Habitat News

NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION
Weslaco has been working in three areas to improve and maintain our natural resources.
WETLANDS Created about 25 years ago with help from the ARMY Corp of Engineers. This series of shallow ponds provides improved water control. It also creates a desirable habitat for migratory waterfowl, amphibians, and fur-bearing mammals!

FIELDS Several fields have been maintained or created through Weslaco’s licensed hunting preserve, for the purpose of upland game bird hunting. Ongoing efforts are being made to improve hunting conditions and wildlife habitat. This includes elimination of invasive plant species and planting of native warm season grasses, wild flowers, and annual grain producers.

WOODLANDS Over half of Weslaco’s 210 acres are wooded. Presently in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a conservation Plan Grant was received. This grant will provide funding to hire a professional forester to write a site specific Forest Management Plan. With the help of the Ohio Division of Wildlife and other professionals, the focus of this Forest Management Plan will be to improve wildlife habitat. Other benefits of the plan include forest management/timber harvesting and conservation practices.

Habitat/Forestry by Mark P. A survey of Weslaco’s woodlands was performed in late February 2022 by the area State of Ohio Service Forester. This survey is to help the USDA/NRCS define work to be performed for the EQIP grant funding contract. Both the State of Ohio Forester and Weslaco’s Forester have worked together to submit a successful plan by the end of March 2022. It’s a very good chance that Weslaco will receive this grant but we won’t know for sure until sometime in June 2022. Weslaco started applying with the USDA/NRCS for the EQIP grant funding in 2019. At that time the funding received fully paid for the work to be performed. Times have changed and funding in 2022 only covers about 75% of work to be performed. In order to compensate for this funding deficit, the Weslaco forestry committee may be hosting several work parties starting this summer.

We are in Year 4 of what could become a 10-year project to improve wildlife habitat and the quality of timber at our club. There is a lot of information about this project I would like to share with the membership


September 2023 Update

North woods invasive woody plant control for year one was completed by our forester in July. Funding from U.S.D.A./N.R.C.S. for this program was received in August and it covered about 95% of the cost. We will continue next summer with year two of this five year project. The 25.5 acre West woods select cut has been completed. Due to the very wet conditions, log removal from our property has been slowed and may continue into September. All logging trails are being smoothed and will be planted with rye grass. Tree tops have been pushed off of the trails but will remain to enhance habitat. Additional habitat improvements that were made include 2 wildlife openings, a feathered edge against the South field, the planting of native nut producing tree nuts and ongoing work to plant native understory tree seeds and the removal of invasive woody plants. This project not only will make a huge habitat improvement but it also made the club a sizable income. The 2.2 acre South field clear cut has been completed. Log removal is also ongoing. A contract with H&H Land Clearing of Middlefield to chip all of the tree tops and grind all of the stumps, has been signed. Scheduled start date for this work will be the week of September 18th and should take 3 to 5 days. Chips from the tree tops will be piled just inside the wood line and in several piles. The chips can be used to cover muddy trails or just left to degrade. The stumps will be ground deep enough to remove the base. If at all possible, these 2+ acres will then be prepared and planted with Warm Season grasses with grain rye as a companion. This planting will give us the best chance of getting growth this year and a cost effective cover for the future. This project to enlarge the South field did cost the club, however it was felt to be beneficial for the growing pheasant hunting and dog training programs