The Winston County Natural Resources Council met on January 15, 2015, at the U. S. Forest Service Office in Double Springs. The following persons were in attendance:
Matthew Brock, Travis McDonald, James Burnett, John Sudduth, and
Mike Henshaw. These topics were discussed:
- The Shortleaf Pine Workshop on January 29, 2015, in Cullman.
- The Professional Logger Meeting on February 3, 2015, in Cullman.
- Longleaf Pine Restoration program.
- 4-H Shooting Sports Club is applying for National Rifle Association grant.
- Mr. Sudduth said the Winston County Cattlemens annual meeting and steak supper is being held on January 31, at the Double Springs Municipal Building.
- Matthew said that he now had additional responsibilities to manage the Sam Murphy Wildlife Management Area, the Lewis Smith Physically Disabled Hunting Area in Walker County, and the Fayette Physically Disabled Hunting Area.
- Black Warrior WMA deer harvest was down this year, but hunter man-days were up. There were only 78 deer harvested during gun hunts and 17 on archery hunts. Matthew attributes the low harvest to low deer populations and less non-antlered deer hunting days.
- Travis said that the Forest Service would be conducting prescribed burns soon as weather permits. They will also be doing some shortleaf planting contracts and there is active logging contracts in progress. The Forest Service is preparing for a bat tracking project in March where bats will be tagged and tracked by aircraft and ground equipment. He also said that APHIS may hire a local worker to assist with feral pig management. Finally, they are continuing to survey for golden eagles on the Bankhead.
