Current Tree Farm Operations

Prior to Miami Corporation, the property’s silviculture (tree farming) areas had been cut to the point of near depletion. Today, Farmton’s 59,000 acres continue to be primarily managed for silviculture in a sustainable way. Nearly 30,000 acres are in uplands tree farms. Approximately 20,000 acres of wetlands contain wet hammocks where cypress is harvested. Where harvesting cypress is not viable, there are open ponds, saw grass ponds and hardwood areas.

In 2009, Director of Tree Farm Operations Earl Underhill retired after thirty years of service. In fact, he was only the third operations manager since Miami Corporation’s ownership began in the 1920's.  Farmton’s new Director Mike Brown has continued the legacy, providing day to day management of the timber and the property with a small crew of equipment operators. The crew is involved full time with timber operations including site preparation and planting, road and fire line maintenance, and fire fighting and prevention. Timber removal is done by independent loggers who contract with our company to purchase and remove the trees and truck them to sawmills.

Forest management means dealing with constant cycles of rainfall, fire, and insect infestations, which often follow fires. Minor fires occur every year during the “fire season”. Major fires in 1981, 1998 and 2011 destroyed tens of thousands of acres of standing trees. The burned areas were salvaged where possible, then replanted to begin the cycle again.

Hunting, Grazing and Mitigation Banking

Hunting and grazing have long been used to supplement timber income on the Farmton tract. Miami Corporation still grants traditional grazing leases on smaller portions of the tract, but it is hunting that has traditionally been the main ancillary use of the property.

In the 1950’s, Miami Corporation executed a wildlife management area agreement with The Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (now known as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) covering a majority of the tract. The Commission managed the area as a wildlife management area, with hunting open to the public, until 2000. Other smaller areas of the tract are and have been under private leases.

In 2001, due to concerns about the impacts large numbers of hunters were having on wildlife and the natural features of the land, our company placed the wildlife management area under a private hunting lease. The smaller number of hunters has allowed a rebound in the wildlife population partially from hunter management and hunter-imposed restrictions on the taking of wildlife (that are stricter than State rules). The private hunters are a beneficial presence on the land; among other activities, they volunteer for fire watching duty during fire season.

In 2000, Miami Corporation received a permit from the St. Johns Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowing a mitigation bank on portions of the tract for stewardship, management of timber, and wildlife management and to sell mitigation credits. At present, about 7,000 acres are under conservation easement and managed in accordance with the terms of the permit. This also allows Farmton to restore wetlands that are impacted. As part of the mitigation bank, these over 7,000 acres of wetlands and uplands will never be developed. The sale of the credits supplements the timber income on a one-time basis, but once the credits are sold, Miami Corporation must follow through on our obligation to maintain in perpetuity the conservation lands as required in the state and federal permits.