Georgia Natural Wonder #56 - Wade Tract Preserve - Thomasville. 739

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Georgia Natural Wonder #56 - Wade Tract Preserve - Thomasville

Our last National Natural Landmark is way down in South Georgia. Looks pretty interesting, you folks down there should check it out. So as to not over tangent the post, I have included several links. Did a major tangent on Thomasville, but first, the Georgia Natural Wonder.


Official National Natural Landmark photo.

The Wade Tract Preserve contains the best example of an old-growth longleaf pine savanna to be found in the Gulf Coastal Plain Bio-physiographic Province of the Southeast.

Location: Thomas County, GA

Year designated: 2013

Acres: 206

Ownership: Private

The Wade Tract Preserve: A Window to the Past

Longleaf pine woodlands were one of the dominant upland forest of the southeastern U.S. Today, less than 5% of these majestic forests remain, and only a small portion of these are managed with prescribed fire regimes that approximate natural conditions. The extent of losses from conversion and mismanagement makes old-growth longleaf forests one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America.



The Wade Tract Preserve is a 200-acre old-growth research plot managed by Tall Timbers Research Station surrounded by a 3,200-acre private hunting estate near Thomasville, GA. The Wade Tract is one of only a very few old-growth stands that has been managed with fire for decades. It is also the only stand specifically dedicated to research purposes. The history of research conducted on the Wade Tract, coupled with the extreme rarity of this old-growth forest type, make it one of the most important ecological research sites anywhere.


Successful establishment of long leaf regeneration.



Tall Timbers Research Station has three primary goals for the Wade Tract Preserve: (1) maintain the old-growth structure and species composition, (2) use the Tract as an example of an old-growth longleaf pine-wiregrass woodland for research and monitoring, and (3) offer a visual example of how the natural landscape may have appeared prior to European settlement. The Preserve is on private property and is not open to the general public. With sponsorship of a Tall Timbers staff member, small groups of professionals, students, and other interested parties may visit the tract. Access is a professional courtesy and visiting groups must be pre-approved by the Tall Timbers Research site coordinator. Jim Cox serves as the site coordinator and primary contact with the land owner.

History


Jeptha Homer Wade

The Wade Tract Preserve is part of Arcadia Plantation, which is owned by Jeptha H. Wade, III. Mr. Wade is a descendent of a family of entrepreneurs that lived in the Cleveland area and accumulated much of their wealth during the gilded age. This lineage includes Jeptha Homer Wade, founder of Western Union Telegraph Company, and a long line of philanthropist and sports hunting enthusiasts.


Grandson, Great-Grandson, and Grandfather: Jeptha Homer Wade II (1857-1926), Jeptha Homer Wade Jr. (1879-1936), and Jeptha H. Wade (1811-1890).

The Wade family originally came to the Red Hills region to enjoy the mild winters and engage in sports hunting. The family purchased Millpond Plantation from the Wyche family in the early 1900s and quickly expanded their holdings to nearly 10,000 acres.



Takes a million a year to run this place.



Arcadia Plantation was created when Millpond Plantation was divided among heirs of the estate of Jeptha Wade, II.


Arcadia Plantation


Herbert Stoddard, Sr.

Beginning in the 1940s, Herbert Stoddard, Sr., served as the consulting forester for Millpond Plantation and later for Arcadia. Leon Neel joined Stoddard in 1950 to form a business partnership; after Stoddard’s death in 1970, Neel continued as the forester for Arcadia Plantation to the present. First Stoddard and later Neel worked with the Wade family to preserve the old-growth stand that was to become the Wade Tract Preserve.



During 1979 Tall Timbers Research Station was granted a perpetual conservation easement on the 200-acre (85 ha) old-growth longleaf pine forest stand. This was the first conservation easement of its kind in the State of Georgia. The document established a research natural area under the control and supervision of Tall Timbers Research Station. The legal agreement states that the Preserve “…should be restricted perpetually for the purposes of preservation and research of the natural environmental systems contained therein…” and that the easement is given “…for the purpose of preserving in its natural state the above described natural environmental system….”


