the heat of the fire most of them were likely killed. Sometime in the near future we will likely push these remaining stalks over to get them on the ground and burn them to completely reclaim the field.

More pictures and videos of the bamboo patch burning can be found HERE.

Good Luck

2007-09-28T12:46:00.000-05:00

Our temporary worker of the past two seasons finished his time with us today. We all hope that since he finally has his required two years of experience now that he will be able to get on permanent with one of our crews throughout the state. Thanks for your hard work and dedication Shane! And good luck in the future.

Depot pictures

2007-08-07T07:05:00.000-05:00

Pictures of the Wilkes Wildlife Management Depot.

Burning on Perkins

2007-04-18T07:09:00.000-05:00

Perkins game lands are our eastern most game lands in District 7. It is Duke Power land that is leased for the game lands program. We mainly manage this game land as a place for dove hunting but other game is also abundant there including, but not limited to, deer, turkey, and quail. We maintain 20 some acres of dove fields each year, as well as, patches and other openings of native warm season grasses.

We also occasionally get to do some pine understory burning, which is what we conducted this past week. This burn was done on about 25 acres of a mature loblolly pine stand. Since this was an understory burn, we did not want the fire "hot". This meant that the firing technique we used was a backing fire. Backing fires are lit on the upwind side of the burn and the wind is used to force the fire to slowly "back" thru the burning block. Occasionally, some "stripping" is/was needed to help the fire along. On this particular burn, we dropped some "spot fires".

Also, since we did not want the fire to burn very hot, we began the prescribed burn later in the evening as the humidity was going back up. This helped us to attain the results we were looking for and also meant that the burn would go on into the night.
Here is a video of the fire backing it's way thru the stand.

We would like to thank the Morganton wildlife management crew (pictured here is Chip, Jason, and Brian) for their willingness to assist us with this burn!
The burn did last into the night. Night burning allows us to see exactly how the fire, and more importantly, the ash and embers react to the wind.It is amazing to actually see the "ash" that you can't see in the daytime.Here, Mike and the Mule ATV are illuminated.

Photo Plots
Photo plots are used to help us see the progression of the burning cycles. Photos will be taken over a period of time to see the effects of the fire on the understory in this particular case. Here are a few examples of some photo plots before and two days after the burn.

We will take other photos in the future to see the changes over time. It's only been a couple of weeks since the burn and it already looks differently in the burning block.

This burn concluded our prescribed fire season for this year. Now it's time to begin planting!

Burning on the South Mountain Game Lands

2007-03-29T12:29:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we went down to Rutherford County and assisted, along with other crews from the region, the Morganton crew with a prescribed burn on the South Montain game lands.
Chip, the Morganton crew leader, stands watch while the fire slowly backs thru this cutover section.

And here, Mark, the crew leader of the Waynesville crew, takes care of some fire that is creeping into the firelane.

Later on, Mark got a torch and was lighting the fire. When he got to this spot we had to watch carefully as it began throwing alot of heat and smoke over the firelane.

Meanwhile, the guys watching the other side of the fire on the upper firelane had their hands full with multiple spotovers. Two dozers were running constantly trying to get other firelanes installed to stop the fire that had gotten "out". Luckily they were able to do so and the spotovers were contained.

From where we were it was easy to see why they were having problems on top. Tis fire was burning hot and it was putting up an amazing amount of smoke, so much so that I couldn't get it all in one picture!

It didn't take long and we hit a spot on our firelane where the wind began throwing embers below the line and we started getting spotovers of our own. You can see the road which served as the firelane at the top of the picture. The burn was above the firelane and as you can obviously see, it got below it. We were able to get it out fairly quickly.

Even with the few spotovers, it was a very successful burn!

Pond Removal Project (2)

2007-03-21T07:07:00.000-05:00

The second day of the project began by firing up the pump again to get the water level down even further.
It didn't take long to get the water down as low as we could get it with the pump.

Most of this second day consisted of moving earth. Jay had to dig down and build himself a "pad" so he could maneuver the trackhoe to a lower level to enable him to reach down deeper. Many, many tons of dirt had to be removed, so we began to stockpile the dirt a short distance away from the pond site.
Once Jay completed the pad it was time for him to move down lower to try to reach the existing blocked culvert. This meant the dirt he then dug was placed where he was previously sitting.

After enough dirt was moved, he came back up to the upper level to load the trucks again. After several trips doing this and moving around to try to dig deeper, a small mishap occurred.

The trackhoe was stuck! It wasn't a bad problem however. We simply used the dozer to winch the hoe back out. You can see the dozer's winch cable in the video.

Day 2 was a very productive day and we were able to get alot of dirt moved and were much closer to placing the new culvert, which will be posted in the future.

Pond Removal Project

2007-03-09T09:42:00.000-05:00

Due to a dam problem on one of our ponds on the game lands, we were tasked with the duty of removing the pond. Work began about 3 weeks ago.

After meeting with representatives from other "in-agency" divisions, a plan was formulated to address this problem. The water would have to be drained from the pond so we could get equipment in to dig down to the old culvert, it would have to be removed, and a new, larger culvert installed.

