Wildlife/Habitat Management

Game Management

From quail to deer to ducks, Bourn is happy to assist our clients in managing their properties for game species. We do this by understanding the land owner's goals for the property, then developing a comprehensive plan that focuses on achieving those goals. Improving the native habitat is typically first and foremost in that plan, but each property is different. We can remove unwanted plant species, put up nest boxes, perform a prescribed fire, build impoundments or reclaim dozens of acres in warn season grasses.

Native Plantings

Planting native species assists in restoring habitat for wildlife as well as improving water quality for everyone. Bourn uses native landscaping to mitigate impacts caused by construction projects and to alter the ecosystem with certain habitat goals in mind. Since invasive species thrive after a disturbance, it is imperative that every ecological construction project be followed by native plantings. At Bourn, we take the time and make the effort to save the native tree or transplant the native shrub whenever possible.

Invasive Species Control

Part of the ecological imbalance in our environment is the presence and dominance of non-native and invasive plant species. Many of the stream valleys that we restore are covered with nothing but invasives: barberry, lesser celandine, Japanese stiltgrass, phragmites, bamboo, kudzu, multi-flora rose, garlic mustard, etc... Bourn incorporates a combination of manual and chemical controls to remove the problem species. In many situations the control of such species means a continuous maintenance program, as the species will likely never be eradicated from the region.

Floating Wetlands

Approved as a Best Management Practice (BMP) by the Chesapeake Bay Program, floating treatment wetlands have the potential to give municipalities much needed nutrient credits from their stormwater management wet ponds. Bourn's solution for floating wetlands in both brackish and fresh water systems is an all natural product that would be removed at the end of each growing season and replanted along eroding stream banks or shorelines. The wetlands therefore remove nutrients from the wet pond, as well as stabilize erodible soils elsewhere in the watershed.