Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Why you need deer harvest guidelines for your property or hunting club...
Citation preview
FORESTRY TODAYGeorgia
Volume 8, Issue 5
September | October 2012
A B I M O N T H L Y M A G A Z I N E F O R T H E F O R E S T R Y C O M M U N I T Y O F G E O R G I A
Why You Need Deer Harvest Guidelines
for Your Property orHunting ClubSee story on page 8
4 September | October 2012
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY is published bi-monthly by A4 inc., 1154 lowerbirmingham road, Canton, georgia 30115. recipients include participants of theForest stewardship Program and the American Tree Farm system.
Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the publisher, A4inc., nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matterof policy, neither do they endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Partof this magazine may be reproduced with the written consent of the publisher. Corre-spondence regarding changes of address should be directed to A4 inc. at the addressindicated above. Advertising material should be sent to A4 inc. at the e-mail address:[email protected]. Questions on advertising should be directed to the advertising di-rector at the e-mail address provided above. editorial material should be sent to A4inc. or to Alva hopkins.
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY1154 lower birmingham road, Canton, georgia 30115
On the Cover:
it is the responsibility of hunters, clubs,and landowners to establish deer man-agement objectives on the propertythey own, lease, or hunt. See story on page 8.
C A N T R E L L F O R E S T
P R O D U C T S I N C .We buy all types of timber.
Bio-fuel producer
[email protected] Galilee Church RoadJefferson, GA 30549
Office: (706) 367-4813 Mobile: (706) 498-6243Home: (706) 367-1521
LAMARCANTRELL
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAYPrinted in the usA
Publisher:A4 inc.
eDiTOr-iN-ChieFAlva hopkins
PrODuCTiON MANAgerPamela Petersen-Frey
eDiTOriAl bOArDWendy burnettAlva hopkinsJesse Johnsonstasia Kelly
sandi Martinroland Petersen-Frey
brian stonesteve McWilliams
5Georgia Forestry Today
FORESTRY TODAYGeorgia
Volume 8, Issue 5 September | October 2012
P.08 Why You Need Deer Harvest
Guidelines for Your Property or
Hunting Club
P.11 Message from the Georgia
Forestry Commission Director
P.12 GFC News
P.13 Tree Improvement
Word to the Wise
P.16 Georgia Earns Firewise USA’s Top
Ten Ranking
P.18 Georgia Legacy
Making the Economic Case for
Land Conservation
P.20 Should You Plant Nut and Fruit Trees
for Deer?
P.24 A Growing Effort: UGA Professors
Receive $2 Million to Speed Biofuel
Development
P.26 GFT News
P.28 The Thief in the Night
September 202012 Agroforestry and Wildlife Field Day ~ Griffin, GA
September 22Arborjam ~ Kennesaw House/Marietta Museum of History ~ Marietta, GA
October 3-42012 Forest Landowners Association AdvocacyDay (Postponed) Gaylord National Resort &Convention CenterWashington, DC
Aer thoughtful consideration about the 2012Advocacy Day, it was decided to postpone the fullAdvocacy Day event for the FLA membership andfocus the time on Executive Committee meetingsand Board meetings.
October 19-212012 American Chestnut Summit ~ Crowne Plaza ResortAsheville, NC
Forestry CalendarIf you have a forestry
event you’d like tosee on our calendar,please contact Alva
Hopkins [email protected] the subject line‘Calendar Event.’
7Georgia Forestry Today
LiST of ADvERTiSERSAbraham baldwin Agricultural College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 hei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
American Forest Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 international Forest Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Arborgen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 landMark spatial solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
beach Timber Company inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 lanigan & Associates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
blanton’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Meeks’ Farm & Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . .inside Front Cover
Canal Wood llC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 M & h Pinestraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Cantrell Forest Products inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Morbark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Davis - garvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Outdoor underwriters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
F2M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Plum Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Farm Credit Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Prudential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Flint equipment Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Quality equipment & Parts inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Forest resource Consultants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 smith, gambrell & russell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Forest resource services inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 uPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .back Cover
Forestar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Weyerhaeuser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
F&W Forestry service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Vulcan on board scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
gillis brothers inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 Yancey brothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .inside back Cover
8 September | October 2012
for your property
by John bowers & Charlie Killmaster | georgia Department of Natural resources
Deer Harvest Guidelines
Why you need
or hunting club
eorgia is blessed witha healthy white-tailed
deer population thatprovides diverse recre-
ational opportunities andgenerates significant eco-
nomic vitality. however, geor-gia’s deer herd can present
diverse management challenges aswe strive to maintain a sustainable
deer population within appropriate biolog-ical, ecological, and sociological limits.Properly managing this important resourceis critical.
hunting is the primary tool for man-aging white-tailed deer and has reduced thestatewide population from 1.4 million deerin the 1990s to about 1.1 million today.This reduction decreased or stabilized theherd across much of the state, resulting inimproved habitat conditions, healthier deer,and substantial increases in antler quality.This success is consistent with the goals es-tablished in georgia's Deer ManagementPlan (www.georgiawildlife.org/hunting/game-management).
Despite the statewide success, localized
areas may experience either an overabun-dance or a scarcity of deer. Further compli-cating this is the scale at which deer densityvaries. There may be extreme variationswithin a single county, making this issuedifficult or impossible to solve through re-gional or county level regulations on deerharvest. Thus, responsible deer manage-ment by landowners, hunting clubs, andhunters is essential, especially regardingproper doe harvest rates.
it is the responsibility of hunters,clubs, and landowners to establish deermanagement objectives on the propertythey own, lease, or hunt. These objectiveswill be diverse, and there is no statewideseason and bag limit scenario that will sat-isfy each site. statewide regulations providea framework for landowners and huntingclubs to use when establishing a harvestregime for their property. This frameworkis not site-specific and should not beviewed as such. however, statewide regula-tions do provide landowners and huntingclubs extensive flexibility in meeting theirdeer management objectives.
When determining those objectives, itis critical to consider property size, habitatconditions, and management of adjacentproperties. hunters might set managementguidelines on property they hunt using in-dividual bag limits that can, if hunter den-sity is high, result in overharvest. Forexample, a 1,500-acre club with 50 mem-bers has a density of one hunter per 30 acres.With a bag limit of two bucks and threedoes, overharvest will likely occur. With thislevel of hunting pressure, a more restrictiveharvest regime is likely appropriate.
