GEORGIA FORESTRY Vol. 12 September, 1959 No.3 Published Quarterly by the GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION Box 1183 Macon, Georgia Guyton DeLoach, Director Members, Board of Commissioners: C. M. Jordan, Jr., Chairman A lama Andrew J. Aultman Sylvester Oscar S. Garrison Homer John M. McElrath Macon Alexander Sessoms Cogdell Georgia Forestry is entered as second class matter at the Post Office under the Act of August 24, 1912. Member of the Georgia Press Association. Frank Craven Editor DISTRICT OFFICES GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION DISTRICT !-Route 2, Statesboro DISTRICT II-P. 0. Box 26, Camilla DISTRICT III-P. 0. Box 169, Americus DISTRICT.IV-P. 0. Box 333, Newnan DISTRICT V-P. 0. Box 328, McRae DISTRICT VI-P. 0. Box 505, Milledgeville D ISTRICT VII-Route 1, Rome DISTRICT VIII-P . 0. Box llfiO, Waycross DISTRICT IX-P. 0. Box 416, Gainesville DISTRICT X-Route 3, Washington tJ/lUMfHg the N ews Trash Fire s Are Too Common (From the Dalonhega Nugget) Almost everyone in suburban and rural areas burn trash or leaves or derbi s these days. And these fo lk s a re the ones who least expect to start a field or forest fire. Consequently, backyard burners often don't take the needed precautions; safety measures they'd take if they were burning off a fie ld or forest floor. Thus, we have too many wild fires s tarting from trash burning. The following precautions should be taken: First, don' t bum on a windy day. When you do burn, use a safe tr a sh burner , keeping the incinerator away from inflammable mat erial, such as brush, gras s or woodlands. Above all, stay around with the neccessary h an d fire fi ghting tool s, such as rakes and water, until the fire is dead out. Fires sneak aw ay from us when we leave the burning site for a minute to have lunch, ans wer the phone or get a glass of water. Nature Re ceives A Needed Assist (From the McDuffie Progress) The stake McDuffie County citizens, and c1t1zens everywhere, have in our growing forests has finally been recogni zed and now a long-range effort is being made to protect and expand this natural resource . Mother Nature, in all her genius and mys tery, c annot protect and expand our forests at the rate they are being destroyed by fire , poor management, and other faulty human practices which could be prevented. The Forestry Plot, recently acquired by th e McDuffie County Board of Education through the sponsorship of the Trus t Company of Georg ia, will go a long way towards helping to overcome the prac tic e s which in the pa s t, have made our forests a vanishing part of the American sce ne. The 9.9 acres of land near Thomson to be used in te a ching agricultural boys at the local high school the fundamentals of approved forest man agement practices will help to insure future generation s a p lenti fu l supply of trees and their many products which go to provide a better way of life for us all. 'Plan Before Yo u Bu r n' (From the Rome News-Tribu,Je) Although it's been in effect two years now, Georgia's "Notifi catio n of Intent to Burn" law goes unheeded in many instances. This is the law th at requires anyone planning to clear land, destroy brush, trash, etc., by burning, to notify the County Forest Fire Protection Unit. When they know of such planned fires, Forestry Com missio n p erso nn e l are able to assist in controlled burning, advise on precauti ons a nd reco rd fi res to avoid confusion and false alarms. As a result of careless burning so far this year, there have been 91 fore st fires in Floyd County, burning over 1,365 acres. These fi res s till a re u nder investigation. The notification law is not intended to inconvenience property owners but, rather, to help them protect valuable forest resources. Its violation is a misdemeanor and persons found guilty of evading it can be fined up to $1,000 and jail sentences. But, fines and jail sentences are not what the Forestry Commission wants. The rangers want to avoid damaging fires and property loss to individuals and they're willing to help as long as they have public cooperation. Take their advice: "Plan before you burn and call the Forestry Commlss wn office." raining School St ~ ~ .'1 { !--- ~~~ Old plot location pen-pointed by survey crew A survey of Georgia forest resources was started in August with a two week Forest Survey Training School at Camilla. Mackay B. Bryan of the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, U. S. Forest Service, Asheville, North Carolina, who is in charge of the inventory, con... ducted the school. Personnel were given instructions for establishing sample plots and collecting and recording field data. Definitions of terms and the specifications for various tree and plot classifications as well as becoming familiar with field organization, equipment, and safety problems were covered in the two week session. The cruising will be done by one or two man crews consisting of a chief and a measurer. The survey crews work in groups of two or more crews. The crew chief of the group is 1n charge of the general planning of the work, directing crews from one temporary headquarters to another, assisting the field supervisor in follow-up training, obtaining ownership data and editing field records .. The survey, conducted by U. S. Forest Service personnel, with additional backing of the Georgia Forestry Commission, Research Council and Forestry Association, is