Lamar County Producers Take Advantage of the EWP
Downed Timber Initiative

When natural disasters like hurricanes strike, the sustainability of a family forest is shaken. Owners are unsure of what they can do, what they should do, and what they will do. Decades of patience waiting for trees to mature into valuable timber are suddenly irrelevant as forest damage becomes a reality.

In Lamar County, Alabama, the family farm, Sizemore and Sizemore Farms, which is now owned by Craig Sizemore and his sister Claire, has been a productive family operation for many years. The farm has been in the family since early 1800s. Over the years, the farm has been converted from a row crop farm to timber and cattle production. After damage from recent Hurricane Katrina, the family forest was at risk with added fuel load from the hurricane damage. The process of recovery and planning for future risks presented challenges and opportunities for the owners who wanted to manage their forest for timber and wildlife.

With cost-share assistance from the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program downed timber initiative, the owners burned a portion of the property to reduce the fuel load. The burn had an added dimension—wildlife habitat. Tender shoots sprouting up from the forest floor provide food for the deer population.

The Sizemore and Sizemore Farms operation is an example of the benefit of a farm plan. Sizemore and Sizemore Farms had a plan in place for timber/wildlife management. When the hurricane disaster struck, it was an easy move to apply for the Federal assistance that was available for just such an occasion.

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