Considering deer harvest per land areacan be an effective way to avoid an unde-sired decline in deer density. general guide-lines for appropriate doe harvest rates acrossmuch of georgia are: one doe per 75 acreswill decrease density, one doe per 150 acreswill stabilize density, and one doe per 200acres will increase density. Keep in mindthat these guidelines may not be applicablein all areas and are not a substitute for pop-ulation monitoring and management, criti-cal elements of any successful deermanagement program.
biological advice and technical assis-tance establishing a management programare available to all georgia hunters. biolo-gists with the state’s Wildlife resources Di-vision can provide technical guidance onmanaging deer, or a private biologist can behired to develop a management strategy andmonitor harvest. biological recommenda-tions, however, are only as good as the in-formation provided. better and moreextensive objective data result in better rec-ommendations.
effective management also requiresmore effort than simply killing deer. At aminimum, records should be kept on eachdeer harvested (i.e., sex, age, weight, antlermeasurements). Also, although not gener-ally required, fetal data from does harvestedlate in the season and observational recordsincluding the number of antlered bucks,does, and fawns seen add greatly to the in-formation used to generate advice and rec-ommendations. such data can help establishbaselines, monitor the population, and ad-just property-specific harvest strategies toachieve a desired goal. in some instances,the local harvest strategy will be more re-
strictive than the statewide framework. One caveat is that decreases in deer
sightings may not always mean a decrease indeer density. Deer movements and behaviorare affected by hunting pressure, habitatconditions, predation, and weather. Thebest advice for hunters is to hunt where thedeer are rather than where hunters wantthem to be. rainy summers often make it agood year to be a deer but a bad year to bea deer hunter. Failure to adapt to deer move-ment and feeding patterns influenced byabundant rainfall can cause some hunters tobelieve there is a serious decline in deernumbers in their area.
Wet growing seasons generally produceabundant natural forage and good acorncrops. Deer movement can be very limitedwhen natural forage and acorns are abun-dant. Deer spend very little time, if any, inand around managed wildlife openingsunder these conditions. To be successful,hunters must spend more time huntingwhere the natural browse and acorns are, oralong travel routes leading to and from thesenatural feeding areas.
it is also worth considering whetherfeeding deer has altered deer activity pat-terns, especially when combined with hunt-ing pressure, so that deer are morenocturnal, move less frequently, and are lessexposed to harvest. because they do nothave to find natural food sources, deer re-main largely sedentary and hidden duringlegal shooting hours, getting their fill byfeeding for a short period of time during thenight. This can reduce the number of deerseen and the exposure of deer to harvest.Deer always adapt to their circumstances—hunters should, too!
in summary, statewide regulations pro-vide a framework within which landownersand hunting clubs establish a harvest regimefor the property they hunt. either-sex daysand bag limits are effective at protectingstatewide and regional populations fromover-harvest, but they cannot protect everysingle property from over-harvest. This isthe reason why site-specific, property-leveldeer management is critical to a successfuldeer management program.
ultimately, the solution rests in thehands of georgia’s deer hunters and their
9Georgia Forestry Today
Observational records including the number offawns, does and antlered bucks seen are usefulin generating management recommendations.
10 September | October 2012
willingness to practice voluntary restraint andresponsible deer management.
John bowers is an assistant chief ofgame Management for the georgia Depart-ment of Natural resources' Wildlife re-
sources Division. Charlie Killmaster is the
state deer biologist. A version of this article
is available in the 2012-2013 hunting regu-
lations booklet.v
Golden Opportunity:Save up to $275,Count for Hunting for a Lifetime!Georgia hunters ages 60-64 have a
golden opportunity to ensure a lasting
contribution to conservation and the
continuation of our sporting heritage by
purchasing a $95 Senior Discount Life-
time License. Purchasing this license
now can save you up to $275. It also
confirms your status as a paid sports-
man for the rest of your life!
Did you know that once you turn 65
and receive an honorary (free) hunting
license the state can no longer count
you as a paid license holder? As a re-
sult, hunting and wildlife conservation
programs in Georgia lose money, be-
cause the state can only count paid li-
cense holders for the purpose of
obtaining critical Wildlife & Sport Fish
Restoration (i.e., Pittman-Robertson and
Dingell-Johnson acts) dollars. Those
funds come from federal excise taxes
placed on fishing gear and sporting
arms and ammunition.
In Georgia, this means we cannot
count at least 270,000 honorary li-
cense holders, representing a loss of at
least $4 million a year in Wildlife &
Sport Fish Restoration funds.
Secure your investment in the contin-
uation of hunting and fishing for the next
generation and ensure that your tax dol-
lars are returned to Georgia by purchas-
ing a Senior Discount Lifetime License
for $95.
Applications are available at
www.gohuntgeorgia.com and Wildlife
Resources Division offices (www.geor-
giawildlife.com/ about/contact).
Responsible deer management by landowners,hunting clubs, and hunters is critical, especially re-
garding proper doe harvest rates for a site.
s summer hints that it may soonyield to fall, and seedling salescrank up again, a forester’sthoughts turn to planting.Tractors cutting rich georgiasoil to make way for hearty
green seedlings is an image to which we allcan relate. Yet sometimes, a swarm of num-bers and question marks mar the mental pic-ture. sometimes, we wonder if reforestationis worth it after all. A couple of compelling reports say it is. The usDA Forest service’s southernresearch station recently released its up-dated Forest inventory Analysis (FiA),which shows georgia contains the largestarea of forest cover of any state in the south.Forests make up 67 percent of land cover or24.8 million acres. Commercial timberlandmakes up 98 percent of total forest land areain our state, and most of that land is pri-vately owned. in fact, georgia has the mostprivately owned timberland in the nation.Private individuals own 91 percent of geor-gia timberlands, according to the report.That's about 22.2 million acres, with indi-vidual or family forests making up 13.5 mil-lion of these acres. For the past 50 years,forest area in georgia has remained relativelystable, while timber inventory more thandoubled during the same period, suggestinggeorgia’s forest landowners are engaged inlong term strategies to improve sustainabil-ity of their forests. (see the full report atwww.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/40936.) At the georgia Forestry Commission,we might be tempted to say “told ya so!” Ourteam of forestry professionals across the stateworks daily with private landowners to man-age and enhance timberlands so that maxi-mum potential can be reached according toindividual goals. A host of cost share and in-centive programs is available to help, from
the southern Pine beetle Program, whichprovides funding for minimizing sPb infes-tations and restoring affected areas, to otherforest and natural resource, wildlife, and wet-lands conservation programs, and more. This issue of Georgia Forestry Todayfocuses on seedlings, and as you prepare forthe planting season ahead, you’re sure to findfresh information that’ll help you make wisedecisions about your business or property.in the gFC profile about tree research,you’ll learn more about the tremendouswork being accomplished by tree coopera-tives and the investments needed to keeppace with the rapid rate of genetic improve-ments in southern pines that we’ve been en-joying. As forest ownership has changed over
the past few decades, however, so has thecommitment to research and continuous ge-netic improvement. Quite simply, we’ll belosing ground if we (the entire forestry com-munity) don’t maintain our involvement insupporting these ongoing efforts. The gFC publication “Does reforesta-tion Pay?” is another worthwhile read thatprovides affirmative answers—and proof.(www.gatrees.org/utilization/economic-im-pacts/DoesreforestationPayloblollyPinefor-TraditionalProducts-Mar2011rev.pdf ). Theanalysis, prepared by gFC’s utilization De-partment, compares six loblolly pine man-
agement scenarios for net present value, landexpectation value, annual equivalent value,and internal rate of return. Comparing sitesthat produce only traditional products toothers that utilize pine straw and huntinglease revenue, the report clearly proves thatnon-industrial private landowners continueto have attractive options for pine plantationmanagement and income generation ingeorgia. remember, our folks are here to helpyou with your reforestation challenges, socontact your local gFC office when needsarise. And enjoy those matchless sights,sounds, and fragrances that the upcomingplanting season holds for us all.
