Bottoms on one side, bluffs on the other
West of town, the land is Delta bottom: flat, heavy clay with hardwoods like oak, green ash and sweetgum, and willow in the low spots. Much of it is hunting ground, and clearing there is usually lanes, trails, stand sites and openings for food plots. Those woods grow back thick, so the mulcher gets a lot of use.
East of town, the bluff hills carry hardwoods and pine on silty loess. MSU Extension notes the loess is deepest in the western bluffs and points to the bluffs outside Yazoo City as an example. Hill clearing is often homesites and select clearing, keeping the good trees on a slope and taking out the understory. Bigger timber can be pushed and windrowed with the track loader.
Water, slopes and Yazoo clay
The bottoms drain slowly and stay soft after rain, so timing matters there. The hills have the opposite problem. Loess washes fast when bare, and a cleared slope can start cutting gullies quickly. We lay out trails and cleared areas to follow the ground, and mulching leaves a wood layer that helps hold the soil until something grows back.
Yazoo County is also where Yazoo Clay gets its name, from a bluff along the river at Yazoo City. It is an expansive clay that swells when wet and shrinks when dry, which makes it hard on foundations. If you are clearing a homesite in the hills, get a builder or engineer to look at the soil before you plan the house.
Burning, permits and 811
MDEQ's open burning rule keeps land-clearing burns at least 500 yards from an occupied dwelling unless an air curtain burner or other forced-draft system is used, and never closer than 50 yards. Burning is also off during a Forestry Commission High Fire Danger Alert, a county burn ban, or wherever local ordinances forbid it. Inside Yazoo City, check with the city first.
Forestry Commission burn permits are for forestry and agricultural burns, and MFC says land-clearing burns follow local ordinances. Check with Yazoo County about property outside town. If the job includes stump digging or other excavation, Mississippi 811 needs at least two working days of notice before anyone digs. A locate ticket stays good for 14 calendar days.
