Brames family presented Forest Stewardship award

Tom and Louise Brames were presented the OFS Forest Stewardship Award by Scott Reckelhoff, property manager of OFS during Dubois County Soil and Water Conservation District’s (SWCD) Annual Meeting held Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at the Venue 1408 in Huntingburg.

Dubois County contains many acres of highly erodible land; steep ground for which the best use is tree cover. Many landowners do not actively manage their forest ground which reduces their forest yield. This also causes soil erosion and impacts local water quality.

Additionally, the wood industry in Dubois County is large and local forest owners with under-managed woodlands are not fully reaping the benefits of the local wood market.

The SWCD Board of Supervisors annually recognizes forest landowners who carry out wise forestry stewardship programs on their land.

This year’s recipient, Tom and Louise Brames, lifelong residents of St. Anthony, own 68 acres in Dubois County and 300 in Perry County. All of their acreage is under Classified Forest and is owned for recreation, hunting, investment, and their enjoyment. Some of the family’s conservation practices include cutting vines, reforestation through tree planting, completing TSI, and planting and maintaining food plots.

Tom stated how he loves the peace and quiet he feels when standing in his
wooded acres. When asked what he would recommend to other forestland owners, he commented, “Love your woods.”

With this in mind, one of his goals is to improve the forest with the main objective of controlling invasive species. Brames routinely monitors and controls invasive species when he finds them.

In 2017, Brames took an eroded, previously grazed hillside and worked with David Howell, wildlife biologist, to put in warm season grasses and wildlife plantings to protect the soil and benefit wildlife.

He especially enjoys tree planting, knowing that some of these forests will be here in 100 years providing benefits to society and the environment.

One of the challenges of extensive tree planting Brames has discovered is deer browsing. He does not mow around the individual young trees which helps conceal their location from the deer.

Tom is semi-retired from farming and has worked part-time with Multi-Resource Management (MRM) since 2017.

Tom and Louise are also very active in their church and much involved with their grandchildren.