sincerely,
Robert Farris v
11Georgia Forestry Today
Message from the Director
Dear gFT reader,
Robert Farris
Georgia Forestry Commission
A
12 September | October 2012
Answers to questions about Georgia’s forestry biomass supply chain can befound in a series of detailed manuals now available. The three volume “DevelopingForest resource and biomass Markets in the south” handbooks contain information designed bythe gFC’s Forest utilization department to assist private firms in the development, operation, andfinancing of renewable energy facilities using biomass from sustainable forests as feedstock. Theyare available for download at gaTrees.org. e
GFC News
The Georgia forestry Commission has launched a new bi-monthly electronic newsletter! GfC’se-Update provides a succinct overview of some of the timeliest issues on which the agencyis working. The current issue includes the latest news on southern Pine beetle predictions, arson in georgia,wetlands and forest roads developments, and more. sign up to receive gFC’s e-update in your e-mail inbox quar-terly at gaTrees.org. e
it’s time to plan for planting GfC seedlings, and two new species have beenadded to the list of those available for the 2012-2013 season. One is riverbirch, a popular ornamental with distinctive bark, whose native range extends across thestate. sawtooth-gobbler oaks, which produce a large number of acorns at an early age, arealso being stocked for wildlife enthusiasts seeking to attract turkey, deer, and other species.Order while supplies are plentiful at gaTrees.org. Deliveries begin the first week of De-cember. e
New statistics released by theUSDA forest Service Southern Re-search Station show Georgia con-tains the largest area of forest coverof any state in the South. Forests in ourstate make up 67 percent of the land cover,or 24.8 million acres, according to the mostrecent Forest inventory Analysis. Whilethese figures have remained relatively stableover the past 50 years, data shows timber in-ventory has increased. Private individuals own 91 percent of georgia’s timberland, some22.2 million acres, with individual or family forests making up 13.5 million of those acres.Access the full analysis at http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/40936.
uss Pohl has been seeingthe forest for the trees fora long time. With 30-plusyears of professionalforestry training andwork under his belt, he
more than qualifies as a trusted observer andpredictor of tree trends. And when thosetrends garner his concern, it pays to listen.
“e last ten to 15 years have brought alot of changes to the forest industry,” saidPohl, Reforestation Chief for the GeorgiaForestry Commission. “Mergers, consolida-tions, and restructuring have transformedour industry. Large, vertically integrated for-est products companies that owned bothland and mills are no longer the norm, andorganizations that breed trees for their ownlands to feed their own mills are few and farbetween.”
Pohl said that these changes, coupledwith reduced support for federal and stateagencies, are beginning to have an effecton important research that feeds forestry’sfuture.
“e number of organizations now op-erating tree improvement, seed orchard, andnursery programs has decreased dramati-cally,” Pohl said. “In the past 20 years, thenumber of companies and state agencies ac-tively involved in cooperative breeding pro-grams has been cut by more than half. atmeans we’re already slipping behind, andthe threat to continuing current rates of ge-netic gain is very real.”
Tree Improvement Word to the WiseBy Stasia Kelly
GFC Reforestation Chief RussPohl checks growth progresson genetically improved pine
seedlings.
13Georgia Forestry Today
A history of success
In the South, tree breeding in slash and loblolly pines began inthe mid 1950s. Gains produced through the efforts of e Co-operative Forest Genetics Research Program at the University ofFlorida, the Western Gulf Forest Tree Improvement Program atthe Texas Forest Service, and the North Carolina State Univer-sity Cooperative Tree Improvement Program have greatly im-pacted Southern forestry. Southern landowners plant close to1.1 million acres of pine seedlings each year, and virtually everyone of them has been developed by one or more members ofthese cooperatives.
“We’re talking tens of thousands of parent trees,” said Pohl,“that have been selected and their progeny tested in field trials.Tree breeders have developed families, varieties, and clones thatproduce 30 to 50 percent more wood per acre than what wasavailable 40 years ago. ese pine trees are more resistant tofusiform rust disease, they’re straighter, less frequently forked,and are adapted to a wide range of sites and forest managementregimes. ese are achievements that truly impact a landowner’sbottom line.”
Pohl explained that when the best genetic material is plantedand given all the necessary resources, growth rates of 300 cubicfeet per acre per year, or about eight tons per acre per year, havebeen recorded. Silvicultural systems that utilize intensive sitepreparation, fertilization, weed control, thinning, pest manage-ment, and use of genetically improved planting stock are havinga major impact on plantation productivity.
“Plantations today are growing much more rapidly thanthose of the previous rotations,” said Pohl. “ere’s no doubt thatcontinued improvement in pine genetics will produce evengreater increases in the potential productivity and quality of for-est plantations.”
In fact, from a biological standpoint, the potential for ge-netic gain is virtually boundless. Compared to breeders in agro-nomic crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton, and wheat, “we’vejust begun,” Pohl said.
“Tree breeders have barely started taking advantage of thehuge genetic potential that pines offer,” Pohl said. “Significantgains will continue if we continue to invest in the selection andbreeding of superior genotypes, which in turn will increase thegrowth and economic value of growing trees.”
Bottom lines at risk
While Pohl admits it’s unlikely that tree improvement will cometo a grinding halt, he said there is no question that tree improve-ment progress could slow down due to reduced funding or fur-ther loss of breeding programs. And that could have anastounding financial impact on our forests, because of the natureof tree improvement. Advancements in tree improvement aren’tapplied to single locations for limited durations, as are most sil-vicultural treatments. In fact, the benefits from genetic improve-ment are shared across all reforested acres through readilyavailable improved seed and seedling stock. In turn, improve-ments will be compounded year aer year and by future breedingefforts that build upon the gains of previous generations.
14 September | October 2012
GFC and the USFS Resistance ScreeningCenter in NC work together closely to breedtrees that are highly resistant to fusiform rustdisease, which has infected this loblolly testseedling.
15Georgia Forestry Today
“But here’s the fly in the ointment,” said Pohl. “If that rateof improvement is compromised or slowed, even a little, then itwill result in a significant reduction in financial benefits. Herein Georgia, we’re talking a possible loss of 50 million dollars inthe present value of reforestation.”
Pohl explained the math, saying it is generally accepted thatgenetic gains for pines are advancing by about one percent peryear. If efforts are scaled back so that genetic gain is reduced tojust 0.9 percent per year, the calculated loss in present valuewould be as high as $232 per acre planted per year. For theSouth, where about 1.1- million acres of pines are planted annu-ally, the loss in present value to all landowners from this slightreduction in the rate of improvement would be about $255 mil-lion, $50 million of that in Georgia.
“On the other hand,” Pohl continued, “there is a strong eco-nomic incentive to ramp up efforts to increase the rate of geneticgain per year. If we kick it up from one percent to one-point-onepercent, it could increase the present value of forest plantationsby an additional 300 million dollars. at's a healthy return, evenat the individual landowner level.”
