In Mississippi, a Retired Veterinarian Now Tends to Trees
Tree farmer's land management helps gopher tortoise
Posted: 03-May-2004; Updated: 16-Apr-2007
Dr. John Lambert (left) and Environmental Defense economist Robert Bonnie. (Photo: Copyright John Rae)
NAME: John Lambert
OCCUPATION: Retired veterinarian, tree farmer
STATE: Mississippi
SPECIES: Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)
Caring for animals comes naturally to Dr. John Lambert, a retired large-animal vet from southern Mississippi who now tends to the endangered gopher tortoise. Key to his success is the nurturing of the indigenous, native pine on his 750-acre tree farm.
Dr. Lambert grew up on acres of gently rolling hills of cotton and soybean fields his family converted to pine forest for naval stores production in the 1920s, when ships still required the gum and pitch from pine for paint and turpentine. Stumps still dotting the landscape show this family heritage.
In 1955, the doctor studied forest management at Mississippi State University, which impressed on him the importance of a solid land management plan. Starting in 1958, he expanded his property with several adjoining tracts of land and began keeping a diary detailing all the work. The profitable tree farm he runs today is the result of over 50 years of solid land practices that have shaped his land into prime tree-growing country, 400 acres of which are planted in loblolly pine and 350 of which are managed natural stands that include mature longleaf, loblolly, shortleaf pine and mixed hardwoods.
At the root of his management practices has been the idea that a maximum return on his farm could happen alongside careful stewardship of the environment. He shuns waste, a virtue that demonstrates his commitment to conservation. (His office, for instance, sports interior pine paneling salvaged from timber that had been decimated by the Southern pine beetle.)
The gopher tortoises that now call his land home also illustrate Lambert's keen desire not to squander valuable wildlife. By thinning out a lot of the hardwood trees, using prescribed fire to burn the underbrush and controlling hardwood vegetation, Dr. Lambert has reintroduced to the forest floor grass and herbaceous vegetation on which the tortoises like to munch. Such management also aids some of the 360 other species that rely on tortoise burrows and helps him meet several important goals, including restoring native longleaf pine habitat, providing habitat for wildlife and wildflowers, protecting soil and water quality, practicing sustainable forestry and generating income.
Environmental Defense has been working with Dr. Lambert in these efforts, his part of the deal he made with the government through a Safe Harbor agreement, which ensures that his actions will not lead to added restrictions on his land so long as his land management benefits an endangered species or two. In his case, the Safe Harbor helps both the gopher tortoise and red-cockaded woodpecker.
"Safe Harbor allows me to manage my land for profit--and at the same time help wildlife," he says. "I get an assurance that some bright morning I won't be faced with a regulatory problem."
Lambert's hands-on approach, attention to detail and meticulous management have paid off in many ways. His tree farm is a thriving business, and in 1999 the Mississippi Forestry Association named him Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year--no small feat considering the Magnolia State boasts the country's largest number of tree farms.
In his acceptance speech, Dr. Lambert amplified his philosophy: "It is my intent to squeeze every penny of profit from the timber that I sell -- that is only good business. And good business is not wasting inventory, and good business is not invading capital assets. Every home-providing gopher tortoise that gets entombed by a skidder is a diminution of capital. Capital which was often amassed a penny at a time, if not by us, by our forbearers."
Over the years Dr. Lambert has become something of an evangelist among tree farmers. In September 2003, he put on a workshop at his tree farm for landowners in the region. Some 60-70 landowners showed up, and the discussion revolved around the valuable longleaf pine, gopher tortoises and conservation. His impassioned plea at the end of the workshop, calling for the management of forest, wildlife and species, resonated with the landowners in attendance. Even the number of landowners who showed up for a talk about conservation and gopher tortoises is a testament to Dr. Lambert's ways and means, which might best be summed up by the William Faulkner quote he used to clinch his 1999 acceptance speech: "No wonder the ruined woods I used to know don't cry for retribution. Those who destroyed them will accomplish their revenge."