Box cut scar.

Although no major alterations of the Wade Tract have taken place, a number of past actions have affected its present condition. Prior to the easement, dead (often lightning-struck) trees were occasionally salvaged and areas of native groundcover were harrowed for management of Northern Bobwhite. Some of the largest trees were “box-cut” in the late 19th or early 20th century to identify trees that could potentially be used for shingles or fence posts. Since the inception of the easement in 1979, no timber of any kind has been removed and no harrowing has taken place.



Tall Timbers’ staff knows of no archeological assessment of the Wade Tract Preserve. A small, surface dump site of recent origin (<50-75 years) was located on the west side of the Preserve, across near the center road from the parking area. Staff removed most of the material after burns in the 1990s. An old road bed may be a remnant of old Magnolia Road that was used to haul cotton from Thomasville to ports along the St. Marks River. Magnolia Road dates from the 1830s and is thought to be one of the oldest roads in the Red Hills region.

The Wade Tract Preserve Forest Dynamics

Old-growth characteristics of upland longleaf pine forests include: (1) an “all-age” class composition, (2) trees widely spaced providing an open canopy, (3) a species-rich ground cover dominated by grasses, (4) coarse woody debris in the form of large, persistent snags, downed logs, and tip-up mounds, (5) a canopy consisting of many large, old (200-500 years) trees, and (6) horizontal heterogeneity or patchiness.



Prior to the easement, dead (often lightning-struck) trees were occasionally salvaged and some areas were harrowed for management of northern bobwhite. Many of the largest trees were “box-cut” in the late 19th or early 20th century to identify trees that could potentially be used for shingles or fence posts. The large scars created by these cuts may catch fire when burns are conducted. We, therefore, clear fuels surrounding the bases of these trees to help reduce mortality. Since establishing the easement in 1979, no timber of any kind has been removed and no harrowing has taken place.



In a research project initiated by Dr. William Platt, all trees over 1.5 in DBH have been tagged and mapped within a 100 x 100 m grid covering on approximately two-thirds of the preserve. All size classes are represented in an inverse J-shaped distribution. The largest individuals are over 80 cm DBH. Many canopy trees are over 200 years old and a few individuals range up to 500 years.



Forest characteristics on the Wade Tract have exhibited complex spatial variation that provides important insights into forest dynamic. Basal area, which is a measure of forest volume and biomass averages about 52 ft²/acre across the Wade Tract but varies from <13 ft²/acre to a high of >82 ft²/acre. Areas with high basal area are dominated by several large, old trees, while areas with low basal area tend to have few trees or else clumps of young saplings. It is this spatial variation in forest structure that enables a grassland species such as the Eastern Meadowlark to breed on the Wade Tract, often within a few score yards of old-growth obligates like the Red-cockaded Woodpecker.


Eastern Medowlark

The spatial variation also plays an important role in forest regeneration. Large, old trees die occasionally from lightning strikes, prescribed burns, and other sources of mortality. These gaps provide areas for young longleaf pines to take hold and begin their ascent. These patches of regeneration are typically <0.25 acres but have a tremendous number of young pine stems. These saplings will be competing with one another for many years to come. The canopy gaps allow additional light to reach these saplings, but the gaps also may influence fire characteristics because long, resinous pine needles are one of the primary fuels carrying fires through this habitat. Very young pines that have just sprouted can be covered by pine needles and may be killed more frequently by prescribed burns.

Management of The Wade Tract Preserve

Unlike many sites, the overall management goal for the Wade Tract Preserve is to perpetuate and at times enhance the old-growth condition of the Preserve so that it can function as a research natural area. The narrow management goal leads to a fairly simple management program of applying prescribed burns with suitable frequency to maintain the old-growth characteristics of the Tract.



A road established long before the easement was created runs north-south through the middle of the preserve and has been used to divide the preserve into eastern and western management units. Historically, the entire preserve was burned annually in later winter or early spring (March-April). However, in 1982, fire management moved toward prescribed burns occurring during the early part of the lightning season (May-June). Currently, half of the preserve is usually burned each year during the lightning season.