So what’s at risk? ese efforts are currently in progress atthe NC State Tree Improvement Program, of which the Georgia
Forestry Commission is a member (similar activities occur at allthe cooperatives):• Breeding, testing, and selection - the backbone of the coop-
erative and the primary reason each member participates inthe program; to combine resources to be more efficient atrealizing genetic gains.
• Genetic variation studies - the basis of genetic gain; the de-scription and use of this variation determines what can beefficiently and effectively accomplished.
• Wood quality research - to produce more wood with tar-geted characteristics more effectively for wood quality,bioenergy, and climate change situations.
• Propagation studies - the very best genetic material is alwaysin high demand and short supply; improving our ability topropagate this material more efficiently and effectively is crit-ical.
• Seed orchard research - to increase production of cost-effec-tive, genetically improved loblolly pine seed.
• Longleaf pine - in collaboration with the US Forest Service,140 different longleaf families are being tested for geneticdifferences related to growth traits, disease resistance, andgeographic adaptability.
ere’s no argument that all landowners benefit from continu-ously improved stock made possible by the research and testingof decades past. e conundrum is how to provide necessaryfunding for tree improvements in volatile economic timesmarked by changing business models.
“Because all forest landowners reap the benefits of these ef-forts, they have a stake in continuing these programs,” said Pohl.“Many large landowners do contribute to the tree breeding co-operatives as associate members, but now is the time for everylandowner to consider making that commitment on some level.ey should support state agencies and universities that partic-ipate in tree improvement activities. And of course, search outand purchase high quality, genetically advanced planting stockthat provides the best opportunity for their lands.”
As landowners endeavor to do the right thing for theirbusinesses, their families, and their land, we are reminded againthat foresters truly help determine the future—one seedling ata time.v
Russ Pohl determines if these flowers aremature enough to receive genetically im-proved pollen.
visit the Web sites of the South’s tree cooperatives to find
out more about their work and ways you can invest in con-
tinued advances for our future forests:
www.treeimprovement.org
www.sfrc.ufl.edu/CfGRP
www.texasforestservice.tamu.edu
16 September | October 2012
wenty-five georgia commu-nities have taken explicitmeasures to protect theirproperty owners from theravages of wildfire, movinggeorgia into the ‘Firewise
Communities usA’ program’s group of topten states. Five new georgia communitieshave earned Firewise status in 2012 alone.
“This is quite an achievement,” said ericMosley, Community Wildfire Protectionspecialist with the georgia Forestry Com-mission and manager of georgia FirewiseCommunities usA. “it places georgiaamong the top ten Firewise states in the na-tion with the most member communities.That means more residents are becomingaware of the steps they can take to preventwildfire from destroying their homes andproperty.”
The five georgia communities that haveearned Firewise Communities usA recogni-tion in 2012 are: Currahee Club on lakehartwell, stephens County; belvedere island
Plantation, Mcintosh County; skylake,White County; Turtle Cove, Jasper County;and the city of Nashville, georgia, in berrienCounty.
The Firewise Communities program en-courages local solutions for wildfire safety byinvolving homeowners, community leaders,planners, public safety officials, and localforestry offices in creating fire-adapted com-munities—places where people and propertyare safer from the risk of brush, grass, andwildfires.
“Firewise tactics are critical for home-owners, especially in the wildland urban-in-terface areas outside of populated centers,”said Mosley. “emergency help may be less ac-cessible where homes are nestled more closelyinto natural forest land. A wildfire can wreakhavoc in these areas, so homeowners need tobe proactive.”
Firewise guidelines recommend regularlandscaping as an important first step in re-ducing the risk of wildfire damage. specificstrategies include: clearing leaves and debris
from gutters, eaves, porches, and decks toprevent embers from igniting the home;thinning vegetation surrounding the hometo at least 30-100 feet; keeping lawns wellhydrated and maintained; and landscapingwith native, less flammable plants.
When building or updating, Firewiseguidelines suggest using Class-A roofingmaterials and double-paned or temperedglass windows, among other constructionstrategies.
“There are so many low to no costthings a homeowner can do to minimize therisk of property damage from wildfire,” saidMosley. “Firewise usA has done the leg-work, and it’s easy to log on and get all theinformation needed to protect your home,your property, and your family.”
For more information about the geor-gia Firewise program, visit www.georgiafire-wise.org. e-mail specific inquiries aboutFirewise to [email protected] the georgia Forestry Commission atgaTrees.org v
georgia earns Firewise usA’s Top Ten ranking
T
Currahee Club on Lake Hartwell recently became the 25th community inGeorgia to earn recognition in the Firewise Communities USA program. Pic-
tured l-r are: Eric Mosley, Firewise Program Manager; Shannon Dean,Stephens County Chief Ranger; Anne Sherley, Community Manager; Tom
Rodgers, Director of Development
17Georgia Forestry Today
18 September | October 2012
Georgia Legacy By Georgia Legacy Land Conservation Partners
Making the Economic Case for Land Conservation
19Georgia Forestry Today
n America in the 1920s, an expression became popular:What's that got to do with the price of eggs? in georgia in2012, one might ask these questions instead: What does a for-est in emanuel County have to do with the unemploymentrate? What do Chatham County's wetlands have to do withmy grocery bill in bibb County? What does a Fulton Countypark have to do with the price of houses? What connects the
bank of a stream in union County with my family's drinking water,flood insurance premiums, and health care costs?
lawmakers and business leaders know quite well the answer tothe egg question—just about everything affects the price of eggs. Andmany know the answers to the questions above. The forest industryis the state's second largest employer. Wetlands act as nurseries forfish and other marine food species. More than 30 studies have shownthat parks have a positive impact on residential property values. ri-parian vegetation—plant life along waterways—acts as a bufferagainst flooding, erosion, and water contamination, thus making ourwater cleaner.
in short, the answer to all of these questions is land and waterconservation. What is done with georgia's land and water affects thevitality of the state's economy and its people. Dependence on naturalresources helps georgians understand the need to use them wiselyand with forethought.
Perhaps forest landowners understand this better than most. A2011 university of georgia study for the georgia Forestry Founda-tion found the value of ecosystem services provided by georgia's pri-vately owned forestland to the public is over $37.6 billion per year,much of it linked to water regulation and supply.
Further, forest area in georgia has remained relatively stable overthe last 50 years. According to the u.s. Forest service Forest inven-tory Analysis for 2011, georgia contains the largest area of forestcover in the south with 24.8 million acres, accounting for 67 percentof the state's land area. Although total acreage has remained steady,the number of individual-owned tracts of more than 500 acres hasdecreased by more than a third. At the same time, there has been anincrease in individual-owned tracts under 100 acres, suggesting thatlarger tracts are being divided for financial need or opportunity, oras a result of estate transfers within families.