a two year project that will cost more than $300,000. The Forest Service will contribute $209,000 and the Forestry Commission. and Research Council $50,000. Industry is exoected to provide an additional $44,000. The supporting organizations have the choice of furnishing men or money. The inventory, scheduled to be completed in 1961, will enable a measurement of trends in land use and timber by size, species, and types of timber on ts Forest Survey various sites to be compared with the last forest survey , held in 1951 -53. The inventory is divided into five geographical units: coastal plain, one and two; Southern piedmont, three; :>Jorthern piedmont, four; and mountains and foothills, five. The southwestern section of the coastal plain has been designated as the starting point with the southeastern section of the coastal plain slated to be surveyed from December 1, to July 1, 1960. Rounding out the inventory schedule, is the Southern piedmont, July 1, 1960 to January 15, 1961; Northern piedmont, January 15 -May 1, 1961; and the mountains and foothills, May 1 August 1, 1961. The published report will be released four months after completion of the field work. Witness tree marke d, me as ured f or future reference Tree seed from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of ~1exico are being tested for quality and growth rate at the brand new Region 8 Tree Seed Testing Laboratory of the U. S. Forest Service at the Georgia Forestry Center. T. F. Swofford is director of the $210,000 brick, glass, and steel building which was financed three-fourths by federal funds and one-fourth by the state. Dr. M. C. Carter of the USFS heads seed research at the new installation. The state-federal co-operative operation is financed entirely from the seed testing charges, which are held to an absolute m1n1mum, Swofford said. The customers are billed at the end of each year according to the cost divided by the number of test made. In the past, this has averaged out to $12 per test. The seed tests have increased from 100 in 1954 to 1,105 in 1957, Swofford said , estimating that 70 percent of the entire current tree seedling production in the United States was dr a wn from data furnished by the lab. The lab, which runs tests on all species of pine, in addition to twenty different conifer species, expects to run 1,100 seed tests in 1959-60. In comparison, 834 tests were Seed Research Laboratories -. __ _...., J Tec hnicians s tudi es mean bett er fo res t s jor t he f uture Seed grou ,th obs erve d in refrigeratio n unit f)eed are deu.' inge d, s e parat e d by ue ig ht Laboratory Serves Eastern U. S. S eed 'T es tin g Laboratories made in 1958-59 The new lab has faci lities for testing 1,700 seed lots simul- tanSewooufsfloyr.d added that the reduction in tests last year was due to the over- production of seed in 1957. Phys1cally the lab has a service test- ing and research lab; tWO cold storage rooms, one for breaking seed dormancy and one to store samples for future study ; five germination rooms; and a delicate instrument, storage, equipment and service testing finishing rooms. A cromo- tography room, where the chemical makeup of any substance used, by sensitized pap. can be discoveted, will be teady in about three monthS. Offices and a reception room are included in the lab. Under controlled conditions, tree seed are tested at the laboratory to determine the quantity and quality of seedlings they will produce when planted in the field. Tests reveal the density that seed must be planted to get the number of seedlings desired per nursery bed; percentage of germination; purity percentage; number of seed per pound; moisture content; and full seed percent- ageT.he basic research conduct ed a t th e lab gives the technician s the re asons for certain reactions but a re not for spec i fi c application. At prese nt , re search i s Neu facilitie< enable t echnicians to test !700 seed lots simultaneous /; bein g cau ied out on testing and compntison of nutselichigan, >li osissipp South Catalina and Tennessee utilize the lab's facilities. >laine a New Hampshite have alteady indicated theit intetest in using the n facilities as well as ne seed custometS which include ditect seede new seed dealetS, and state nutSeties in Tennessee, Illinois, a Michigan. With the up-swing of Georgia forest fire losses in 1959, Georgia courts, through public demand, have begun to clamp down on fire law violators, according to Bob Gore, Chief Investigator for the Georgia Forestry Com- m!SS!On. Gore added that this is the first year that fire violators have been prosecuted under the Notification of Intention to Burn County Option Law. The law was passed by the 1956 General Assembly. Through July of 1959, district law enforcement officers made 42 cases; in which there were 25 convictions. In addition, there are 31 cases pending action. Of the total cases, ten were in violation of the 'no burn law.' Four of the convictions were connected with the 'county option law.' The maximum sentence given was eighteen months to a Gilmer County man for maliciously setting fires. Another man was fined $200 in Appling County for violation of the Notification to Burn Law. Gore stated that with the fall fire season upon us, all means will be used to cut down a repeat of the fire losses suffered this spring through carelessness and malicious burning. As of August 1, there were 148 counties under