This phase provides a written management plan that states your objectives for the property and a schedule of management practices to attain them. Once you recognize the need to put the plan into action, the practices you use can be as intensive as you desire or can afford. For example, if turkeys are a management objective, you will need to provide forest openings for nesting and brood-rearing habitat. You can do this by harvesting small areas, constructing fire lanes and access roads, or improving and maintaining existing forest openings. See the end of this publication for a list of professional contacts.
Wildlife Needs Many of Mississippi's wildlife species depend on the forest to live.
Some, such as deer, turkeys, and squirrels, spend most of their lives in the forest. Generally speaking, wildlife will increase in an area with a diversity of habitat types. A diverse forest habitat combines a mixture of timber types, age classes, and stand conditions in one area. Even-aged timber management can provide diversity by locating different age stands of pine close to one another. For example, research has shown that clear-cut areas close to young and mature pine timber stands provide excellent quail habitat.