This matters because intact forestlands supply timber products,wildlife habitat, soil and watershed protection, aesthetics, and recre-ational opportunities. however, as these areas are fragmented anddisappear, so does the infrastructure they support and the irreplace-able benefits they provide.
georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi river, yet onlynine percent of the land is managed for conservation and has somelevel of protection. Conservation is not about setting aside theseforests never to be touched; it's about creatively and intelligentlymanaging these areas that we rely on for so much of our prosperity.in georgia, a robust land conservation program involves providingincentives to private landowners to protect the conservation featuresof their land while keeping it in private hands just as much as main-taining current or acquiring more public land.
since 1990, the georgia Forestry Commission has administeredthe Forest legacy Program. The program protects environmentallyimportant working forests threatened by conversion to non-forest
uses. The program allows for the donation and/or purchase of con-servation easements or land from willing participants who wish tokeep the land in forestry use.
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement betweena landowner and a nonprofit land trust or governmental entity thatpermanently limits the amount of development and types of activitieson the land in order to protect specified conservation values. Work-ing forest conservation easements protect forest values by assuringsustainable forest practices and encouraging long-term land steward-ship. The benefits of a conservation easement include: 1) leaving theproperty in the ownership of the private landowner; 2) providing sig-nificant tax benefits or direct payment for the private landowner; 3)flexibility so they can be written to meet the landowner's needs; and4) giving forest landowners a means to control the future use of theirown private lands—independent of government agencies and thelocal planning and zoning process.
unfortunately, georgia lacks a stable source of state land con-servation funding. Funds that could help pay private landowners forplacing working forest conservation easements on their land havebeen virtually non-existent. Annual per capita state spending on landconservation in georgia averaged just $1.00, far less than what hasbeen appropriated in south Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida.Not only are we falling behind our neighbors, but we are losing outon opportunities to leverage available federal matching funds to pro-tect working forests and achieve other land conservation goals.
That's why the georgia legacy coalition was recently formed.georgia legacy partners include the Association County Commis-sioners of georgia, The Conservation Fund, georgia Conservancy,Park Pride, georgia Wildlife Federation, The Trust for Public land,and The Nature Conservancy. georgia legacy's mission is to improvethe quality of life in georgia through stable, enduring, and sustain-able funding for land conservation, management, and stewardship.specifically, the coalition is working to conserve working farms andforests, safeguard drinking water, protect wildlife habitat and historicresources, and create and maintain community parks and trails.
georgia legacy understands it is critical to build a strong teamof advocates with diverse perspectives and experience. That's why thecoalition is engaging stakeholders, like the georgia Forestry Associ-ation and corporate and individual forest landowners, as well as oth-ers in the corporate, agriculture, and health care sectors. At regularmeetings throughout the year, georgia legacy is discussing programsand funding mechanisms being utilized by other states and askingfor input to jointly determine what makes sense for georgia.
The value of the services, goods, and products provided by ourworking forests is clear. how well we protect them in the long termhas yet to be determined. if you would like to learn more about whatis being discussed, don't hesitate to contact georgia legacy. You canlearn more and watch a great video about georgia legacy online atwww.galegacy.org.
For more information, contact georgia legacy Project DirectorJill Johnson at [email protected]. v
I
20 September | October 2012
plant nut
and fruit
trees
Should you
for deer?The first cool days of fall put a spring in my step and the
whole world seems a little brighter - hunting season is here!
Hopefully I will soon be trekking in the acorns and fallen
leaves of that big oak tree that I love.
By John Trussell
21Georgia Forestry Today
Prescribed burning removes dead growth and brings
out young nutritious shoots, beneficial to wildlife. (Photo
by Georgia Forestry Commission)
As fruit trees mature, if fencing is removed, deer will
heavily browse the fruit and leaves below 4-5 feet.
(Photo by Kent Kammermeyer)
22 September | October 2012
Timber thinning, coupled with frequent pre-scribed fire every two-to-three years, is oneof the most effective management practicesfor enhancing habitat for deer and wildturkeys. burning off old dead ground cluttergets more sunlight to the ground and new,nutritious vegetation will spring forth. Fur-thermore, two acres or larger fallowing open-ings can be maintained by combinations ofrotational late winter disking, fire, selectiveherbicide application, and spring - fall plant-ings. These activities can improve the carry-ing capacities for deer and turkeys far abovethat resulting from food plots alone.
expert help is only a phone call away formost landowners, says bobby bond, Wildlifebiologist with the georgia DNr’s Ft. Valleyoffice. Time permitting, state biologists willtalk with you about any questions you mayhave about wildlife management on your landand, if desired, they will tour your land withyou and make suggestions to better managewildlife populations. Thackston says that set-ting goals are very important because the re-quirements for good quail hunting are muchdifferent than for deer hunting, for example,and the habitat requirements are different.
Thackston says that having a good vari-ety of habitat is the key to good wildlife man-agement. A tract of land with trees indifferent stages of succession, with manytypes of hardwood trees producing a wide as-sortment of acorns and containing some oldfields offers a good diversity where wildlifewill thrive. he also suggests that rather thanplanting one or two food plots, landownersmight consider planting strips of food plotsalong roadsides which would help distributegrazing pressure. Another suggestion is to
manage existing foliage on your land to itsfull potential.
For example, native green briar, black-berries, and muscadines can also be trimmedand fertilized to improve their growth. Na-tive persimmons are a great soft mast fordeer, especially during bow season, and theyalso can be fertilized—but make sure the treeis female, as male trees do not produce fruit.
Also you can select your best white oakand red oak trees for fertilization to increasetheir production of acorns, says Kent Kam-mermeyer, a retired gA DNr biologist andwildlife consultant. both Kammermeyer andThackston are the authors of the excellentnew book, Deer and Turkey Management, Be-yond Food Plots. This book is an excellentguide to forest management, oaks, fruits,minerals, predator control, and much more.
Kammermeyer says that fruit trees canbe a significant food source for deer. heprefers low maintenance apples that thrivewithout spraying, such as Arkansas black,Jonafree, and Yates. Pear trees are a greatchoice for your deer orchard, and Kammer-meyer says deer sometimes check daily forfalling fruit. Top varieties are moderately re-sistant to fire blight and include Kieffer,Magness, Moonglow, Old home, Orient,Trophy, and Waite. good crab apple varietiesare Craven, Whitney, hughes, and hyslop.Ornamental crabapples make pretty flowersbut poor fruit and should be avoided. someare so bitter that even deer avoid them, so besure of your choice and buy from a reliablenursery. both apple and pear trees need to beplanted in groups of at least three trees, withone being a pollinator.
in addition to fruit trees, there are some
other tree choices to consider for deer use.The sawtooth oak is a native of Japan,Korea, China, and the himalayan area, butvery closely related to our native white Oaktree. it has been extensively planted and per-forms very well in many eastern states. it is amedium-sized tree that commonly reachesheights of 50-60 feet and diameters of twoto four feet in its natural range. it has amedium to large acorn and is considered tobe a moderate to fast grower. it has beenwidely planted as a wildlife food source dueto its abundant acorn crops. Acorns arehighly resistant to insects and disease, andproduction can begin as early as six years ofage. saw tooth oak is adaptable to a widerange of sites; however, it prefers acid, well-drained soils.
swamp chestnut oak is a well-formedtree with a massive trunk and narrow crown,averaging 60-80 feet in height and two tothree feet in diameter. it is found on the best,well-drained ridges and loamy terraces inbottom lands throughout the Piedmont andcoastal plain. swamp chestnut oak is intoler-ant of shade. The acorns are sweet and serveas a food for wildlife. Kammermeyer saysthat the swamp chestnut oak of middle andsouth georgia is a good producer of acorns,but the mountain chestnut oak is a spottyperformer, thus should generally be avoided.