forest fire protection. Of these, 90 counties had passed the ' no burn law,' while initial passage by the grand jury effected six counties and is pending action by the second grand jury before becoming law. There are 52 other counties that are expected to receive the law for passage for the first time in the near future. The law is intended to prevent forest fires which might be started by uncontrolled burning for clearing lands. Safety, Law Enforcement Programs Tip Scales The Georgia Forestry Commission' s vehicle and accident and injury frequency rate is well below the National Safety Council average for the trucking industry and all industries respectively. Forestry Commission Safety Officer, Curtis S. Barnes , said the 1958 Commission accident rate, number of accidents per 100,000 miles driven, was .64, as compared to 1. 50 for the National trucking average. Barnes stated that the Forestr y Commission vehicles were involved in 29 accidents, covering 4,552,868 miles driven. The National injury frequenc y rate average, number of working days lost per 1,000,000 hours worked, was 740.0 as compared to 89.6 for the Commission. There were 72 injuries, 28 of which were disabling, in 1,769,004 working hours, for comparison, the lumbering industry had a rate of 2826.0, and the communications industry, the low score of 70.0. The tenth district led in the number of vehicle accidents with seven and the eighth district in the number of injuries with 15. The best accident record was made by the third district with one. The sixth, seventh, and ninth districts had the least number of injuries with four each. Tree farm Prestige Escapes to Florida WANTED . . .279,430 acre s more t o be placed in the Georgia Tree Farm Program by December 31, 1959. R EWARD. .A better Georgia Forestry Program. . . Beat Florida out o/ first place. . . R egain our los t forestry pre stige . Erle T. Newsome, Jr., Chairman of the Georgia Tree Farm Committee, states that Georgia is now playing second fiddle to Florida in their race to put 5,000,000 acres in Tree Farms by December 31, 1959. Florida has 4,916,459 acres to Georgia's 4,720, 570 acres. During 1959, Florida has gained 65,000 acres in the farm race. Newsome adds that there are countless Georgia farmers who are not receiving proper recognition. It your crop is tree~, and you are protecting your woodland s from fire , over-grazing , i:-~sects and dise a se; following practices in harvesting trees that wi ll a ss ure continuing production o f commercial forest crops; and planting trees on idle acres and lands not suited to other crops; you are a Tree Farmer, Newsome said. The words 'Tree Farm ,' when applied to a piece of privately-owned forestland means the landowner has been publicly recognized for doing an outstanding job in managing his woodlands for the continuing growth of forest crops for commercial purposes. For woodlands to be certified as Tree Farms, they must be inspected by a qualified forester and approved by the Georgia Tree Farm Committee. If the woodlands are~ not up to the qualification set up by the Committee, the qualified forester will advise the landowner on the proper steps to take to bring his farm up to the standards set. The Tree Farm Program in Georgia is operated by the Georgia Forest Industries Committee and sponsored by the American Forest Products Industries, Inc. The Georgia Forestry Commission and other government agencies operating forestry programs within the state give their full cooperation. Given Seed !Computer A Georgia-developed tree seed planting computer received international recognition this summer at the 12th International Seed Te~ting Convention in Oslo, Norway. The computer is used to figure the number of seed which must be planted in tree nurseries to get the number of young trees desired. A United States delegate presented the Swofford Tree Seed Computer to the global meeting. The computer was developed at the U. S. Forest Service Region 8 Seed Testing Laboratory at Macon by Lab Director Thomas F. Swofford. The computer, adjusted to the needs of the tree species commonly produced in the Southern United States, is already in use in the South. Swofford is now developing additional scales which can be applied to species which have varying numbers of seed per pound. Nurserymen tell the seed lab the tree seedling density and survival they want in their nursery beds. The seed analyst, with the use of a seed counter, plants 100 seed of the species in question in a foot square, soil-filled plastic container. The seed are chen watered and allowed to grow. The growth results provide information on seed germination, purity, size and survival. The information is then entered on the circular slide rule for final, large-scale computation. The computer has fixed inner and outer scales and ro- Inf ormatio n for comfJUter pruu ided b) see d {!.TOll th dat a eating di a ls on which the germination , purity, survival and s eed percentage information is entered. Swo fford sai d that the new scales, being designed for for the Northern and Western species, will be able to measure seed the pound. that range from The Southern 200 000 to 4 see'd range 0f0r~0m0011s,e0e0d0 to to 25,000 seed per pound. The major change in the scales will be in th e seed pe r pound dial where the seed wi II al s o be measured w ounces. All other dia l s will remain th e same . Southeastern Forest Fire Compact Commission