Georgia forestry, Vol. 1, no. 8 (Aug. 1948)

Page One

.GEORG IA. FORESTRY
vol. l

~~~PROt IT hREAT.I,~G p,~ANT

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No. s I S NOW IN OP tRAT ION

A monthly bulletin published by the Georgia Department of Forestry, 435 state Capitol,

!N wHITFIELD COUNTY

Atlanta, Georgia, as a free publ tc servi.ce to
Georgia farmers, laridowoers and timber indus- 'A post and lumber trating,plant, to be tries. Entered as secClnd-class matter April 15 operated Of] anon-p~ofit basis, has been estab-

1948, at the post o.ffi.ce, Atliinta, Ga. lished in Whitfield County, one mile south of

under the Act of Au'gust 24, 1912.

Tunnel Hill on u.s. Highway 41, through the

--------'--'-:___--'---~------~combined efforts of citizens of the west Side

.)

and Tunnel Hill communities.

THE ROAD AHEAD

With J. B. Campbell, vocational agriculture

The following are paragraphs from an editor- teacher at Tunnel Hill and west Side schools

ial by Editor Roy F Chalker, published in his in char~e. the plant wi 11 be operated at a

Naynesboro Tru-Citlzen:

cost basis, with prices fi~ed at present at 20

cents per post and $ 20.00 per thousand board

"We, in this country, are travelint along feet for lumber. The plant is capable of hand~ the road that has already been trod, two or ling 359 four-inch posts a day, and can treat three centuries ago, by European countries. lumber of any diameter, up to 20 feet long.

The nations of Europe learned al~ost before .America was discovered, that steps must be The plant was established on an acre of land
taken t~ protect their forest resources, or donated for the purpose by D. 0. Peterson. The they would suffer the result of complete loss. construct ion was carried out by Mr. campbell
with the aid of veterans' agriculture teachers

strict laws, coupled with education, made and veteran trainees at west Side.

the trees of European countries public responsibilities. No man might cut a tree without permission from the government. Forced plantings, controlled cutting, and criminal prose-

Mr. campbell says people of Whitfield and neighboring counties are invited to make use of the plant facilities.

cution for destroying of trees stopped the backward march of the forest lines, almost too

FORESTRY

ASSOCIATION

late.

TO MEET IN OCTOBER

"We, in this country, must profit by the ex-

perience of oldercountries. We must not dal- The American Forestry Association will hold

ly too long, or the stringent measures of its 67th annual meeting at Chattanooga October

Europe may ultimately become necessary."

8, 9, and 10. This will be the first conven-

tion since the war.

GORDON COUNTY UNIT SAVES RIVER BRIDGE

Nationally-known speakers will be invited. Also planned are on-the-ground demonstrations and field trips.

The Gordon County Protection unit is credi- ARMY RATIONS FO~ FIRE CREWS

ted with saving the wooden bridqe over the

oostanaula River near oostanaula from loss or Two cases of Army K Rations to be used as

heavy damage by fires.

emergency food for Georgia's forest fire

fighters havbeen ordered by the state Depart-

Ranger J. c. MeDearis and his assistant, ment of Forestry.

Jack Hollaran, got to the blaze and put it out

so quickly that only a couple of plankS were

Georgia le.ads the South in total forest

burned.

acreage, and ranks second in the nation in com-

mercial forest acreage.

Page Two

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IETAL TAGs WITH FIRE MESSAGE FOR YOUR CAR
~limited n~mbe~ of . the 'Prevent Woods Fires' automobile taAs is avaJ~able for dJ~trJbutJon to citizens interested in promotinA control offirWstJldserfvoerde.st fJres. The number of taAs is limit e d FJ' rs t come. .

uEORGIA STATEWIDE FOREST FIRE PROTECTION PLAN ANNOUNCED

In response to a rising wave of pub li c mand, the Georgia Department of Fores try

dehas

be required nel and put

to acqu ire eq uipment , train pe rsonthe program in full operation.