Additional management is limited primarily to hand mowing small areas where numerous hardwoods have become established and also protecting large trees that have scars from box cuts. These scars often ignite during prescribed burns and over time lead to higher mortality. From 1996-99, small-scale burns were used to protect ancient tress with scars, but mowing with a gas-powered weed-whacker has proven to be quicker and equally effective.



The Wade Tract Preserve Plant Ecology

Plant species richness on the Wade Tract is phenomenal with nearly 400 species recorded on the Tract. Most species occur in the rich ground cover dominated by grasses and forbs. Voucher specimens of all vascular plants on the preserve have been actively collected beginning with the efforts of Drs. R.K. Godfrey and L. Anderson. Their work has been supplemented by various technicians and students, and currently only 1-3 new species are added each year, indicating that the current species count is close to the real total.


Salix Humelus.

Wiregrass is dense in many areas and surrounded by species such as braken fern, blazing star, runner oak, black-eyed-susan, and bluestem grasses.


State Flower of Maryland.

The biomass can accumulate up to 5,400 lbs/acre dry weight following a growing season burn the previous year. There are some upland areas that lack wiregrass, and it’s uncertain whether these are the result of past human disturbance or natural variation in ground cover composition.


Run Oak.

An absence of wiregrass coupled with sparse or non-existent longleaf pine overstory lead to low fuel loads and can make areas prone to hardwood encroachment. The dynamic, small-scale relationships between ground cover species, small-scale disturbances (e.g., tortoise burrows, tip up, fallen logs), and prescribed burns needs additional study.



The floristics of the small, seasonally wet areas and their changes with burning also need better documentation. A seasonal wetland and a small stream bordered by titi lie in western sections of the Tract. In some years, the titi is not top-killed by fire. Also, there is a small ephemeral wet site near the northern boundary near the center road. Areas associated with eastern boundary are also seasonally wet.



The Wade Tract Preserve: Wildlife


The rare Red-cockaded Woodpecker.

Birds are the most studied animal group on the Wade Tract Preserve. Over 90 species have been observed and nearly 40 species have been recorded breeding on the site.


Quail Flush.

The Tract is of major significance for the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. The Wade Tract provides a unique opportunity to study the ecology and population dynamics of this rare and declining species in conditions that are believed to mirror the original landscape of the southeastern U.S. This rare woodpecker is common on the tract, with over 60 active and abandoned cavity and start trees, and the distances between territory centers are among the smallest recorded anywhere. This observation, combined with the small home range sizes that have been documented for birds using the area, suggest optimal conditions exist.



Studies of Bachman’s Sparrow and Brown-headed Nuthatch are also underway to better understand the ecology of these declining species.


Sparrow and pair of Nuthatch.

The Preserve also is home to numerous species of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, including an estimated 100 gopher tortoises. Most tortoise research has been conducted by Drs. Sharon Hermann and Craig Guyer and their students.


Monitoring female gopher tortoises

Projects include monitoring female behavior using unmanned digital cameras and studies of home range and movement patterns using radio telemetry. Surveys of new and existing burrows also are conducted periodically.



Seth Stapleton, a graduate student at the University of Georgia, monitored snake populations on the Wade Tract and other nearby properties in 2003. Corn snakes and eastern garter snakes made up a greater proportion of total captures on the Wade Tract than on other sites. In addition, Florida pine snakes (8), scarlet snakes (6), and scarlet king snakes (5) were captured at increased rates at the Wade Tract as compared to other sites. Interestingly, only one gray rat snake (shown below) was captured at the Wade Tract while this species was very common on both other properties. Other species documented at the Wade Tract included eastern coach whips (9), eastern diamondback rattlesnakes (4), and a cottonmouth (1).


Scarlet King Snake.


Eastern coach whips

This study suggested longleaf pine-wiregrass forests support a different snake community than old-field pineland habitats. Corn and Florida pine snakes associate with the open, grassland habitats of the longleaf system, while gray rat snakes associates with hardwoods more prevalent in the old-field ecosystem.