personnel from eight southern states conducted an emergency forest fire fighting exercise near Eatonton August 17 - 20 . The states included Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virgrnr a . Commission personnel from the Macon headquarters, all ten district offices, numerous county forestry units, and federal personnel battled a simulated 10,0001 acre forest fire on private and Federal Land Utilization Project property in ] asper, Putnam, and Jones County. Emergency field headquarters were set up on the LU Project approximately ten miles southwest of Eatonton. The men slept at the Rock Eag le 4-H Center near Eatonton and ate there or at a field kitchen set up at the 'fire' scene. Simulated problems, such as spot fire, equipment failures, and personnel InJuries were thrown in to block the efforts of the fire fighters rn putting the 'blaze' dead-out. However, more than 180 men, 50 truck s, 14 fire suppression tractors and four aircraft were enough to overcome the hazards. The r.1en were able to keep pace with the 'flames' that at times endangered farm homes and buildings, through the efforts of scouts and air lift operations. Scouts, furnished by the USFS Headquarters at Hillsboro, led the fire crews who were unfamiliar with local terrain, to vantage points on the 'fire line.' The fact th a t these crews were able to cope with the problems as they arose, was attributed to the air-life oper atwns which provided food, fuel, tractor parts , and specialized tools a s th ey we re needed. Helicopters were al so used in removing the injure d. Southern States Atte11 \ttad j1/an disc ussed as fie ld personnel are eq uipt1 ed for battle Efficient communication system dispatches prompt aerial aid to 'injured' firefighter ::Jold Fire Exercise The 'fire' problem, which began as an average 'fire' flare-up and ended with blow-up conditions, s t arted near Wi ll ard about six miles west of Eatonton. When discovered, t he 'blaze' had developed into a 100 acre 'fire'. Unfavorable weather conditions and the head start of the 'fire' (investigation proved that the 'fire' was started by illegal deer hunters who were hunting at night and out of season) prevented county unit personnel from bringing the 'hot' flames uncle r control. District equipment arrived on the scene with 300 acres destroyed and high winds making applied control methods ineffective. The need for all available state equipment was seen immediately as the 'blaze' developed into a 'blow-up' fire. The elements, breakouts of new fires, and equipment failures necessitated putting out a call for help from other southern states to bring the blow-up 'fire' under control. After the last smoldering ember was put out, it was estimated that 10,000 acres of timber had been destroyed in addition to the loss of wddlife and destruction of the soil which is immeasurable in dollars and cents. Commission equipment included three air patrol planes, the TBM fire retardent chemical bomber, a helicopter, numerous two-way pack radios, 25 trucks, nine fire suppression tractors and their transport trucks, one field kitchen, a bus to carry observers and other maintenance equipment. Florida provided the mobile fire headquarters, a power wagon tanker, and a light tractor unit. South Carolina furnished three light tractor units. Alabama provided two light tractor units. S. D. Beichler, USF\S, Atlanta, and co-ordinator of the entire SSFFCC program was chief umpire. Com- mission Fire Control Chief]. C. Turner, Jr., Macon, served as fire line boss on the exercise. Lester Lundy, Commission General Scrvi<.e~ Chief, .\lat.on, was service boss. Curtis Barnes, Commission A-::;sistant Fire Chief, ~lacon, was service umpire. Industry provides increasing market for low grade, pulp-size hardwood; stimulates interest in harduood management Hardwood Management AMust For Full Forest Production In Georgia By W. H. McComb Ainsworth, Belvin see brighter hardu'ood future through develof of hardwood neusprint at 1/erty Laboratories Georgia's 'forest factory' is operating at half throttle bec ause her hardwood resources have not been properly developed. With 57.7 percent of the commercial forest land in pine production, hardwoods have been left to pro- duce without man's help. Outside of the National Forests, selectively marking hardwoods for harvesting and other good forest-ry prac- tices have been almost non-exi s t an c. Years of remov- ing the best qualicv trees and leaving low grade or cull trees have reduced most of Georgia's high yieldi ng hard\\ ~d area co producing high yields of low value or worth- Ie s r 1 \\ood. ln some cases, it will be necessary to completely H.g"neratc the stand. The lack of a market for low quality and pulpwood-size hardwood probably has been the greatest drawback to good hardwood management. A landowner is usually willing to improve his pine stand by removing certain low quality or over-crowded pine when it can be done profitably. However, he is not so willing to invest five to fifteen dollars per acre in removing undesirable hardwoods to improve hrs hardwood stand in order to realize a profit some years hence. This is not unusual as there was also not much pine management being practiced until the advent of the use of pine for pulp and paper. With seven percent of the pulpwood production in the state last year being hardwood and increased use in the future being almost a certainty, there should be