announced a plan to give fire protection to all of the state's more than 23 mill ion acres of privately-owned woodlands .

Four and three-quarter mi 11 ion acres of Georia forest land is not growing commercial trees, or is poorly stocked , mainly because of

State Fo rester A.R . Shirley revealed the in- repeated burning. With fire protection and

itial cost of quate forest

blanketing Georgia with an adefire protection organization

some artificial could be brought

reforestation, these areas back to profitable production.

would cost only a fraction more than se ven cents an acre .

Mr. Shirley reported the forest acreage under fire portection had almost doubled during

Total cost of setting up the proposed program including purchasing and setting up equipment for detection, communications and

the past 10 years, but pointed out apprO< imately two-thirds of the area under protection are inadequately equipped to do an efficient job.

suppressi on of forest fires, would be $1,5ij1809. The figure for annual operation, including depreciation, was set at$ 1, 677,822 Mr.

"The system that now exists can never meet the need s , added Director Shi rl ey .

Shi rley estimated feder al funds would cover app ro~imately one-third of both figures.

Under the present setup , counties are required to finance 60 per cent of the budgets

Such a program wil l be necessary if Georgia is to continue to realize 275 mill ion dollars

for f ire protection. state and federal cover the balance of the costs .

funds

each year from forest enterprises, Mr. Shirley declared. He pointed out more forest industries are interested in locating in Georgia if they can be assured a continuous supp ly of raw
materials .

"To be of the greatest value, the state forester pointed out, a program of fire protection must be in con tinuous operation and past experiences have shown that too often changes in county conditions resulted in the

The proposed program is based on the result s of a two-month field s urvey. Two years would

(Continued on Page Nine)

Page Three

PRACTICAL FORESTRY

The week of activities will be provided for the boys without cost, except for transporta-

WILL BE TAUGHT

tion between their homes and the camp site. Selection of delegates will be based on inter-

AT CAMP FOR BOYS

est shown in forestry. Training periods will cover the growing,

harvesting and marketing of forest products.

Practical forestry training will be offered Besides lectures, practical field work and

82 Georgia youths at a Boys Training camp to demonstrations will be held on wooded tracts

be held at Hard Labor Creek state Park near .of th e 5,000-acre park. A full program of

Rutled ge , Au ust 16-21.

rec reation also is scheduled.



The camp wil l be sponsored by the Georgia Forestry Department in cooperation with four Georgia. members of the Southe rn Pulp~ood ~on se rvati on As sociation. The sponsor1ng f1rms

Inst ructors who will supervise the training will include foreste rs representing the State
Forestry Depar tment, the Georgia Extensi on Serv ice , and the sponsoring firms.

are the Brunswick Pul p and Pa per Co . , Brunswick; Macon Kraft co., Macon; sout hern Pape rboa rd corp. , Savannah , and Union Bag and Paper
Savannah .

A cash prize of $ 25.00 has been offered by KEEP GEORG IA GREEN to the youth making the best record at the forestry camp .

HERE'S WHAT BOYS FORESTRY CAMP WILL BE LIKE
The two Georgia youngsters above demonstrate the practical forestry training to be offered approximately 80 boys at the Forestry Camp at Hard Labor Creek State Park, near Rutledge, August 16-21.

Page Four

NEW 0/rE-MAN CHAIN SAW DEMONSTRATED

Otis Castelaw, a lumbennan from Commerce, above tries out the new one-man Disston Chain Saw. It can be operated from any position for any type of cuttinA, and only one person is required to handle the eq,.,ipment. LookinA on at the right is Evans Palmour, a Gaineaville hardware dealer.

KOGER NAMED RANGER

by the Georgia Department of Forestry at Way cross.