As you can see, there is quite alot of water coming down out of this watershed. Not only do we need to drain the pond, but we have to have a pump that is capable of keeping up with this kind of flow. So, Mike and Jim made a trip to the Butner Wildlife Management Depot to pick up one of their pumps.

The pump had to be backed into the pond and it's 12 inch diameter discharge hoses hooked up. With a pump this size, it didn't take long for the water level to start dropping. By the end of day 1, and after moving the pump multiple times, about half of the pond had been drained.
We were assisted in that first week by Jay Glenn(boating tech. II) and John Macemore(boating tech. supervisor) from our Engineering Services division of the Wildlife Resources Commission. Once the pond had been drained to it's current level, Jay was able to "breach" the existing dam down to the water level so it would continue to flow out at the level we had pumped it down to so the pump wouldn't have to run over night.

After a nice long 12 hour first day on the project, we were all more than ready to head home.

This particular project proved to take longer than any of us had expected and there is much more to tell and show you. Check back later for more updates on this project.

Duck boxes

2007-01-29T10:12:00.000-05:00

We have finished cleaning/checking/installing new duck boxes at Hunting Creek. The majority of the boxes we cleaned on this particular day were out on open water.
You may be able to see some eggs floating in the water. These indicate an unsuccessful nesting attempt.

A successful nest will have obviously hatched eggs in it but we also look for egg membrane. Shane holds up a membrane from this successful nest.

Some of the boxes were in need of some maintenance. This pair of boxes had an osprey nest on top of them and one of the boxes was upside down.

We also installed some new boxes. A predator guard is installed on the post to keep other animals from being able to get into the nest and eat or destroy the eggs. Mike and Jim install the guard on the new post.

Once the guard is in place it's time to mount the box.
Click the play button to watch the video.

Three brand new boxes were installed including this one that was placed on a cedar tree in the edge of the water.

Once all the new boxes were installed and existing boxes were checked and cleaned for the upcoming nesting season, we loaded up all of our gear and made our way out to the trucks with Shane catching a ride on the canoe caboose!

Burning has begun

2007-01-16T14:25:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday officially began our prescribed burning season. We use fire as a management tool to help us attain land management goals. Fire helps to create plant and animal habitat throughout our district, our state, and the United States. Burning helps us to change the makeup of the habitat to achieve varying objectives.

A brief history

Here in western North Carolina, the Cherokees manipulated their environment by using controlled burning to clear farmland and give hunters easier access to game. Some have even theorized that the burning helped create the distinctive, treeless southern Appalachian balds. In any case, the burning did enrich the soil and encourage certain species, such as pines and nut- and acorn-producing trees. Early North American settlers observed these activities and continued the practice of using fire in much the same way.

Our first burn of the year was conducted on the Buffalo Cove Game Lands located mostly in western Caldwell County. Our crew was assisted by the Burnsville and Morganton wildlife management crews as well as our regional forester and assistant forester.

While not a large burn, it was a good "warm up" for refreshing us on procedures and also to make sure all equipment was in proper working order.

Once the line is blacked in, it is patrolled to watch for any spot-overs.

After the burn has been completed we go around to "mop up". We go completely around the burn and extinguish anything still burning or smoking within 50 feet of the fire line. Here Shane puts out a smoldering root ball.

And during a long day, a quick rest is always welcomed!

Hunting Creek Swamp

2007-01-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

We've been down to Hunting Creek Swamp to maintain our wood duck boxes. We clean out all the old nesting material from last year, check for the presence of successful nesting, and insert new nesting material (we use cedar shavings). More information can be found on this species by clicking on wood ducks.

We have boxes on open water, boxes bordering the edge of the water, and boxes along Hunting Creek itself. Here Shane gives Mike a ride thru the thick trees that have encroached on some of our border boxes while Jim trims some of the trees and limbs back to discourage use by squirrels and raccoons.

We checked the boxes after a weekend of heavy rain. Consulting websites, we could see that Hunting Creek had a huge influx of water just prior to when we were down there. Once there, we could see for ourselves just how high the water had gotten. The ground was covered with a layer of fresh mud, and as you can see in this picture, the water had gotten up amazingly high.

Notice the "high water" mark on these trees. You can see a thin brown line on the tree in the foreground. I went and stood beside this mark and it measured to about 5 feet! The water had definately gotten WAY UP!

The 1st Annual District 7 Christmas Party

2006-12-22T17:41:00.000-05:00

We held our party on the 20th of December at the the Wilkes depot. The attendance was great as well as the food! It appears that an annual tradition has begun!

Chris, Jim, and David enjoy the fixin's.

Tammy, Capprice, Brad, Jim, and Lujean share food and fellowship.

Karlie plays shy...and catches a ride!

Mike helps Karlie open her presents as Chris sets up the projector for the "Scene-it" game.

An amusing game of "Dirty Santa" was played...

And here was our tree!

In the end...Wes convinces Johnny that the Tarheels ARE better than the Dookie's...

And we wrap up the party with high hopes that these kinds of gatherings take place more often.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wilkes Crew blog

2006-12-01T13:07:00.000-05:00

I have decided to create this blog to be able to keep others up to date on what we are doing at any given time and to facilitate easier picture transfer between offices.

Check out the "Links" section to access the NCWRC website. I will be creating new posts as needed and hopefully, when there is time, be giving a little background on who we are and what we do.