Need To Plant Food Plots?

Anyone who has ever spent an afternoon overlooking a food plot will certainly have a deep appreciation for wildlife plantings. Even the wildlife photographer, who maneuvers silently through a stand of pines into an opening that was planted in winter wheat, benefits from wildlife plantings.

Food plots are very attractive to wildlife because they can supplement their daily nutritional needs. Such plots can be established and maintained at a relatively low cost. These plots can be designed to serve as a source of food and sometimes cover. Well-managed food plots have the potential to increase numbers of wildlife, quality of health and observability.

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THE SKY LAKE BOARDWALK
with Clarke Reed

When our ancestors first arrived in the Lower Mississippi River Valley they were awestruck by the giant cypress that had thrived here for centuries. As they cleared the fertile land, no one in the entire Valley thought to preserve a stand, or even one, of these spectacular trees. They are all gone…or so we thought! Providence and a remote swamp spared the site that contains “some of the largest and oldest baldcypress trees that remain on earth,” according to Dr. David Stahle, Director of the Tree Ring Laboratory at the University of Arkansas.

Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area is located approximately 8 miles north of Belzoni. With our encouragement, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks acquired the 773-acre site that will soon be enlarged to approximately 4,000 acres.

It is imperative that we protect these trees of national and international significance, and provide access for scientists, writers, photographers, wildlife enthusiasts and a host of the rest of us. Consultants tell us to expect thousands of visitors annually.

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Conservation Corner
(For the week of September 29, 2008)
Landscaping to Conserve Energy
by James L. Cummins

Today's energy prices have everyone scrambling for ways to cut costs. One often overlooked way of reducing energy costs is through landscaping. It not only helps with your energy bills, it also enhances the overall beauty and value of your property.

Because plants transpire (release water vapor from leaves) during the day, they serve as an evaporative coolant. Therefore, trees, shrubs, ground covers and grasses affect solar radiation more than structural devices such as awnings. Shade trees significantly reduce air temperatures indoors and outdoors in the summer as trees intercept and absorb the sun’s heat while transpiring cooler temperatures into the air.

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