Page 65 - November/December 2022 Outdoor Oklahoma Magazine

HONOR KYLE JOHNSON/ODWC KYLE JOHNSON/ODWC
from about 12 years ago. Fire is used to keep succession in early stages.
Forbs and native grasses have returned to the habitat allowed by the
openings created in the forest canopy following the timber thinning

LANDOWNER

treatment and burning. Dead snags are allowed to stand following the hack-and-squirt

WINS

JONES allow prescribed burns to set back succession after the thinning project. Even though this program was aimed at OBBs, all wildlife benefited greatly from this thinning/ Jones has also been in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), building ponds and planting grasses. He also has drilled wells and placed stock tanks used both by livestock and wildlife through the State With Jones’ conservation practices in place, he has seen a great response from deer and especially tur- keys. Native forbs and grasses are being promoted with the sunlight now being able to reach the forest floor. Wi

HERMAN burn regime. Cost Share Program. closed canopy.

Y’S The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation honors Adair County landowner Herman Jones of Stilwell as its 2022 Landowner Conservationist of the Year. This award recognizes landowners who have exercised outstanding wildlife conservation practices on private property. Jones, along with his family,

COUNT have owned and managed about 1,300 acres in south- eastern Adair County, near the Bell community, for many years. This property is predominately oak/hickory for- est indicative of the Ozark Highlands of the northeast- ern part of the state. When he first started working on his property, it looked much like the rest of the county: thick underbrush with a dense, closed canopy in dire About 12 years ago, Jones enrolled about 800 acres into the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Healthy Forests Reserve Program. This program pro- motes the recovery of threa

ADAIR Herman Jones need of management. able environment.