Forest Restoration - A Note from Refuge Manager Andrew Gude

The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge routinely conducts forest restoration and road maintenance activities.  You may see us on the various Refuge roads cutting roadside vegetation or in the pine woods mulching the heavy mid-story vegetation.

Historic logging (some 0f it very intensive) occurred on this land over 40 to 120 years, before it became the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge in the late 1970s.

Since the land became the Refuge, forest restoration has been a primary goal. The forest is coming back with a vengeance. Our three-pronged forest restoration program uses prescribed fire, herbicides, and mechanical treatments.

Prescribed fire alone cannot control the aggressive mid-story vegetation. It grows so thick very few animals can move through it. The root base of this vegetation is so hardy that if the fire is not hot enough to kill it, the vegetation grows back thicker after the fire. If the fire burns hot enough to kill the root base, flames go so high that they damage the pine trees we want to grow there.

Therefore, in some areas, we first use select and approved chemicals to kill the root base before running a prescribed fire. In other areas, instead of using herbicide, we use machinery to turn the vegetation into mulch before burning the area. With these techniques, we are finally seeing good results.

We are grateful for the community's support in the work we do.  If anyone has questions feel free to call me on my cell phone: 703.622.3896.