The white oak, a large, long-lived tree,is high on the list of preferred deer foods,says Kammermeyer. in the open it is charac-terized by a short stocky bole with a widespreading crown. in forest stands, it developsa tall, straight trunk with a compact crown.White oak generally has the reputation ofbeing a slow-growing tree. it is found on a
23Georgia Forestry Today
wide range of soils and sites but more fre-quently occurs on rich, well-drained soils.growth is good on all but driest and shallow-est of soils. White oak is classified as inter-mediate in shade tolerance. it produces large,sweet acorns providing an excellent food forwildlife.
The persimmon is a small to mediumsized tree occasionally reaching 80 feet inheight and one to two feet in diameter. Per-simmon is found on a variety of sites rangingfrom deep, rich, moist, bottom land to well-drained uplands. its best performance can befound on bottom land soils. Though it isshade tolerant, it thrives in full sunlight, thusits performance can be improved by cuttingback competing vegetation. The sweet, pulpyfruit is edible when fully ripe. Persimmontrees are often planted as a source of food fordeer, hogs, and other wildlife.
good sources for trees are edward FortNursery (866-295-tree), lawson Nursery(706-893-2141), Morse Nursery (1-800-338-2105), National Wild Turkey Federa-tion (800-the-nwtf ), and the georgiaForestry Commission (800-428-7337). Formore information on this subject, i highlyrecommend the book, Deer and Turkey Man-agement, Beyond Food Plots by Kent Kam-mermeyer and reggie Thackston, which isavailable from Kent Kammermeyer, 1565shoal Creek road, Clermont, georgia30537, or [email protected] for $24, in-cluding shipping.
On another matter of interest, landown-
ers, farmers or sportsmen who wish to in-
crease the value and benefits of the land they
own should attend Agro-forestry and
Wildlife Day on Thursday, september 20,
2012, at the university of georgia campus
in griffin, georgia. On this day, federal and
state government agency officials and repre-
sentatives of private business will provide
management recommendations and demon-
strate real-life techniques. More than 30 top-
ics will be showcased, including: Wildlife
Opening Management; Pond Management,
Management for Wild Turkeys, Doves,
Quail, and Deer; and Prescribed burning. To
register, call (770) 229-3477. v
• Hunt Club Liability
• Timberland Liability
• Standing Timber
• Prescribed Burning
• Logging Contractors
• Sawmills
• Landowners
• Consulting Foresters
• Reforestation Insurance
Allow our 30 years of experience serving
Forestry Businesses, Landowners and Hunt
Clubs to work for you. The Davis-Garvin
Insurance Agency provides a broad range of
innovative insurance products, services and
solutions for our clients.
Contact us today to tailor an insurance
program that meets your unique situation.
Maintaining some open fields with low grasses, legumes, and seed producing crops is a great
way to attract and keep wild turkeys on your land. (Photo by Reggie Thackton, Ga DNR)
24 September | October 2012
n the ongoing search forcleaner, renewable energy
sources, biofuels derived fromtrees, shrubs and grasses have
emerged as a strong candidate. But creat-ing the next generation’s energy source is notas simple as growing a few crops; extensive re-search is required to ensure that these plantsproduce enough biomass and fuel per acre tomake biomass farming economically viable.
Now, with the help of grants from theU.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy,University of Georgia professors Chung-JuiTsai and Andrew Paterson are conductingfundamental research to better understand theplants that may one day produce the fuel thatpowers our vehicles and homes.
Tsai, a Georgia Research Alliance Emi-nent Scholar and professor in the WarnellSchool of Forestry and Natural Resources andthe Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, re-ceived $1.496 million to study the importanceof plant proteins called tubulin, which playcritical roles in many basic plant functions.
Her lab is particularly interested in howtubulin affects the development of Populus, agenus of woody plant that includes species likepoplar, aspen and cottonwood trees. Tubulinproteins are thought to regulate the wood de-velopment and, based on their recent findings,plant water use, so if Tsai’s laboratory canmodify tubulin levels, the researchers may beable to accelerate wood growth and make thetrees more drought resistant.
“We are interested in traits that influencebiofuel production, and the number one traitis biomass volume,” Tsai said. “So wood for-mation is something we are very interested in.”
Tubulin may help regulate the depositionof cellulose, an organic compound that ac-counts for up to 50 percent of poplar biomass.If Tsai’s team uncovers the ways that tubulininfluences the accumulation of cellulose, theymay find ways to manipulate the geneticmakeup to create trees that produce more cel-lulose, and, consequently, yield more biofuel.
Manipulation of tubulin could makepoplar easier to process into products likeethanol. “It would be great if we could increasebiomass, but we think tubulin manipulationis more likely to affect cell wall properties,”
Tsai said. “If we understand the system better,it might have the kind of properties that makeit more amenable to biomass deconstruction.”
But tubulin also plays a significant role incontrolling the movements of a special class ofcells known as stomatal guard cells. As thename implies, these cells guard the tiny holes,or stoma, on the surface of plant leaves. eopening and closing of the guard cells allowsthe plant to take in carbon dioxide and expeloxygen, a byproduct of photosynthesis.
During drought, stomatal guard cellsclose off the openings on the leaf to preventloss of water to the atmosphere, and theprocess of photosynthesis slows. Tsai’s labfound that modification of tubulin proteinscould alter the behavior of guard cells to allowphotosynthesis to continue at high rates evenwhen they do not receive optimal amounts ofwater.
“is could translate into more biomassfrom trees grown in stressful environment, likethe persistent drought many parts of the coun-try is experiencing,” Tsai said. Ultimately,stress tolerance will be equally, if not more im-portant than wood properties for developingperennial crops like poplars for bioenergy use.
“Tubulin offers a rare opportunity for usto tackle both traits at the same time,” she said.Other collaborators on Tsai’s project includeScott Harding of Warnell, Michael Hahn atthe UGA Complex Carbohydrate ResearchCenter, Shawn Mansfield at the University ofBritish Columbia, and Gary Peter at the Uni-versity of Florida.
Paterson, a Regents professor in the Col-lege of Agricultural and Environmental Sci-ences and the Franklin College of Arts andSciences, researches grasses that show poten-tial as high-biomass energy crops. He is par-ticularly interested in discovering more aboutthe genetics of what he calls ‘plant architec-ture,’ the number and size of stalks or branchesthat plants develop as they grow. Exploratorywork conducted with graduate student Wen-qian Kong provided the justification for his$575,000 award.
