2011 Plantation Managers meet at Brosnan Forest

The plantation managers are a group that pursue excellence in land management and they consult with experts and colleagues all the time to stay sharp. The Norfolk Southern Brosnan Forest in Dorchester County was the setting for these managers to get together in 2011 - with managers coming from Williamsburg, Horry, Georgetown, Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton, Jasper and Hampton counties! Topics of discussion included trapping of coyotes and the results being achieved by several ongoing coyote studies. Feral hogs are also a great concern to land managers since they degrade the habitat so fast that recreational hunting does not seem to be able to head off their invasive habits. SCDNR was present to provide updates on alligator season, with a record 6395 applications received in 2011, and noting that 473 gators were harvested in 2010 and they had an average length of 9-feet 3-inches. Land fragmentation concerns, the spread of invasive species, mottled duck banding, bobwhite quail stocking and much more was digested by the plantation managers who are united in the fact that they love their jobs in the Lowcountry outdoors where they get to work.

To view the blog entry from the 2010 Plantation Managers meeting click here.

PhotosByJeffDennis: The sign on Hwy. 78 in Dorchester that marks the Brosnan Forest

This stand of woods on Brosnan Forest is typical of the sustained management practices that are ongoing there in order to bring about a climax of aesthetics and wildlife habitat. Plantation managers can only shape our forests over the passing of years and decades, so there is no quick fix. Often it takes a trained eye to recognize proper land management, and the planation managers are doing 'what's right' on thousands of acres everyday!