IN DECATUR COUNTY

Ran ~ er Koger stat es the first two suppression units, a Dodge power-wagon and an l~ter

nationa l 3/ 4 ton pick-up, have been equ1pped

The Decatur County Forestry Board has an- and are ready for use in Decatur County.

nounced the appointment ran ger for the cuunty's tection unit.

of Miles S. Kog e r as new forest fire pro-

A Mathis 4-di sc firel ine plow was delivered t o the unit July 22. Th is will be used with a cat erpill a r D-7 tractor to plow firelines.

Mr. Koger graduated from th e unive rsity of Georgia Forestry School, Ju.ne 10, 1948 wit~ a Bachelor of science Degree 1n Forestry . Pr1or
to his transfer to Bainbridge, he was employed

Additional personnel added this month were J. c. Barber, Patrolman, and J. T. Lampkin, Tractor operator.

Page Five

MOB ILE FM RADIO TESTED FOR USE BY FIR E PROTECTION UNITS

A series of tests to determine the effectiv~ Decatur, Harris and Gordon counties . Forestry ness of two-way mobile _FM radio equipment have Department officials , district foresters and just been concluded by the State Forestry De- ran gers participated . The tests were conducpartment. The demonstrations indicated that ted under the supervision of Henry cannon, who FM equipment, because of the clear reception has been appointed state communications engi~ and long-distance ranJe, ean improve the effec- neer for the Forestry Department. He was astiveness of forest fire fighting in the state. sisted by Roy E Mcconnell, southeastern field
engineer fo r the Link Radio Corporation.

Two-way radio has been in use in the south-

eastern section of Georgi a and also around E. c. Littlejohn, senior radio engineer for

M~on for a number of years. Several county the Alabama Foredtry Department, also partici-

units in other sections of the state plan in- pated in the Harris County Tests .

stallation of radio at an early date, and

will adopt FM instead of the conventional AM When radio is used for communications, a

sets.

truck can be dispatched to a f i re just as soon

The FM eq uipment tested this month iscompact as the fire is spotted. In case of a break-

with both sending and receiving apparatus built down, or if roads are in poor condition and

into a single unit. Only the microphone and the truck gets stuck or stalled, the spotter

receiver are separate . such portable equip- can immediately be notified to send help or

ment can easily be used in all types of vehic- another truck .

les and in towers.

FM demonstrations were held during July in

With rain pouring down , Henry Cannon sets up FM radio atio Ranger Mountain in County under a temporary shelter.

Page Six

District Forester William L. Crisp, of Newnan, listens intently during Harris County FM demonstration. ]. P. Miller, ranger from Spalding County, looks on.

Radio also permits the crew on the first During the tests, conversations were carried truck to call for more men and equipment when on between a movin g vehicle and a fixed staneeded. Another advanta ge of radio is that tio'n at distances up to .30 airline miles . This duplication of travel is elimina~ed, or great- was under the adverse conditions of amountainly reduced. Frequently radio a11 ows crews and ous section with tempvrary installations of etrucks to leave one fire and get to another quipment. Ten-watt sets, operating on t .1e 152 that has started in the same general vicinity megacycle band, were used. without having to drive back to the tower or
headqu a .r t e r s .

These factors re s ult in smaller ac reages Mr. cannon took over the statewide communi-

lost to fire, and also mean units save on gas cations post July 1 . Prior t6 that time he

bills and repair costs.

had been in cha rge of rad io activities for the

Forestry Department in the Eighth (Waycross)

District where radio was first tried. A veterLaw enforcement also is easier and more ef- an radioman with 27 ye a rs experience, Mr. fective if rangers rea: h fires in time to Cannon has attended numerous radio sch ools and gather clues as to how the fires were started. during the war he was a radio engineer at the Two-way radio also would be helpful in remote Navy Radar Field, Naval Air Test center, sections in the event storms or floods should Patuxent, Maryland. cut off all other means of communication,

Page Seven

fORESTRY ASSOCIATION TO SEEK ADOPTION
OF STATEWIDE PLAN

The Georgia Forestry Association will ask the next Legislature to set up a Statewide forest fi re control system , a State Emergency Forest Fire Committee and a constitutiona l Board of Fo r estry which would govern all appo intments to the Department of Forestry .

