Brush Sculpting Differs Much
From Wholesale Brush Control

By Dale Rollins
Extension Wildlife Specialist

Webster defines a landscape architect as "one whose profession is to arrange and modify the effects of natural scenery over tracts of land so as to produce the best aesthetic effect with regard to the use to which the tract is to be put." Such a definition is not restricted to the golf course or the front yard of a suburban home. The same principles practiced by a landscape architect — natural beauty and aesthetics — are just as important when contemplating brush control on the back 40.

In 1982 I was involved in a brush clearing study in Kerr County to determine how much brush could be removed from a site before affecting deer populations. We used double-chaining and burning to create a series of 20-acre clearings until 30, 50, 70 and 80 percent of a particular area had been cleared. One day the local SCS man brought out a neighboring (absentee) landowner to tour the study sites. As we entered one of the pastures that had been cleared at 50 percent intensity, we stepped out of the pickup truck to gaze upon contrasts between cedars and cleared areas. The visitor, a realtor from Houston, looked at the situation and remarked "my God, you’ve raped the land." I was crushed! But his remark left an indelible mark in my mind, and it should at least perk your ears.

Whether one is clearing brush on land he hopes to possess from now on, or on land that may be sold next month, he should carefully consider the short and longterm impacts on the parcel’s appearance, productivity, and natural beauty. The planned, selective removal of brush can be one of the best things that ever happened to wildlife habitat; the unplanned, broadcast control of brush is perhaps the worst.

Applied landscaping can be practiced at different levels, including the (a) landscape level; (b) individual clearing level; (c) plant community level; (d) plant species level; and (e) individual plant level.

Applied landscaping is a mixture of art and science; i.e., view these guidelines as starting points. The end product (i.e., resulting landscape) is limited only by the creativity of the sculptor, and perhaps by his pocketbook.

Landscape level

To fully grasp the view of your ranch at the landscape level, one must either get up on a hilltop, up in an airplane (or helicopter), or have an aerial photograph in hand. One must have an appreciation for the spatial arrangement of various brush densities, watercourses, lay of the land (i.e., topography) and the neighbors’ adjoining lands. An aerial photograph obtained from your local Natural Resources Conservation Service is an invaluable planning aid.

At the landscape level, one should be cognizant of special sites that should be either enhanced or at least preserved, i.e., "honeyholes." Some areas of the property are inherently more attractive to deer, bobwhites, or whatever your target species of wildlife than other areas. Honeyholes may be characterized by particular species of brush (e.g., sand plum), brush stands of certain age/size, brush species diversity, topography, remoteness or other factors.

In order to manage at the honeyhole-level, I recommend that you close your eyes and visualize where you would go at noon to jump that trophy buck or flush a covey of quail. What species of brush are involved? Is it in a draw? A header of a canyon? When the image of the honeyhole is vivid, consider the task at hand: to clone (i.e., "cut and paste") such honeyholes across the landscape. Try to identify what feature(s) are integral components of honeyholes for the particular species of wildlife for which you are managing, then tailor your sculpting plans to clone such features.

Topography is an important factor at the landscape level. Depending on the landowner’s objectives, the vista desired may look like an open savanna or a mosaic of open areas with denser brush interspersed therein. Deer often use topography as a sort of "cover." A deer that can move over the ridge is screened just as effectively as one that moves into a dense cedar brake. Clearing too much brush from bottomland areas may reduce their attractiveness to deer. Brush should normally not be cleared within 25 yards (or so) of the stream course. Similarly, brush should be preserved along feeder draws that service streams and "saddles" between headers, as these areas provide important travel lanes.

Individual clearing level

Animals have various "security thresholds", i.e., a sense of security that comes with proximity to escape cover. If clearings become too large and the security threshold is exceeded, then the center portion of that clearing becomes "lost habitat." As a rule, more and smaller clearings are preferred over fewer but larger clearings. Maximum clearing width for deer is generally recommended to be 400 yards; 200 yard widths are preferred. Quail typically do not forage more than 50 yards from woody cover, so maximum clearing width shouldn’t exceed twice that.

