The Woodward Family of Florida
What makes them outstanding?
Last year the Woodward family celebrated 100 years of ownership of their family farm in Gadsden County, Florida. There have been many changes since the early years when the farm served as a dairy, and a producer of shade tobacco, row crops and beef cattle. Today the farm totals 1,489 acres and has been managed almost totally as a tree farm for the past 30 years.
The Woodwards are proud of the fact that their timber is being sustainably managed to provide a source of funds from periodic timber sales. This income stream is used to help fund the yearly operations on the land, including the planting of historic holdings as well as newly acquired parcels.
The Woodward family takes special pride in the 250 acres of newly established pines on the property, as well as large areas of natural stands that serve as places of refuge for the abundant wildlife, and a source of natural beauty so treasured by all the family members.
The Woodwards are doing a remarkable job in caring for the family farm, being careful to maintain firebreaks, conduct prescribed burns, and manage habitat for deer, turkey, quail, gopher tortoise and numerous other wild creatures. They are also very generous in providing educational opportunities to various community groups, and are always eager to share their years of experiences on the farm.
Tree Farmer Story
The Woodward family was fortunate to grow up in the country on the family farm. The original land holding was acquired by William Munroe. As it passed down through the generations, more acreage was added. It is now over 1,400 acres and is owned by a six - sibling partnership (the great grandchildren of William Munroe).
As Julia Woodward Gregory explains, "Our parents taught us the value of working, helping out and taking care of the land". Daddy wanted to see us work together to keep this farm special and in the family, so he gave it to his six children in 1978. The Woodward Family Tree Farm, better known as the Family Farm Partnership, celebrated 100 years of ownership in 2014 and is currently managed by Bob Woodward and his brother Pat, a retired pediatric physician. Michael Dooner, a professional forester and President of Southern Forestry Consultants, Inc. provides natural resource management for the Woodward family partnership.
Selective timber harvests have likely taken place throughout the farm’s history. The first replanting of pine took place in the early 1950’s with slash pine seedlings purchased from the Florida Forest Service. However, active forest management didn’t begin until the mid 1980’s when all of the land was converted to timber.
Today, the Woodward Family Tree Farm, inspected and certified by Michael Dooner in late 2013, consists of 1,489 acres of pine and hardwood areas with a multiple use objective. Well - managed natural stands of old growth longleaf pine as well as planted longleaf and loblolly pine cover the majority of the property. Picturesque hardwood drains bisect these pine areas and add diversity to the landscape. Wildlife and recreation are paramount and have been the main drivers in the written forest management plan for over 30 years. In addition to recommendations from Southern Forestry Consultants, Bob and Pat Woodward were very much involved in the establishment of pine stands, as well as forest road and fireline maintenance.
Pine timber harvesting in the form of thinnings continues to improve growth rates and to sustain availability of growing stock on the property. Prescribed burning on a three-year rotation is also important for controlling hazardous fuels and improving wildlife habitat. Herbicide application to control encroachment of invasive species has proven effective throughout the forest property. The Woodwards’ attention to detail is noticeable everywhere. For example, to combat erosion, even the firelines have water bars and turnouts in areas where there are steep slopes, and in close proximity to water bodies. The commitment to long range planning is remarkable and is evident in the execution and accomplishment of management activities that include their children and grandchildren.
Enjoyment of the Family Farm is not limited to just the family. For many years, the Woodwards have hosted field tours and allowed scout troops to use the property for camping and natural resource education toward fulfilling merit badge requirements. Bob Woodward has served on the University of Florida IFAS (Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences) Advisory Board for eight years as a voice and in support of forestry.
Susan Woodward Walker sums up the Woodward Family Tree Farm so eloquently, "I am so thankful that we continue to own the farm and that we can manage it for timber and recreation, so that our children and grand children have the opportunity to enjoy it, too".
Wood
The Family Farm was impacted greatly by Hurricane Kate in November 1985, and many acres had to be clear cut and reforested. In nine of the past ten years the Family Farm has harvested timber. Selective cuttings to remove poorly formed, diseased, suppressed, and otherwise unhealthy trees are the norm, but on two separate occasions upland pine areas have been clear cut and reforested to replace poorly performing or mature timber with younger, more vigorous stands. This is has also created more diversity in the landscape, as these cuttings are normally done in thirty to sixty acre patches across the nearly 1,500 acres. Much of the planted timber is loblolly pine, but some of the early plantings are slash pine and some of the recent plantings are longleaf pine. Two of the selective cuttings in the past ten years have been in the natural longleaf areas, where individual tree selection is used to remove over story trees and open the canopy enough so that longleaf reproduction is encouraged. This has worked very well, and we have achieved the uneven aged management regime we proposed and envisioned. No harvesting is done in forested wetlands or in the hardwood slope forests adjacent to the wetlands.
Prescribed burning is used every year in a patchwork fashion across the landscape. Approximately one third of the pine areas are burned each year.
Invasive plants are continually inventoried and control is done with spot treatment of herbicides and with prescribed fire.
Water
Each year an extensive inventory of every fire line and woods road is done. Water bars, wing ditches, and culverts are maintained or replaced in both fire lines and roads. Woodward Family members have routinely harrowed the fire lines and do as much maintenance as is possible with wheel tractors and box blades, but some maintenance is done with contractors who have bulldozers and backhoes. Although the property is located in Florida, elevation changes of nearly one hundred feet are common from the tops of the hills to the bottom of nearly twenty different spring heads and creek bottoms.
All creek crossings are stabilized with headwalls on the culverts and with emergency spillways built into the crossings. There are also three ponds on the property that served as irrigation ponds when the property was more agricultural in nature in the early and mid-1900s. All three ponds have had their pipe systems replaced with the past few years and engineers were consulted to ensure proper sizing to protect downstream interests and integrity of the earthen structures. Best management practices are reviewed for every project, but timber harvesting is not done in forested wetlands so forested buffers are much wider than required.
Wildlife
Southern Forestry Consultants, Inc. certified wildlife biologist Joe McGlincy has inspected the Family Farm many times and has found no T&E species. Having said that, the Family has decided that the native longleaf-wiregrass habitat found in three distinct areas on the farm will be maintained with selective cuttings and growing season burns, each of which encourages the native wiregrass known to support populations of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and gopher tortoises.
Game management is important as well on the Family Farm. Deer management includes the limited harvest of bucks and modest harvest of does. Quail and wild turkey populations are on the increase with the aging, more open pine timber stands and burn induced grass ground cover providing forage and brood rearing habitat and the interspersed plantings of loblolly and longleaf pine and natural reproduction of longleaf pine provided bedding and escape cover.
Recreation
Hunting, hiking, touring the property in UTVs, horseback riding, camping, and fishing are all done by family and friends on a regular basis by four generations of Woodwards and friends of the family. The aesthetic quality of the farm is maintained by the mowing of all roads throughout the year by the family, by the patchwork and regular burning of the understory in the pine woods, by the maintenance in a natural state of the hardwood slope and bottom land timber, by the selective cutting of the upland pine stands, by the small and limited amount of clear cutting, and by the piling and burning of logging debris at ramp sites post-harvest. The farm has nearly thirty miles of roads that can be hiked any time of the year. Many of the roads loop around stands of timber and many traverse creek bottoms going through the slope hardwood forests with views of spring heads and ravines.
