![]() ![]() In fact, that’s the thing that makes the Ricks family tree farm exceptional-they do a lot of things that other landowners don’t do.Īlice and Riddick, owners of three tree farm properties in Northampton County totaling 1,100 acres, both grew up on farms and learned to love the land at an early age. You don’t see many landowners who’ll do that.” He went in and planted hardwoods, with stakes and tree tube protectors, to provide variety in what previously had been a monoculture pine forest. “Rather than being concerned about the downed timber, he took the opportunity to create some diversity in his forest. “The storm created an opportunity for Riddick,” said Paul Boone of the Northampton County Natural Resource Conservation Service. Then they clear cut three areas of pine and replanted with 150 hardwoods. First they cleared and repaired the main roads, fire lanes and stream crossings that had flooded during the storm and began salvaging the downed and damaged timber. “In our forests, when our efforts are altered by acts of nature,” Riddick said, “we are quickly reminded of how fragile ecosystems can be.” And of how quickly landowners must adapt to change.Īfter surveying the damage, the Ricks family established new goals and forest management priorities. ![]() The result-a loss of 10 percent of the remaining trees and hundreds of 40-year-old pines in another part of the farm. In August of 2011, Hurricane Irene hammered Northampton County in Eastern North Carolina, with winds of up to 80 miles an hour and 18 inches of rain that destroyed hundreds of acres of crops and downed thousands of board feet of timber.Īt Whispering Pines Wildlife Preserve, owned by North Carolina’s 2009 Tree Farmers of the Year Alice and Riddick Ricks, the storm hit just two weeks after they completed a 330-acre thinning operation. Ricks Profile By Leslie Purcell McCormick
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