Clearings can be landscaped in several ways. First, the edges shouldn’t be straight lines. Straight lines aren’t "natural" and result in stark visual contrasts between brush and cleared areas. Contoured, or "feathered" edges, are more aesthetically pleasing, as they look more natural. Long, straight clearings should be interrupted by doglegs of brush or "ziz-zag" clearings to where a deer cannot see more than 200 yards. Another option is to leave mottes of trees intact on larger clearings. Often, liveoak mottes are spared during mechanical clearing operations. For quail, leave a "stringer" of brush extending into larger clearings, but avoid isolated coverts, as these may become "ecological traps" that make the isolated quail more vulnerable to avian predators.

In mechanical clearing operations, there is always the slash that is either left in place, stacked with a rake, or windrowed (as in chaining). Typically, such brushpiles are burned. Some managers like to leave brush piles on clearings, but my preference is to burn them. Larger brushpiles typically harbor more skunks and snakes than they serve as cover for quail. I’d much rather leave selected mottes of quail cover than try to use brush piles as a substitute for planning.

One very good use that I’ve found brushpiles for is calling for coyotes. Coyotes recognize brushpiles as good mousing habitat, and using a brushpile for a calling stand can be very productive. If brushpiles in areas with shinoak are to be burned, try to stack the piles on top of shinoak areas. Such brush piles burn very hot and may sterilize the soil, but I’ve never seen them get so hot as to kill shinoak. And, the shinoak resprouts are very palatable to deer and exotic ungulates (e.g., aoudads).

Plant community level

Most species of wildlife express an affinity for certain vegetation types (plant communities). For deer this may include a wide range of situations, whereas black-capped vireos are more niche specialists. As such, my two main axioms for range managers, (a) know your plants and (b) know how to manipulate them, are the order of the day. Know which species of plants are important for your target wildlife species, then know what management tools (i.e., the "axe, plow, cow, and fire") foster those plants. Remember to think beyond just food value before such judgemens are made.

Wildlife density and diversity typically correlate with plant diversity (woody and herbaceous). Even within a species (e.g., deer), individual animals tend to select those areas within the habitat that are more diverse. The Brush Sculptor’s goal should be to at least maintain species diversity, and hopefully increase it. This requires certain assumptions, namely that the manager (a) can recognize and identify the various woody species that are found on the site, and (b) that he understands the relative values that the species provides for various species of wildlife. Field guides, other publications color posters, and electronic sources (e.g., TEXNAT [http://texnat.tamu.edu] are available to facilitate identification.

A central thesis for sculpting brush is the ability to remove brush selectively. Generally, mechanical means afford the greatest selectivity during brush clearing operations. Tree-dozing or chaining afford excellent selectivity, if the operator(s) take advantage of that ability. Herbicides can also be used to provide selective control, but generally not to the degree of fine-tuning available with mechanical means. However, with the inception of individual plant treatments (e.g., Brush Busters), the herbicide applicator can be highly selective. For broadcast applications, the use of pelleted herbicides (e.g., tebuthiuron) in backpack "blowers" offer more precise applications. To a lesser degree, the selection of broadcast foliar sprays may provide some control over what brush species are killed.

At the community level, desirable trees should be spared during clearing efforts. For the more desirable species, I recommend that all individuals of that species be spared; for others some should be spared, but not necessarily all of them. In the Rolling Plains, species such as netleaf hackberry, chittam and skunkbush should receive complete protection. Other species such as lotebush and sandplum should be spared in moderation, and in those areas where they are components of honeyholes. In the Trans-Pecos region, acacias and allthorn are examples of plants that should be spared in moderation.