“A plant has choices to make as to how itinvests its resources,” Paterson said. “We’d liketo get a handle on genes that determine howplants allocate their resources across various
kinds of branches.” Once researchers identifyand understand how these genes affect plantarchitecture, it will become possible to modifythe plants so that they grow stalks, branches,and leaves that are ideal for biofuel production.
But a better understanding of plant ge-netics also allows researchers and farmers tocreate plants that will survive in different en-vironments. Just like all plants, biofuel grassesalter their growing patterns based on a num-ber of factors, such as the amount of rainfall,sunlight, and soil nutrients they receive.
Because food crops can generate morerevenue than biofuel crops, farmers will likelyreserve their best land for fruits and vegeta-bles, Paterson said. So biofuel feedstock needsto grow well in less fertile soil.
“If we better understand the genetics ofplant architecture, we can try to tailor thecrops to fit the land that they are going to findthemselves in,” he said. “We can tailor the footto fit the shoe, if you will.”
Paterson’s research for this grant is fo-cused on sorghum, a genus of grass that canproduce high biomass yields, even under ad-verse conditions. However, Paterson expectstheir work to extend to other biofuel candi-dates as well. v
A Growing Effort: UGA Professors Receive $2 Million toSpeed Biofuel Development
By James Hataway | Public Relations Specialist | Office of the Vice President for Research | UGAI
26 September | October 2012
ne of the world’s largest forestproducts companies has an-
nounced a supply chain prefer-ence for certified material sourced
from the American Tree Farm System (ATFS).For more than 89,000 family forest
owners sustainably managing 27 millionacres of forestland in America, the Weyer-haeuser preference for their certified woodcan make a real difference in the viability ofthe Tree Farms and the economic health ofrural communities.
“Weyerhaeuser’s announcement is justwhat certified Tree Farmers have been waitingfor,” said Tom Martin, President and CEO ofthe American Forest Foundation. “Healthyforests need healthy markets because protectingyour trees against pests, pathogens, and cata-strophic fire can be expensive. ese landown-ers are hardworking people who want to keeptheir forests as forests, and keep them in theirfamily.”
“Weyerhaeuser’s continued commitmentto ensuring woodland owners have the toolsto manage sustainably is laudable,” addedMartin.
Weyerhaeuser’s corporate sustainabilitygoals include demonstrating forest steward-ship by certifying at least 99 percent of its tim-berlands in North America to sustainableforestry standards like those of ATFS.
“Most of our customers want certifiedwood. ere’s a widespread understanding ofthe value of certification—encouraging corpo-rate best practices remains by far the most im-
portant role for certification. Buyers want toknow their wood comes from sustainablymanaged forests,” said Dan Fulton, Presidentand CEO of Weyerhaeuser Company.
“To give our customers what they want,we need more ATFS certified wood,” addedFuton.
Weyerhaeuser supports the use of inter-nationally accepted sustainable forestry stan-dards, including the use of independent,external auditors that verify a company’s com-mitment to responsible sourcing. Weyer-haeuser’s responsible fiber sourcing practicesare guided by its wood procurement policyand implementation guidelines.
The preference for ATFS wood will beimplemented at Weyerhaeuser through anumber of measures, including:Incentives - Such as maintaining a prioritymarket for Tree Farm certified material, espe-cially when suppliers are put on quotas.
Procurement decisions - Where a VendorManagement Plan is used (which scoreswood suppliers on a number of metrics) TreeFarm certification will be added as a positiveattribute.
Policy - Declaring support for Tree Farm inthe company’s Wood Procurement Policy andtracking Tree Farm wood use.
Support expansion of the American TreeFarm System - Offering landowner assis-tance to encourage Tree Farm certification and
management to ATFS Standards of Sustain-ability.
“America’s forests need strong industry playerslike Weyerhaeuser to recognize the value thatfamily forest owners are contributing to sus-tainable forestry. Giving preference to woodfrom American Tree Farm System-certifiedland means more woodland owners have thefinancial resources to continue their hardwork and on-the-ground stewardship,” saidMartin.v
Weyerhaeuser company establishes preference forAmerican tree farm system-certified wood
O
er nine monthsin discussions with
Governor Deal’sGreen Building’s office,
the Georgia Forestry Association is pleasedthat Governor Nathan Deal has taken boldaction in support of Georgia’s timber growingcommunity and wood product manufactur-ers in citing the disadvantage that the LEEDbuilding design program creates for Georgia-grown wood. Anyone who is invested in tim-berland and construction-related woodproducts should express gratitude to the gov-ernor. Let’s hope other states’ governors fol-low suit and help build pressure for change.”Steve McWilliams, President, GeorgiaForestry Association
Governor Nathan Deal has issued an ex-ecutive order that directs new or expandedstate buildings to incorporate ‘Green Build-ing’ standards that give certification creditsequally to forest products grown, manufac-tured, and certified under the SustainableForestry Initiative, the American Tree FarmSystem, and the Forest Stewardship Council.
“For the past 50 years, Georgia has ledthe nation in commercially available, private-owned timberlands and is a national leader inthe growing and processing of wood con-
27Georgia Forestry Today
M&H Pine
Strawnow leaSing Straw fieldS, SlaSH or long leaf
Mowing, SPraying, fertilizing treeS available
we carry general liability to Protect land owner
866-385-5001
Deal order expands state’s ability to use Georgia forest products“A struction materials,” said Deal. “e U.S.
Green Council’s LEED rating system un-fairly awards its wood certification creditsonly to products certified under one stan-dard. Recognizing all forest certificationsequally will promote sustainable forestry inour state and will help create thousands ofjobs while maintaining our strong outdoorheritage.”
Georgia’s forestry industry, the second
largest in the state, injects $23.8 billion andmore than 108,000 jobs into its economy. Ofthe state’s 37 million acres of land, 24.8 mil-lion acres is forest land, 24.4 million of whichis available for commercial use, more than anyother state in the country.
e executive order also states that thedesign, construction, operation, and mainte-nance of any existing state building to be ren-ovated will incorporate ‘Green Building’standards in order to achieve significant energyefficiency and environmental sustainability.
Deal joins Maine Governor Paul LePagein the effort to equally certify the forests ofNorth America. v
ernie Madoff silentlyand secretly stole bil-
lions from his investorslike the proverbial thief in
the night. e Ponzi scheme he cre-ated and managed is widely regarded as thelargest financial fraud in the history of theUnited States. People who invested their lifesavings with Bernie Madoff suddenly discov-ered that everything they worked for wasgone. eir financial plans, their retirements,their homes, and ultimately their visions fortheir futures were ruined. e Ponzi schemewiped their lifetime investments from the faceof the earth. Bernie Madoff ’s fraud ultimatelycost his investors more than $18 billion.
Timber the accounts for a $1 billion an-nual loss for United States timber owners andgoes relatively unreported. Yet the effects oftimber the are the same as any Ponzi scheme.Landowners carefully manage their timbercrops with the understanding that they mayonly harvest their crop once or twice in theirlifetime. Oen, these timber harvests are partof larger financial or business plans designedto provide retirement, college, or investmentfunds for the owners. Take for example Jimand Sarah Smith, Georgia residents who re-cently discovered that timber the can be justas secretive and devastating as Bernie Madoff ’sPonzi scheme, and timber owners can findtheir investment gone just as quickly.
