Retired Marine Corps veteran Brian Heishman has been slowly turning a 400-acre ranch near Pawnee, Oklahoma, into a cedar forest for five years.
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Heishman → retire → years
An overgrown property, choked by Eastern Red Cedars, is showing signs of ecological recovery, with native grasses returning, ponds filling up faster and streams reappearing.
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streams → choke → recovery
For Heishman and his wife, Melinda, the work has become more than just a land management project.
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work → become → project
After more than two decades of military and government service, it has given Heishman a new calling.
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it → give → calling
According to a USDA report, Heishman served five years in the infantry, 16 years in Explosive Ordnance Disposal and a decade as a U.S. government contractor in Iraq.
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Heishman → accord → Iraq
After retiring from his career of service, he searched for a meaningful way to remain active and then the chance to manage the family property was the opportunity.
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chance → retire → property
When Heishman and Melinda bought the land, it had three ponds and large areas thickly covered with Eastern Red Cedars.
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it → buy → Cedars
At first he wondered if he could manage the vast clearing alone, as he had never done such work before.
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he → wonder → work
That changed when he cleared a preliminary 500 feet to set up a firebreak for a prescribed burn.
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he → change → burn
This experience gave him the confidence to take on a much larger restoration effort.
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experience → give → effort
Working with conservation experts
Heishman started working with Duel Brown, the Pawnee County conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, who helped find practical ways to improve the property.
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who → work → property
With the assistance of Cole Fagen of the American Bird Conservancy, Heishman inked his first contract with the NRCS in 2022.
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Heishman → ink → 2022
Additional contracts with the NRCS Environmental Quality Incentives Program helped the couple install cross-fencing and grazing practices to better manage their livestock and vegetation.
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couple → help → livestock
Also, a Farm Service Agency loan for equipment purchases also sped up the cedar-clearing effort.
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loan → speed → effort
Water management became a priority too.
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management → become → ?
With the help of conservation partners, Heishman restored the dam on the property’s largest pond, improving water availability for cattle.
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Heishman → restore → cattle
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation also helped stock the ponds with fish to enhance their ecological value.
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Department → help → value
And further guidance on the use of prescribed fire was provided by the Pawnee County Prescribed Burn Association.
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guidance → provide → Association
Wildfire accelerates the transition
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Wildfire → accelerate → transition
Heishman’s efforts were accelerated unexpectedly by a wildfire in 2025.
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efforts → accelerate → 2025
The fire also damaged other trees, including oaks and black walnuts, but it destroyed much of the cedar growth on the east side of the property.
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it → damage → property
Heishman is now removing the last of the tree skeletons and allowing the recovering landscape to take hold.
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landscape → remove → hold
Native grasses are starting to come back in areas once filled with cedars.
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grasses → start → cedars
The ponds on the property are filling more quickly and streams that had dried up are starting to flow again, since there is less competition among trees for water.
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that → fill → water
The changes provide a clear measure of how much the land has changed since Heishman’s restoration work began in 2022.
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work → provide → 2022
Designing a long-term future
Restoration is not a one-time affair for Heishman.
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Restoration → design → Heishman
His next challenge is to keep the progress and not let the Eastern Red Cedars take back the property.
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Cedars → keep → property
He and Melinda hope to build a home on the ranch one day and enjoy the landscape they have spent years restoring.
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they → hope → years
Their experience also offers a more general lesson for conservation: Landowners don’t have to do big restoration projects all alone.
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Landowners → offer → projects
Heishman has transformed an unknown challenge into a long-term stewardship effort by partnering with the NRCS, wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and local prescribed-burn groups.
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Heishman → transform → NRCS
Five years into the project, the changes are becoming more and more apparent.
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changes → become → project
Native grasses are coming back, water is flowing again and a ranch once choked with cedar is slowly being transformed into better range for cattle and wildlife.
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ranch → come → cattle
Restoring the land has become a new way to serve for a veteran who spent much of his life serving others.
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who → restore → others
The Aporia