Plans for such action were approved at a called meeting of the GFA Board of Directors
in Atlanta, Jul y 9. The Boa rd re-elected its complete slate of old office rs for two-year terms .

Board members approved suggestions made by

59,000 CORDS OF PULPWOOD

A. R Shirley, Director of the state Department of Forestry, for a fire-control system to

be operated jointly by state and Federal Funds

The Woodlands Division of the Union Bag

and Paper Corp. , at Savannah, recen tly re- The proposed State committee would be headed

ported an inventory of more than 59,000 by the Gove rnor and would include representa-

cords. This was in sharp contrast with tives of all state Depa rt ments . B. M. Lufbur-

last winter when excessive rains prevented row, of savannah , Executive secreta ry of the

getting the wood out of the forests. Part Assoc iation , sa id a ll State de partment s would

of the current stockpile is pictured above. be contac t ed for approval before le g i s l ~ tion

-------------------~ was sou ght .

WINNERS ARE ANNOUNCED IN

WILCOX KEEP GREEN CONTEST

Officers re-elected were: Kirk Sutl ive, of Savannah, President; Marion J. wise, of savan-

nah, Vice President; R. I . Rush, of Hawkins-

winners in the essay contest on the subject ville, Second Vice President; A. F. Patton, of

of "Keeping Wilcox County Green have Atlanta, Treasurer, and Lufburrow, Executive

been annou nced. The contest was lau nched Secreta ry.

by Judge o. T. Gower.

Miss carolyn Bowman of Route l, Rochelle, received the first prize of S20. Others wi

THE

COVER

PHOTO

ning SlO prizes were J. C . Clack, James Herring of Pitts, --H Club Betty Jones of Pineview, also member.

FFA member; member, a a --H Clu

On the cover this month Georgia Forestry
salutes another wood-usinl industry, the Woodland Furniture anufacturinl COmpany, a Talbot Coc.w~ty enterprise. Jfalton White

ass. .bles the fr..ework for an upholstered

NEW FACTORY EQUIPMENT

rocker Jn the photo. The firm is headed
b.r John R. Woodall, Sr., who also operates

The Sparta Manufacturing corporation, furni- plant ...ufacturinl fruit 8hippin1 ,.da,

ture finm, has installed new and modern wood- uainl excelsior. The ,.J plant also .Ues

working machinery. The plant also has a ca-- paciilll . .terial lor tlte furniture aill.

plete paint shop for finishing. Fonaerly the products of the Georgia fih. were trucked to IOrth carol ina for finiShing.

In operatJ lor about 2J ....tlta now, the furniture ca.p..., plo,a 2$ persona. Bli Brtlett ie ler.

Page Eight

TREE FARMING PROVES PROFITABLE FOR TALBOT COUNTY FAMILY

Proof that tree farming, based on sound f<>r- At one time most of the property was farm

estry practices, can be a continuous and prof- land. The S1'\iths, therefore, are carrying or

itable job is found in the story of the smith a vigorous program of reforestation. Already

family down in the southwest corner of Talbot 52,000 seedlings have been planted and natural

county.

reproduction is encouraged through fire pro-

Three yea rs ago this family, consisting of a tection and careful logging.

fa ther and his daughter and two sons , formed a four-..way part ne rs hi p and bought 2. 307 acres of land, most ly worn- out c rop l and. How only about a t hird of t he purc hase pri ce remai ns to be pa id a nd t he l and has provi ded profit ab l e
emp l oyment for a ll.

The Smiths operate a s awmill, and cut and ship l a rge quant i t i es of pulpwood and veneer blocks. They also have a lar ge quan t ity of whit e cedar and are looking a rou nd for a market for t hat.

