Land clearing on Jekyll Island: small-scale, canopy-first, and only with the Authority's blessing

On Jekyll, "land clearing" means cleaning up a yard inside a protected forest, not opening a lot to bare ground. We want to be honest about that up front.

Jekyll Island is a Georgia state park. The homes along Beachview Drive, Riverview Drive and the streets between them sit on lots leased from the Jekyll Island Authority, the law keeps most of the island undeveloped, and the maritime forest of live oak, pine and palmetto that surrounds every house is protected. Nobody clears a Jekyll lot the way a lot gets cleared in Brunswick or even on St. Simons. What leaseholders actually need, and what Golden Isles Fencing and Excavation does on Jekyll, is smaller and more careful: taking out the understory that has swallowed a yard, removing dead or dangerous trees with the Authority's approval, cleaning up after a storm, and doing it without touching the canopy or the dunes.

We are a family-owned, Christian-based company based in Brunswick. If what you need on Jekyll is not something the island will allow, we will say so at the first visit rather than take the job and disappoint you.

What we can do on a leased lot

• Understory cleanup. Saw palmetto, yaupon, vines and volunteer saplings that have closed in around a house, cut back or removed so the yard is usable again and the house is visible from the street.
• Dead and hazardous trees. Pines killed by beetles or storms, leaning trees over a roof, limbs over a driveway, removed in sections with the Authority's approval.
• Storm debris. Downed limbs, broken palms and the tangle a tropical system leaves in a yard, cleared and hauled off the island.
• Small site prep. Opening a spot for a shed, a patio or a fence line, with roots and stumps handled by hand near the keeper trees.

What goes through the Jekyll Island Authority

The Authority's guidelines govern, and we do not guess on your behalf. In our experience, light yard cleanup that does not remove trees or disturb ground is treated as routine maintenance, while removing any tree, disturbing soil, or working near the edge of the leased area is reviewed. Dead and hazardous trees are usually approved without difficulty, especially after a storm, and we document the tree and help with the request. Removing a healthy tree because it is in the way of something is a different conversation, and one that often does not end in approval. We will not take a tree down on Jekyll without the approval in hand.

Working inside the canopy

The roots of the island's live oaks spread shallow and wide, and the Authority is strict about damage to them. We do understory work with light equipment and hand tools rather than an excavator, mulch rather than grub near the trees, and keep machine tracks off the root zones. Where a stump must come out near an oak, we dig it by hand. The forest floor around the house is left as forest floor, which is what the Authority wants and what the lot looks best as anyway.

Dunes and the lot line

The dunes on Jekyll's ocean side fall under Georgia's shore protection rules and are entirely off limits. On beach-side lots along Beachview Drive we are careful about exactly where the leased area ends, and yard cleanup stops there. On lots that border undeveloped forest, the same applies: we work inside the lease and leave the state's ground alone.

Storm cleanup for owners who are away

Many Jekyll houses are second homes, and after a tropical system the owner is often hundreds of miles away looking at a neighbor's photo of a pine on the carport. We work from those photos, prioritize jobs where a tree is on a structure or a driveway is blocked, clear the debris, haul it off the island and send pictures of the finished lot. Removing a downed tree still goes through the Authority, and after a storm they move quickly on those requests.

Debris and the causeway

Every trip across the Downing Musgrove Causeway pays the island's entry fee, and hauling brush is trips. We chip and mulch as much as we can on the lot, spreading it under the trees where the forest floor wants it, and haul only what cannot stay. Open burning on a Jekyll residential lot is not an option.

How a Jekyll cleanup runs

1. Photos and a visit. We look at what has grown in, what is dead or dangerous, and where the lease line runs.
2. Approval check. Anything beyond routine cleanup is confirmed with the Authority before we start.
3. Light-touch clearing. Hand tools and small equipment inside the canopy, sections for any approved tree.
4. Mulch and haul. As much as possible stays on the lot as ground cover; the rest leaves the island in as few trips as we can manage.
5. Photos back. For owners who are away.

Estimates on Jekyll are free. Send a photo of the yard and your street, and we will tell you what the island will let us do.

Land clearing on the mainland and St. Simons

For a lot where a real clearing job is possible, read about land clearing in Brunswick, GA, land clearing on St. Simons Island, and everything we do as a fence and excavation company on Jekyll Island.

Related work on Jekyll

A cleaned-up Jekyll yard often leads to our land grading on Jekyll Island, aluminum fencing on Jekyll Island, dirt and debris hauling, and land clearing service overview.

Common questions about land clearing on Jekyll Island

Clearing on Jekyll means something different from clearing on the mainland. Here is what leaseholders ask.