Reforestation & Silvicultural Services
H&H provides various silvicultural services as part of its ongoing long-term management
of client lands as well as turn-key to individual landowners, forest industry, government
agencies and other resource professionals. Our services are fully qualified under
all state and federal cost-share programs including Virginia RT, EQUIP, WHIP and
SPBB. If you are seeking specific silvicultural services, we encourage you to review
the information below and contact an H&H forester to
discuss your project.
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Reforestation
H&H administers an annual tree planting contract on its clients’ land. This
contract typically includes 1,000 to 5,000 acres across multiple ownerships.
By pooling multiple landowners under one contract H&H provides economies of scale
that allow higher levels of supervision and better overall planting quality at a
competitive price point. Our role in the process is the identification and or mapping
of areas to be replanted, species selection, spacing recommendations, coordination
of seedling delivery and storage, and most importantly direct on-site quality control.
We are on-site with the crews 85-90% of the time, taking plots and ensuring trees
are planted according to specifications. Tree planting is the culmination of the
stand establishment process, if not done correctly landowners are faced with costly
inter-planting or failed stands. Our experience shows that the same crew that performs
at 85% correctly planted level when supervised will drop to 50-60% when unsupervised.
A high percentage of incorrectly planted trees die and the surviving trees lag dramatically
behind in their initial growth. As with any farmer, a tree farmer plants a crop
on faith that the stand will survive. Hedge your bet by engaging a professional
to oversee the operation. Planting services are typically billed on a turn-key per
acre basis using genetically improved seedlings matched by family to your site.
Labor and supervision only contracts are available if you wish to provide your own
seedlings.
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Herbicide Applications
 For the past
three decades, herbicides have made significant contributions to our ability to
increase yields from plantation forestry. H&H is a BASF certified advisor and our
foresters are certified commercial applicators with 10’s of thousands of acres
of experience with aerial, ground, and hand herbicide applications. H&H has administered
spray contracts for countless private landowners, Bowater Corporation, International
Paper, Weyerhaeuser and more than 30,000 acres for the Virginia Department of Forestry
since the privatization of the State’s program in 2006.
Many landowners and foresters alike will take a cook book approach to herbicide
prescriptions. This most often leads to either wasted money, poor performance or
a combination of the two. When chosen correctly, selective and broad spectrum herbicides
can be used in many ways to achieve different competition control objectives, from
bare ground conditions for intensive site preparation to selective brush control
in understory and wildlife habitat applications. When it comes to prescriptions,
don’t use a cook book, trust a professional. We evaluate the vegetation complex
on your site and match it with a prescription to fit your goals and budget.
 We offer both
low cost “dead brush” generic product applications and competitively
priced branded products fully backed by performance guarantees. In addition to aerial
programs, H&H provides in-house ground based spraying for herbaceous weed control
on old field sites, understory brush control, and kudzu eradication programs using
full GPS guidance tractor based equipment. If you want the most from your site prep
or release application trust H&H to get you there. Herbicide applications are typically
billed on a per acre basis or for complex projects can be billed per acre for application
and per gallon for chemical usage.
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Prescribed Burning
Prescribed fire is the oldest and potentially the most widely used management tool
in forestry, dating back to pre-Columbus America. The benefits to wildlife and timber
alike are innumerable and include increased nutrient availability, soil aeration,
native seed scarification, improved browse and fuel reduction. H&H foresters are
Certified Prescribed Burn Managers and provide understory and field burning services
for timber and wildlife management. Site prep burning is provided on a limited basis.
H&H has more than 2 decades of combined burning experience for private landowners
and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
 As the number
of acres that can be burned in a season (October – April) is heavily limited
by weather, and demand is high, don’t procrastinate scheduling your burn.
In conjunction with the burning services, H&H will coordinate the installation of
new firebreaks using one of our established contractors or we will reinstall existing
firebreaks in-house using our woods tractor and offset harrow. Since correct firebreak
installation is of paramount importance, we recommend contacting your H&H forester
prior to establishing your firebreaks. Firebreak installation is billed by the hour
and prescribed burning is typically billed by the acre. A minimum fee applies.
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Food Plots and Warm Season Grass Restoration
Wildlife food plots have become a main stay in modern wildlife management programs.
A good program will always begin with proper management of the natural habitat first.
Dollar for dollar a manager can make a much greater impact manipulating native vegetation
through selective herbicide use and prescribed fire. However, as a compliment to
such efforts, proper food plot management can have a tremendous affect on health,
trophy quality and hunter success. The first step of a good food plot program is
to determine the limiting factor in the target species diet. Second, meet that need
with the proper selection of forage. H&H provides food plot design and establishment
either in conjunction with our Wildlife Management Plans or on a turn-key basis
for hunt clubs and individuals who simply need the resources to put in place a design
they have already developed. We have access to a full line of planting equipment
including tractor, disks, plows, drags, cultipackers, spreaders, drills, and liming
and fertilization equipment. We engage our core group of excavation contractors
from across the state to assist in the clearing of new plots in cutover sites. Hunters
waste thousands of dollars a year and hundreds of man hours on failed food plots,
usually from a lack of experience or failing to implement that final step in the
process that would have led to success.
 Farming is an art learned through
experience and successful food plot establishment is nothing short of farming forage
for wildlife. Through our wildlife management and soil science expertise and experience
we’ve established guaranteed programs for success for both annual and perennial
food plots and native warm season grass restoration projects. Often for only a fraction
more than your costs of material, time and energy you could know it will be done
right. Whether you own or lease 50 or 50,000 acres, H&H has the knowhow and resources
to get you on the path to success. Contact us now to
get your program underway.
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