Clarke County is in the heart of the southwest Alabama timber belt, between two rivers. Most of it is privately owned: planted loblolly on long terraces, with hardwood in the drains and the bottoms.
Southeast Forestlands works only for the landowner. We do not buy timber and we are not paid by mills.
The Dirt Under the Timber
The uplands are deep and sandy. They drain well. That is a good part of why the pine does so well. About a tenth of the county is sandy enough to go droughty in a hard summer. The ground is not gentle everywhere, either. Over half the county is mapped on slopes that can reach 15 percent or steeper. The river breaks get steeper than that. Good ground still needs a road laid out with some care.
Access, Weather, and BMPs
Because the uplands drain, the weather problem shows up in the bottoms, not on the ridges. The Tombigbee bottoms are a dry-weather job.
Setting Up the Next Rotation
The replanting plan is settled before the harvest ends. It names the acres to plant, the species, the spacing, the site preparation, and the acres left out. Site preparation here is normally brush control, then winter planting. Where a stand is to seed in instead, a walk has to confirm the seed trees first.
Where the Road Decides Access
Over four acres in ten here reach slopes of 25 percent or more. Good soil does not make a steep haul road cheap.
About one acre in five takes floodwater in a normal year. On a large tract you often have both. Build the road on the high ground and drop short spurs off it. Save the low acres for a dry stretch and say so in the contract.
Nearby Counties
We also work with landowners in nearby counties, including Washington (AL), Choctaw (AL), Marengo (AL), Wilcox (AL), and Monroe (AL).
General Guidance
How the work itself is done is explained once, site-wide, rather than repeated county by county:
- What a timber cruise measures
- How a sealed-bid timber sale works
- How we sell timber
- Wet-weather logging and BMPs
- Thinning decisions
- Regeneration and replanting
- All forestry services
Talk It Over First
Walk the place with a forester before deciding anything. Contact us to set up a visit.