Jim Smith discovered the timber thelate on a Saturday aernoon. A neighboringlandowner on the backside of the Smiths’property had harvested timber, and John de-cided to walk his property line and take a lookat the cut. e scene he found put knots in hisstomach. e logging crew had crossed ontothe Smiths’ property and into a secluded bot-tom. e crew cut hardwoods, saw timber, anda section of pole timber the Smiths were savingfor retirement. e total cut was 80 acres. eSmiths were devastated. ankfully though,the Smiths had taken steps necessary to ensuresomething could be done.
First, the Smiths maintained clearlymarked boundary lines. In some places theboundaries were fenced or lined with fire-
breaks. However, Jim Smith meticulouslymaintained the paint markings placed by hissurveyor to ensure the lines were clear if afence should fall or a firebreak become over-grown. Second, the Smiths hired a registeredforester who kept current cruise records andtimber inventories of the Smiths’ property.Additionally, the forester took the time to ed-ucate the Smiths about the different types oftimber on their property and how to recog-nize each type. He also gave the Smiths a clearunderstanding of how to protect their timberinvestment from the various threats. ird, theSmiths maintained good relationships withtheir neighbors. e Smiths regularly dis-cussed local news with their neighbors andprovided an extra set of eyes to watch for tres-passers or other issues. Finally, the Smiths fre-quented their land. e Smiths understoodthat well maintained and regularly visitedproperty discourages thieves just as much asan occupied home discourages burglars.
Aer discovering the the, the Smithsacted immediately because they knew timewas of the essence in pursuing a timber thecase. e Smiths contacted their forester whocame out first thing Monday morning andbegan assessing the true extent of the damagesthe Smiths suffered. He quickly determinedthe value of the lost timber, provided an esti-mate of the diminished value of the Smiths'
land, and provided an estimate of the costs ofthe tractor work needed to clean up the messle behind by the thieves. e forester alsobegan contacting local mills and getting all ofthe load sheets for the suspected logging crew.
e Smiths also contacted their neighbor.She was very understanding of the Smiths' sit-uation, and provided all of the information shecould to help the Smiths. She told the Smithshow much she appreciated the fact that theyhad always looked out for her interests andwanted to do anything she could to assist. Sheconfirmed that only one logging crew had per-mission to enter her land. She provided theSmiths with the contact information for herforester. Also, she gave the Smiths copies of allof the loading dock and mill sheets she had re-ceived during the harvest.
Next, the Smiths contacted their localsheriff 's office. An investigator arrived on Sun-day aernoon, made a report, and took pic-tures of the Smiths clearly marked boundarylines and the damage. e Smiths providedthe sheriff 's deputy with the names of theowner and foreman of the suspected loggingcrew. Also, the Smiths gave the sheriff ’s deputytheir forester’s contact information along witha copy of a recent timber inventory. is in-ventory allowed Sarah Smith to impress thetrue value of the loss upon the investigator andmotivate him to follow through on their case.
28 September | October 2012
Todd Hipp (803) 924-0978 [email protected] Hipp (803) 924-4131 [email protected] Hipp (803) 924-5940 [email protected]
Helping Grow Your Future
www.hippenterprises.com
e ief in the NightBy William P. Horkan | Associate | James-Bates-Brannan-Groover-LLP
B
The Smiths then contacted the GeorgiaForestry Commission. Georgia Forestry per-sonnel came out on the Wednesday follow-ing the theft and surveyed the damage. Theytook special note of some particulate run-offand stream encroachment issues created bythe theft. They then assured the Smiths thatthe Georgia Forestry Commission wouldbring its full administrative authority to bearon the case.
Finally, the Smiths contacted their per-sonal lawyer. He drove out on Monday andmet with the Smiths and their forester. He im-mediately began amassing documentation sothat he could begin his investigation and provethe value of the the in court if necessary. Ad-ditionally, he coordinated with the forester toensure that the forester’s damage assessmentswould be admissible in court against the tim-ber thieves. He also instructed the Smiths totake pictures of their clearly marked boundarylines, various stumps, and the scene in generalso that a judge or jury could see what hap-pened with their own eyes. en the Smithsand the attorney discussed the many differentlegal routes available to the Smiths. While theattorney would not guarantee any result, the
attorney was able to provide the Smiths withsome comfort, knowing they had several legalavenues through which to recover their invest-ment. Finally, as the attorney le on Mondayhe told the Smiths that their preparation wasgoing to save the attorney a lot of time as hepursued their claim. He also stated that veryfew of the landowners he represented were asprepared and that most paid for their poorplanning with lost investments and legal fees.
Ultimately, the Smiths preparation paidoff. e information the Smiths and theirforester provided to the sheriff ’s investigatorallowed law enforcement officials to quicklyperform an investigation and arrest the culpa-ble parties. e sheriff ’s deputy told theSmiths that the timber inventory they pro-vided showed his superiors the true value ofthe case and allowed him to pursue the inves-tigation despite the violent crimes and drugcrimes which would normally take priority.Also, the clearly marked boundary lines al-lowed the district attorney to prove that thethe was intentional and make the chargesstick. e Georgia Forestry Commission de-termined that the timber thieves were respon-sible for the particulate runoff issues and the
streambed encroachment and forced thethieves to return and repair the damage attheir own personal expense. Finally, theSmiths’ personal lawyer quickly reached a fa-vorable settlement with the timber thieves.e leverage provided by the information theSmiths had on hand at the time of the theand the forester’s damage assessment was in-surmountable for the thieves who were forcedto accept the Smiths’ terms.
Like Bernie Madoff ’s Ponzi scheme, tim-ber the can catch landowners by surprise andturn their careful planning, management, andinvestment into wasted effort. However, un-like those victims, landowners, like the Smiths,who take proactive steps to protect them-selves, can sleep soundly knowing they areready for the thief in the night.
Will Horkan is an associate attorney inthe Macon, Georgia office of James-Bates-Brannan-Groover-LLP. Will joined the firmin 2009 aer graduating from the Universityof Georgia with a degree in Agribusiness atMercer University’s Law School. v
29Georgia Forestry Today
30 September | October 2012
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY DIRECTORY OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES
BOBBY D. BROWNRegistered Forester GA Number: 2164Licensed Realtor GA Number: 165520
20364 GA Hwy #3 Thomasville, GA 31792(229) 227-1919 [email protected]
FOREST RESOURCESERVICES INC.Specializing in Land and Timber Management & SalesBuyers of Land and Timber
in Georgia and the South
Canal Wood LLC
601 North Belair Square, Suite 21
Evans, Georgia 30809
Phone: (800) 833-8178
E-mail: [email protected]
BEACH TIMBER COMPANY INC.128 Beach Timber Road
Alma, Ga 31510Office: (912) 632-2800
Gary Strickland Foresters Owner Available
We Buy [email protected]