Gray rat snakes associates with hardwoods more prevalent in the old-field ecosystem.

Exotic Species

To date, few exotic animals have been recorded on the Preserve. The most frequently encountered species is the imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta).


Imported?

Casual observations suggest that this species is located along the road and interior foot trails and less common in areas with intact wiregrass ground cover. The most common exotic vertebrates documented infrequently on the Preserve are European Starling and armadillos. Coyotes and feral cats, dogs, and hogs are rare.



Oh man I can’t get this close to Thomasville without a history tangent.Thomasville, the county seat of Thomas County, is located in southwest Georgia's wiregrass region.


Downtown Thomasville

The city is forty miles north of Tallahassee, Florida, and fifty-four miles south of Albany. Originally the home of the Apalachee Indians and the Lower Creek Indians, the area was first visited by Europeans when Hernando de Soto's Spanish expedition passed through in 1539-40. After the American Revolution (1775-83) it became a part of Georgia and the United States.


Thomas County Courthouse.

The city features plantations open to the public, a historic downtown, a large farmer's market, and a 308-year-old oak tree at the corner of Monroe and Crawford streets.



Land-hungry Americans rushed into the area after the Creek Indian removal, and in 1818 the Georgia legislature began creating counties to accommodate their needs. In 1825 Decatur County representative Thomas J. Johnson introduced the bill creating Thomas County. Both the county and Thomasville, established the following year, were named for Johnson's relative General Jett Thomas, an Indian fighter during the War of 1812 and the builder of the antebellum state capitol in Milledgeville and Franklin College, the first permanent structure at the University of Georgia in Athens.



Major boundary changes came in 1858, when Brooks County was created, and in 1905, when Grady County was carved out of Thomas and adjacent counties. Despite sporadic Indian conflicts, the county grew between 1830 and 1860 from a population of 3,299 to 10,766. A permanent courthouse, still in use, was built in 1858. The architect was a young Englishman named John Wind. Poor roads hindered transportation, and the Ochlockonee River could not be navigated by commercial ships, but in 1861 the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad connected Thomasville with Savannah.


Pebble Hill Plantation.

Thomasville became the center of an important antebellum agricultural kingdom that produced large amounts of cotton (shipped through nearby Florida ports), corn, sugarcane, and sweet potatoes. Farm animals, especially range cattle, were significant. Slaves were the primary labor source. There were also numerous white yeoman farmers. Planters, even though they were a minority, controlled economic, social, and political life.



The enslaved population increased rapidly, and by 1860 the county had 6,244 slaves, 34 free blacks, and 4,488 whites.



Antebellum Thomasville was overwhelmingly Protestant. Its major churches were the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Baptist, both missionary and primitive. Whites admitted slaves to their congregations and supervised their religious services.



Education before the Civil War did not include any religious instruction to blacks and depended mainly on private and church schools or academies. The Methodist-affiliated Fletcher Institute, which opened in 1848, was Thomasville's most important educational institution at that time.



In politics the majority Democrats usually prevailed over the Whigs, a strong minority. While both parties supported the institution of slavery, and Thomasvillians took the southern position in the nation's growing sectional quarrels over slavery, Thomasville reluctantly left the Union when Georgia seceded in 1861. After the Confederate States of America was founded, however, Thomasville became a loyal member of the new nation. No battles took place in Thomas County, but Thomasville and the county furnished military personnel who fought on every battlefield.


Tifton, Thomasville, and Gulf Railroad

Ultimately, approximately 1,500 men served in Confederate and state militia units. Thomasville was a haven for many refugees fleeing from combat zones and in December 1864 served briefly as a prisoner of war camp for 5,000 Union soldiers. Thomasville's railroad was an important shipping point for soldiers and agricultural produce. On May 9, 1865, Union forces entered Thomasville and received the surrender of Confederate forces and supplies.



