Bubba and Hortense Bass from Mississippi
What Makes Them Outstanding?
Bubba and Hortense Bass go out of their way to involve the community. They display a real passion for the forest and love to share their knowledge and resources to educate local youth, other forest landowners and benefit the community. They are a great advocate for Tree Farming, always working to recruit new members for the local Lawrence County Forestry Association. They are great supporters of any educational opportunity available to improve their knowledge of forestry and forest management. They have great enthusiasm for their farm and are always looking for ways to improve their land and share their resources and knowledge with others. They attend every single forestry educational opportunity made available to them and call other forest landowners in the county encouraging them to do the same. They are true zealots for forestry and in the middle of all things forestry in Lawrence County. They also serve on the board of directors for the Lawrence County Forestry Association and are always excited to attend our meetings and assist in developing educational opportunities for the membership. The Bass’s encourage other community members to manage timber and utilize the local forestry commission, Lawrence County Extension Service, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service for educational information and management assistance. They frequently assist locall and owners in locating resources and services to assist them in better managing their forests. Previously they assisted Mrs. Sadie Butler and Mrs. Jane Lambert, encouraging them to get involved in forestry in Lawrence County. These two ladies are widowed sisters and suddenly had a great deal of timber to manage. With the help and encouragement of the Bass’s they joined the Lawrence County Forestry Association, and utilized the services of the Mississippi Forestry Commission, USDA, and the Lawrence County Extension Service. Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Lambert are now serve as leaders in forestry.
Tree Farmer Story
My name is Henry ‘Bubba’ Bass. I was born in Monticello, Mississippi and am 73 years old. My wife, Hortense, is originally from Friendswood, TX. Hortense and I have been married for 48 years. We have 4 children with 7 grandchildren and 3 grandchildren. I am the fifth generation owner of this Bass family farm, which was originally purchased in 1847. In 1972, my goal was to purchase some of the family land while I was working as a lineman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. During my career Hortense and I traveled through over half of the United States of America and four other countries building power lines. In 1975, we began buying family land as it became available and continued until 1991. The farm was a mixture of timber and pasture land, which had previously been used for farming crops for years. In 1988, I planted my first pine timber plantation, and in 1990, we came home to tend to it. In 1995, we had cattle, and were under the impression that the timber plantation would not be as valuable as pasture land. Hortense called Lawrence County agent Mr. Perry Brumfield seeking advice on cutting the timber. Mr. Brumfield then contacted Dr. Stephen Dicke with the Mississippi State Extension Service, who came and had an educational meeting with us on the timber and its value. That same day, Dr. Dicke hand drew us a management plan, and for that, we are very grateful. We then joined the Lawrence County Forestry Association in Monticello, MS and became members of the Mississippi Forestry Association.
In 1999, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After surgery I had to retire from doing line work and sell all of my cattle due to physical restrictions. The next year, Mark Dale became our timber consultant and applied his management plan. Mark Dale does a wonderful job with our timber and timber sales. MS Forestry Commission Service Forester, Steven Williams, guides us through the processes of control burning and the proper herbicide application. We also use programs from USDA and NRCS, which have been very helpful. With this help, the land became a certified tree farm by the American Tree Farm System. The farm now has a wildlife friendly habitat. We have been blessed and decided to give back to the community. We started field days for the Lawrence
County school districts resource students. The field day included educational stations on forestry, social sciences, beekeeping, wildlife and gun safety, and ATV safety. Lunch was always provided for the students and guests along with the many people that helped every year.
Wood
The Bass’s had a Forest Stewardship Plan prepared by consulting forester Mark Dale that covers the period from 2011 until 2020. Their previous management plan changed on August 29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina bore down on the timberland owners of South Mississippi. Immediately after the storm amidst catastrophic devastation, area landowners found vast amounts of their timber assets, that they had invested years of their lives in, destroyed. Timber was beyond plentiful and available loggers were few. Bubba Bass took matters in his own hands and self-harvested many of the larger trees on his property and had a portable sawmill make those trees into lumber for his own use (woodworking & deer stands). For the smaller trees damaged during the storm he waited patiently for one of his friends that also happened to be a logger to salvage the pulpwood. Due to the storm it took almost a decade for the timber to recover. In 2014, Mr. Bass thinned 41.6 acres of a 1999 pine plantation, 66.3 acres of a 1986 pine plantation, 14.4 acres of 1986 natural pine stand, and 5.7 acres of a 1970 natural pine stand. The operation removed 2,735 tons of pine pulpwood which was hauled to the local Georgia Pacific paper mill, 1,742 tons of Chip-N-Saw products used by the Miles Lumber-Silver Creek sawmill, and 81 tons of Sawtimber hauled to the G.P. Taylorsville sawmill. A thinning is planned for 2017-2018 for 42.2 acres. Mr. Bass constructed on a new woodworking barn and has built several tree stands for hunting. In 2015 Mr. Bass completed a foliar applied mid-rotation herbicide release (QVM) onapproximately 68 acres. Also at this time he injected herbicides into the stems of the larger residual unwanted species.
Water
An intermittent stream is protected by a streamside management zone. The stream crossing is arock based dip that was cut to provide a safe crossing for school buses.
Wildlife Including Threatened and Endangered Species
In addition, the Bass Farm implements controlled burning, maintains fire lanes, utilizesfertilization, and maintains food plots for wildlife.
Recreation and Aesthetics Including Special Sites
Following Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Bass constructed a new woodworking barn with salvaged wood. In this barn he has built several family-sized stands for hunting. Mr. Bass does not hunt much himself but thoroughly enjoys bringing new hunters to his property and introducing them to hunting. These huge stands allow parents and children to hunt together and spend time in the forest. One of the stands was built wheelchair accessible to accommodate handicapped youngsters wanting to hunt.
