Land and lot clearing in Warner Robins and Houston County

A yellow excavator parked at the edge of a pine stand on a flat lot being cleared, with rows of pushed-up brush and stumps on light sandy ground and a pecan orchard in the distance

Clearing turns pine thickets, brush, an old field gone wild or a worn-out orchard into open ground ready for a house, a drive or pasture. What it costs depends far more on how thick the growth is and what happens to the debris than on the acreage, with most jobs between $1,200 and $8,000 an acre.

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Clearing a lot usually runs in this order. The steps that cost the most to change later come first: marking property and utility lines, and deciding what stays. Debris disposal (burn, chip or haul) and stumps change the price more than the tree count does.

What are the steps in clearing a lot?

Walk it and mark it: Property corners, trees to save and any buried lines get flagged. Georgia 811 needs at least 3 business days before machines dig.
Take down the growth: Trees are felled and brush is pushed or mulched. Pines come down fast; big hardwoods and old pecans take longer.
Deal with stumps: Where a house, drive or pad will go, stumps come out by the roots. Elsewhere they can be ground low.
Handle the debris: It is burned where and when the rules allow, ground into mulch, or hauled off.
Rough grade: The ground is smoothed and low spots filled so the next step can start.

Can I burn land-clearing debris in Houston County?

Only outside the summer ban, and only after notifying the state. The Georgia Forestry Commission requires a burn permit or notification before burning land-clearing debris.

Houston County is also one of the Georgia counties where the state bans outdoor burning in the summer, from May 1 through September 30. During those months, crews grind the debris or haul it off instead.

Do I need a permit to clear land in Houston County?

Under the state rules Houston County follows, a land-disturbance permit generally starts at one acre of disturbed ground, or at less than an acre when the work is within 200 feet of a year-round stream or part of a bigger development.

Georgia also protects a 25-foot buffer along the banks of state waters, and Houston County protects a 100-foot corridor on each side of the Ocmulgee River. Work in a mapped floodplain needs the county's development permit before it starts.

How much does land clearing cost per acre?

Rough 2026 land clearing costs per acre (HomeGuide, national)
How thick the growth is	Rough cost per acre
Light: field grass, brush, a few young trees	$1,200 to $2,500
Moderate: brush mixed with pines and hardwoods	$2,500 to $4,500
Heavy: dense woods, large trees, lots of stumps	$4,500 to $8,000

These are national guides. Debris removal, stumps and rough grading are often priced separately, so ask what each quote includes. The same HomeGuide survey puts grinding a single stump at $120 to $400 for the first and $30 to $60 for each extra one.

Common questions

Can I sell the pine timber?

Sometimes, on bigger tracts with mature pines. A forester or timber buyer can tell you whether a harvest is worth doing before the clearing crew arrives.

How long does clearing take?

A cleared-out house lot can be a day or two. Thick woods, a lot of stumps or hauling everything off adds days, and rain slows it.

What if there's cogongrass on the lot?

Report it to the Georgia Forestry Commission before any machine work, and tell the crew. The Commission says disturbing it can help it spread, and it offers landowners free herbicide treatment.

Sources: Georgia 811, the 811 process (source); Georgia Forestry Commission, Burn permits and notifications (source); Georgia EPD, Summer open burning ban (May 1 to September 30) (source); Houston County, Water Resources Protection Ordinance (2019): erosion permits and the Ocmulgee River corridor (source); Houston County, Water Resources Protection Ordinance, flood damage prevention (full-text copy) (source); Georgia EPD, Buffer mitigation guidance (25-foot state waters buffer) (source); Georgia Forestry Commission, Managing threats to Georgia forests: cogongrass (May 2025) (source); HomeGuide, Land clearing cost (Nov 2025) (source); HomeGuide, Stump grinding cost (Dec 2025) (source).

Last reviewed November 2, 2026.

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