we have been pay i ng off the debt , made a li v in g and now we have mo re timbe r growi ng than we d id whe n we s t a r ted ," ex pl a in s t he father and sen ior pa rt ner, J . W. Smith .

The ot he r membe rs of t he Ave rill S. An t hony, w. A. Smit h.

pa rt ne rshi p are Mrs . Smith, and Kenn eth

HAROLD MARTIN (From The ATLANTA CONSTITUTION )

We Ignore Our Biggest Asset

Like any other man who has been born and raised in a country !rom which the

great stands of virgin timber long ago have been cut, I have always had a sort

of feeling of awe for the original trees. Driving through Georgia, looking at the

stands of tall and slender pine that have sprung up in the old fields from which our

.

ancestors cut the virgin growth I have often tried to v1sualize how the land might

have looked when America was young and the

great trees grew in stands like parks, scraping with a jack pine pole, as thick as a man's wrist

the sky. I had never seen any, to my knowledge. at the base.

On this trip North to the Canadian lake
country, I saw much virgin timber, and I was a little disappointed. I suppose I had expected aomethi ng about like the great redwood groves of California, and it wasn't like that at all. .

"How old would this tree be in your country?" he asked.
I looked at it. "Five years old," I said. "Maybe ten."
"Read the rings," he said. I looked where his axe had cut and counted the rings.

I ' remember coming ashore the first night,

"Five, 10, 15, 20 ... 23."

on a rocky headland, into a stand of tall white

"Twenty-three years old and still a tent pole,

pine under whose shade we were to make our he said. "Our trees don't have much chance t

camp.

11row. Three months, maybe four, from snow t

"There they are," the guide said. "Just li.k.e God made 'em. They've sheltered men for three hundred years."
I looked. They were not big trees. They were tall and straight and regal. but they were not apectacularly so.

snow and their growth for the year is done Where you live you can cut a tree and know that in one man's lifetime it will make a decent sawlog again. Up here when we cut an-old tree, we have to wait two hundred years."
I had never quite understood before what an
ad vantagP our warm land gives us, and how

''You're kiddlnr, aren't you?" I asked the

cruelly and stupidly we ignore its blessings.

rulde. ''Back home my house standa on

Flying home from Chicago it was easy to tell by

land that 35 or 40 years aro was a

looking at the land below when the plane had

cotton patch. Yet In my back yard are pines

entered the careless, improvident South. It was

" big as these. Drivlnr home from work every day I pass throurh streets where the

midsummer, ~upposedly not the season of fires, but from horizon to horizon in the dusk, over

houses sit beneath pines bigger and taller

all the land below, you could see the woods

&han these. Yet they are second rrowth and

burning here and there. If it had been Fall or

maybe third crowth."

Winter, there would have been dozens more.

The guide smiled.

And I coutdn't help thinking what a glorious green land we could have, and what a treasure

"You live where trees grow fast," he said. of timbered wealth, if only for a generation, the

"I'll show you something." He walked off into lifetime of one man, we would protect our

the brush back of the campsite. He came back woods from fire and ~ve the pines a chance.

Page Nine

WILDLIFE CLUB DEPLORES FOREST FIRE LOSS

STATEWIDE PROTECTION (Continued from Page Two)
forest protection programs being either dis-

The newly-formed Dawson County Wildlife Club banded, jeopardized or inadequately financed.

is interested in forest fire protection.

He recommended that the program be financed

w. D. Hill, club president, says one of the main objectives of the orgainzation "should be to prevent and &ontrol forest fires and post a suitable reward for a conviction of anyone

entirely by state and federal funds, but that local citizens on local forestry boards serve in advisory capacities as is now being done. Mr. Shirley explained:

setting fi res.

