GRADY COUNTY- Tall Timbers is privileged to recognize Mason Hawkins as its 26th Annual Kate Ireland Auction honoree. His dedication to preserving and protecting the land and history of the Red Hills has run through Mason’s family since the late 1800s.

As a major Tall Timbers supporter and board member for more than 20 years, Hawkins’ devotion to conservation has been instrumental in reviving the rolling hills of Rosemary in Grady County. Originally named Susina when it was acquired by his great grandfather in 1891, the antebellum property was developed into one of the earliest game bird hunting estates in the Red Hills.

It remained a working quail hunting property and farm until the 1960s when half the original estate was sold to a commercial timber growing company. Hawkins grew up on the property and thought often of reassembling his great grandfather’s land, making it whole again.

In 2003, Hawkins captured the opportunity to unite his family’s land, incorporating it as Rosemary, LLC. Hawkins and his management team, led by Tim Miles, embarked on and executed a comprehensive and intensive management plan that restored the quail woods through the reintroduction of prescribed fire, hardwood control, pine savanna recovery and other disciplined management.

In 2005, the entire 5,600-acre property was put under a Tall Timbers conservation easement. The easement is one of the largest held in the region and ensures the conservation features of the property will be perpetually protected. Hawkins’ commitment to ecological restoration and conservation have made him a well-respected steward to the land and the Red Hills Region. His generosity has been critical to Tall Timbers’ research and prescribed fire advocacy.