Species level

Mesquite is perhaps the most despised plant in Texas, yet mesquite is an important habitat component for quail, deer and several other nongame birds. In the Edwards Plateau, Ashe juniper is often the target of intensive control, but junipers can be an important source of winter forage and escape cover for wildlife. Similarly, pricklypear is often dismissed as without value, yet recent studies suggest it may be an important habitat for nesting quail.

Within most species of woody plants, some individual plants are more preferred than others, be it for forage or cover. When these "preferred" trees can be identified, they should be spared during control efforts. In Ashe juniper, one can look under and near the dripline of the tree (usually older, female trees) for fecal pellet groups in February and March to indicate the use by deer. Some mesquite trees assume a growth form that makes them desirable loafing coverts for quail, while others are rarely used. Knowledge of a particular site attained through hunting over a period of years helps to identify which microhabitats are important. When such trees are identified, realize that their importance may be associated with the complex of species or growth types, so sculpt such areas deliberately. The carpenter’s advice of "measure twice and saw once" is good advice for sculpting brush. It’s easier to have to come back and take out more brush at a later date than it is to rebuild a honeyhole.

Sculpting for hunting ease

Brush clearing is a bit like a prescribed fire; one can accomplish multiple objectives simultaneously. To that end, multiple factors should be considered when planning brush treatments. In recent years, more managers have used their brush clearing patterns to facilitate the observation of game for hunting or photography. The American Indians used fire to manipulate the movements of bison, either directly or indirectly (i.e., attracting them to better grazing) for hundreds of years. I think this is one of the best uses for sculpting brush, and hope that some day the landscaping of the area replaces the prominence of the corn feeder in deer hunting circles.

Clearings facilitate the observation of game by (a) increasing visibility across an area, and (b) attracting the animals because of improved foraging conditions on the clearing itself. In order to optimize these two factors, the clearings should be constructed to maximize the sense of security that the animals have while in a clearing. Senderos (linear clearings associated with pasture roads, fences or pipelines) are preferred hunting areas in brushy south Texas. Senderos can also be installed strictly for hunting purposes. One arrangement is to cut two senderos in an "X" fashion, leaving the brush at the intersection for placement of a tripod hunting blind. The length of the "legs" of the X should not exceed 250 yards, as this is the maximum distance that most hunters could be expected to shoot a deer accurately.

Logistical considerations

The only ingredients necessary to successfully sculpt brush are (a) having a goal in mind, (b) committing one’s self to making it successful, (c) an aerial photograph, and (d) some flagging tape. A computer with a "paint" program is a handy item for visualizing various treatment arrangements, but a grease pencil will suffice to mark the location of clearings on the photograph.

To use a computer, you’ll need to take the aerial photograph and "digitize" it (i.e., have it scanned as a "bitmap" (.bmp) or "paint" file (.pcx). Use a software program like PowerPoint or other imaging capabilities to retrieve the file and learn how to use the software to "paint" the image with the clearings you desire. Using this setup will allow you to visualize variously sized clearings, honeyholes, and the spatial arrangements among clearings and the topography of the site.

Once the aerial photograph is marked for clearing, the task is to communicate successfully your clearing desires to the contractor (e.g., dozer operator). Don’t assume that your verbal instructions will be taken verbatim! I’ve seen several wrecks caused by a lack of communication between the planner and the contractor. Most bulldozer operators will not appreciate the complexity of your designs, so be prepared to spend some time with them in the field to make sure they have a good understanding of your clearing plans. Clearings should be clearly marked with flagging tape, and any special instructions personally supervised. Trees that should be spared within a clearing should also be marked conspicuously with flagging tape.

As wildlife become more important in land use planning, more efforts will be made to clearly define and optimize the use of brush management as a habitat management tool.

The second of two West Texas Brush Sculptors seminars is set for Abilene Sept. 17-18. Nine "cobtinuing education credits" are available for those completing the workshop. Further information is available from local county Extension offices. Copies of the proceedings are available for $15, payable to TAEX Brush Sculptors, 7887 U.S. Hwy. 87 N., San Angelo, TX 76901.