"This would overcome the difficulties of

counties with very limited funds not being

SCHOOL TEACHERS STUDY

able to take advantage of protection, would strengthen counties already having protection

NAVAL STORES OPERATIONS

units, would permit personnel and equipment to be used in the most efficient and effective

Teachers attending the Telfair ounty workshop held recently at McRae learned much about the importance of the naval stores industry.

manner possible and would give all landowners in the state an equal share of protection whereas in the past only citizens in the counties with faNored financial conditions have

benefitted from fire protection programs. Under the directi~n of T.S. Patterson, vice-

president of the Peninsular-Lurton Company, of citizens and officials in practically every Helena, provision was made for field trips and county not hav (ng organized protection have a visit to the company's plant. The partici- expressed a desire for a forest fire program, pants witnessed demonstrations of modern fores- but find it financially impossible. try practices and distillery operations.

Two-thirds of Georgia's area is in forests

Assisting in this program were D. Q.
o. F. McEachin, naval stores operator,

Harris, Walter

in

24 , 714 , 613 acres (not including the Okefeenoke swamp).

464,349

acres

Satchel or, 4-H Club M_:_:e:_m::b.:_e:_r:_.- - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WHO SINGED THE H'AR ON SMOKEY B'AR?

HERE!
I

Page Ten

VALDOSTA IS PLANNING

year's pageant is "Sylvia and the woodsman" or the story of modern forestry in the South.

SECOND FOREST FESTIVAL

The pageant will be presented on Wednesday

and Thursday nights so the many thousands of

The south's only renewable natural resource- visitors can be accomodated. The pageant will

trees-will be honored and given recognition in be directed and staged by professionals and

valdosta, october 6-7 at the second annual will have all the trimmings of a Broadway pro-

Southern Forest Festival.

duction. The cast, however, will be composed

of Valdostans and others from nearby communi-

Although weeks away, committees are hard at ties.

work laying plans for this spectacular, educa-

tional and entertaining forestry event.

"Civic Day" will be held on Thursday. This

Paul Schoen, Festival General Chairman, announces that although a formal program has not been completed as yet, his general planning committee has developed a nu~ber of activities for the two-.,.day event which will include the

program stresses how forestry is of equal importance to both town and country. School bands will compete for a cash prize and the honor of leading the colorful parade as the Royal Band.

following:

A king and queen and royal court are also to

be selected. The program officially gets underway on the

evening of o~tober Swith the Royal Banquet

and a Street Dance featuring a square dance SOUTHERN PINE OPENS
contest.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST
The next day, Wednesday, has been designated

as "Forest Field Day to be held on t~e 465acre Community Forest which is u miles east of

INFERIOR LUMBER

Valdosta.

The Southern Pine Association, which has

This tract of timber, Mr. S:hoen points out, was deeded to the city and Lowndes county last year by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad for the establishment of a community demonstration forest.

many members in Georgia, has opened a campaign to call at tent ion to the importance of careful manufacturing and proper seasoning. In an attract i ve , i l 1us t rated f o l de r, the association ur,:JeS:

Highlights of the Forest Field Day will inelude contests for school children, Boy and Girl scouts and adults. Dinner can be secured
on the grounds.

That non-dense, coarse textured timber is used for boards only.
That dimension is produced only from better textured timber.

Mr. Schoen said there will be a minimum of That your lumber is properly seasoned. speeches, but one national figure be featured.

The visitors may witness all around good for- That you provide protection against unsightestry practices that have been set up in the ly stain. forest. This includes turpentining, logging

pulpwood thinning, poleing and clearing.

That your lumber is dressed accurately to

size and pattern. At the completion of the forest events, the

scene of activities will be shifted to the Courthouse, in downtown valdosta, where school

That your lumber is carefully end-trimmed.

children will stage folk dances and folk plays. That your lumber is shipped in a way that

A colorful, spectacular pageant w1ll be assures arrival at destination in good condi-

staged at Pendleton Park. The title of this tion.

Library School of Forestry University of Georgia Athens, Georgia