The painful process of Reconstruction was made easier in Thomasville by the lack of wartime destruction, the absence of deep-seated hatred of the North, and a quick recovery that saw improved roads, the rapid expansion of railroads, and the beginnings of a small city. By the 1880s it was a magnet for wealthy northerners (many of them from Cleveland, Ohio) who built or bought homes in town and plantations in the county, turning Thomasville and the county into a resort area.


Mitchell House

In the 1880s such luxury hotels as the Mitchell House and Piney Woods rose on Broad Street, and across the city many smaller hotels and boardinghouses catered to the less affluent.




Piney Woods

Until about 1910 guests came yearly for a "season" devoted to socializing, hunting, and fishing, and many of their descendants continued to visit Thomasville every year.



Thomasville became a popular resort town during the 1860s for wealthy northerners seeking a milder climate during the winter months.



The Masury Hotel was constructed at the corner of Broad and Jefferson streets in 1889 to accommodate such visitors.



Resort Era long gone.



A whole Victorian neighborhood of winter homes was built.


Lapham-Patterson House, was built by Tudor Rommerdal as a winter resort for Chicago shoe manufacturer C. W. Lapham, this house was sold in 1905 to the James G. Patterson family, who lived here until 1970. After being operated by the state for many years, it’s now in the able hands of the Thomas County Historical Society. It’s available for rentals and tours.



Gorgeous neighborhood hearkens back to Resort Era.



Ton of Victorian homes in Thomasville.



Present-day Thomasville is the unofficial capital of an area of hunting plantations that stretches north to Albany and south to Leon and Wakulla counties in Florida.


Quail Hunting, Thomasville is the king of modern day quail hunting.

Tangent, my pop was quite the quail hunter back in the day.


Pop leaning on auto with kill for the day.

When there were quail in Georgia.

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A young TRD hunting with pop and Smokey Joe.



All pop's hunting buddies and dogs have passed away.



Pop misses quail hunting I tell you what.


Young bratty TRD showing off with gun.



His best dog "Smokey Joe" bringing in another one.



Farewell Quail Hunting in Georgia.



Back to Thomasville

Beginning in the late 1870s the pine timber industry became important. Agriculture has adapted to modern techniques and, like timber, remains basic to the county's economy.



Since the 1920s the John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital (later, Archbold Medical Center) has been an important medical center, and the Flowers Baking Company ranks among the national leaders in the bread industry.


John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital

Thomasville has two institutions of higher education. The main one, Thomas University, is a small, private institution located on the grounds of what was once Birdwood Plantation, the winter home of W. Cameron Forbes, U.S. ambassador to Japan and governor general of the Philippines during the early twentieth century. In 2004 the university had an enrollment of more than 700 students.



Thomas University located on the grounds of what was once Birdwood Plantation.



Well-known natives of Thomasville include educator Selena Sloan Butler



Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York



Georgia Governor Thomas Hardwick



Writer Bailey White



Actor Scott Wilson



Actress Joanne Woodward.


Woodward and Paul Newman married 50 years.

Thomasville, called "the Rose City" because of its many colorful rose gardens, added an annual rose show in 1922 and a rose show parade in 1948.



Thomasville plants and maintains more than 1,000 roses located throughout the city, as do a number of residents who have their own rose gardens. During the last week of April, rose growers from all over the world display their prize roses for a panel of judges.



The Thomasville Rose Garden at Cherokee Lake Park is the largest of 85 rose beds maintained by the city, and is host to the annual rose festival .


The Sunbeam bread float in the rose show parade, Thomasville, 1950s. The girls are dressed as Miss Sunbeam and the man represents the baker.

Man that was fun. I have really got to visit Thomasville, sounds and looks intriguing. Well that does it for today’s post and the 12 National Natural Landmarks of Georgia. We learned yesterday that there were three National Heritage locations in Georgia. The Arabia Mountain area yesterday which included Panola Mountain was one. The Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor on 79 Atlantic barrier islands in four states is another. We have somewhat covered them both. The third will be tomorrow. We may have to do a two part post as there is a huge history tangent. Thomasville Rose Queen and court as today's GNW gals.