Georgia 
 
FORESTRY 
 
USPS No. 21 7120 
 
Winter 1991 No.4 
 
Vol. 45 
 
STAFF Howard E. Bennett, Editor William S. Edwards, Asso. Editor Jackie N. Cundiff, Graphic Artist Bob Lazenby, Technical Advisor 
 
Zell Miller, Governor John W. Mixon, Director 
 
BOARD OF COMMISSIONE RS Jim L. Gillis, Jr., Chairman, Soperton 
Felton Denney, Carrollton James Fendig, Savannah Dr. Gloria Shatto, Rome Robert Simpson, Ill, Lakeland 
 
DISTRICT OFFICES 
District One 3086 Martha Berry Hwy.. NE/Rome. GA 30161 
District Two 3005 Atlanta Hwy./Gainesville. GA 30501 
District Three 1055 E. Whitehall Rd./Athens. GA 30605 
District Four 184 Corinth Rd/ ewnan. GA 30263 
District Five 119 Highway 49/Milledgeville. GA 31061 
Di trict Six 1465 Tygnall Rd./Wa hington . GA 30673 
District Seven Route 1, Box 23A/Americus, GA 31709 
District Eight Route 3. Box 17/Tifton, GA 31794 
District Nine P.O. Box 345/Camilla . GA 31730 
District Ten Route 2. Box 28/Statesboro. GA 30458 
District Eleven Route 1, Box 67/Helena. GA 31037 
District Twelve 5003 Jacksonville Hwy./Waycross. GA 31501 
Urban Forestry 6835 Memorial Drive Stone Mountain, GA 30083 
Georgia Forestry is published quarterly by the Georgia Forestry Commission, Route 1, Box 181, Dry Branch, GA 31020. Second class postage paid at Macon, GA POSTMASTER; Send address changes to Georgia Forestry Commission, Route 1, Box 181, Dry Branch, GA 31020. 
 
The shedding of leaves is another of nature's wise provisions for winter. Broad leaf trees of the north shed their leaves and, as a result, their branches will more easily bear the winter's burden of snow and ice. In the southern states where there is no now or ice, orne broadleaf tree are practically evergreen. 
The conifers- pines, spruces, cedars, firs and hemlocks- have no definite time for leaf shedding. Th eir leaves are either needle or scalelike - a form adapting them to the shedding of snow. 
Through fallen leaves, nature has also provided for a fertile forest floor. Although the food prepared in the cell cavities of the leaves is returned to the tree in the fall, mineral substances with which the walls of the cells have become impregnated during the summer month are retained. Therefore, fallen leaves contain relatively large amounts of valuable elements, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which were originally a part of the soil. 
Decomposition of the leaves enriches the top layers of the soil by returning the elements borrowed by the tree and at the ame time provides for an accumulation of water-ab orbing humus. 
 
ON THE COVER- Thi swooden bridge in ruraiGeorgiaisoneof everal built or 
 
in the planning stage under a cooperative effort to replace defective span s on 
 
secondary roads. The Georgia Forestry Commission is working with the U. S. Forest 
 
Service and county officials on the project which emp loys new engineering 
 
techniques in the wood brid ge construction. 
 
(Photo By Billy Godfrey! 
 
 GYPSY MOTH NOT YET SERIOUS THREAT TO GEORGIA 
 
n isolated population of gypsy moths has been documented in White County and the infestation covers approximately 5000 acres in land around Dukes Creek, accordin g to Terry Price, the Commission's Entomologist. The gypsy moth is a hardwood defoliator that was introduced in Massachusetts from Europe over a century ago. Since that time it has thrived and continues to expand its range west 
and south . Currently, all of the northeastern states and portions of Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina are considered generally infested and came under quarantine regulations. 
Total acreage treated fluctuates from year to year, but in 1990 a total of 1.4 million acres were treated to prevent or reduce impact s from gypsy moth at a 
total cost of about $25 million . Since the adult female gypsy moth cannot fly, the natural spread of gypsy moth south and we t from the quarantine area is relatively slow. " Based 
on historical data, if this moth continues to pread at the 
same rate (15 miles per year) it wi ll be 20 to 30 years 
before the advancing front of gypsy moth populations envelop North G orgia and wid espread defoliation requi re yearly uppression efforts," 
Price aid. The Entomologist exclai med, however, that th moth i so easily transported by man that isolated infe tations, uch a the one in White County, becam e tablished "as the result of long distance, man-cau ed spread." He said moth deposit eggs on all sort of obj cts and egg masses have b en foun on mobile homes, cars, trucks, boats and trailers, pop-up tents, firewood and patio furniture. People unknowingly tran port the egg 
 
At Present Rate, It Will Be "20 to 30 Years" Before Advancing Front Of Population Reaches 
North Georgia. 
masses when leaving infested states to travel cross country. 
The Commission uses pheromone baited trap s to locate isolated infestations that re ult from the movement of people. White County has been o ne of many counties in Georgia that ha been intensively trapp ed since 1986. Due to the trapping, th e personnel have been abl e to locate the curren t smal l infe tation. 
Price aid plans are underway to treat approximately 5,000 acres of wood lands with BT (Ba cillus thuringiensis), co nsidered one of the safe t gypsy moth con trol/eradication products available. The material is a naturally occu rin g bacteri um th at w hen ing ted by caterpillar even tually kills them. Th e Commission ha begun to inform residents of White County of the erad ication treatment to begin in April of 1992. Erad ication is timed with the caterpillar emergence in the spring. Th e project will be a joint effort of the Commission and the U. S. Fore t Service. If the eradication is successful Georgia may very well be free of the pest until the advancing front arrives sometime after the turn of th e century. 
 
Cporqia orpctn,(\Aiintpr 1QQ1 /3 
 
 BALSAM FIR CAN BE GROWN AT A PROFIT IN GEORGIA 
 
Dillard inspects trees ready for the Christmas market. 
 
A orth Georgia Tree Farmer now has marketable proof that the highly profitable balsam fir can be commercially grown in certain sections of th e tate for the Chri tmas tree market. 
Fifteen years ago Malcolm Dillard planted an experim ental crop of balsam fir in Rabun County, located in the northeastern tip of Georgia bord ering _orth Carolina. 
At the time, it was unheard of to grow balsam fir co mmercially in Geo rgia, but Dillard is an innovative fore ter and wanted to tap the Christmas tree market with a popu lar species. Some peopl e told him t hat it could not be done; oth ers to ld him it was not worth the long range speculation to be a pioneer. 
During this Christmas sea on, a crop of balsam fir grown on Dillard's property was tru cked to Florida and averaged ell ing at a high retail price. Several North Georgia Christmas tree farmers followed Dillard's encouragement and are now uccessfully growing balsam fir. 
The bal am fir that went to thi 
a/Gggpia focg stg <l\4/ ig t g r 7Q97 
 
year' Florida Christmas tree market from Dillard's farm were so ld to a Man chester tree farm er, Buddy Emfinger, wh en the trees were three year old.Th e young firs were sold with a crop of spru ce wh en Dillard found his full-tim e job in Atlanta prevented him fro m properly carin g for th e tree . 
" If I was n't th e fir t to comm ercially grow balsam fir in Georgia," Dillard said , " I don't kn ow wh o else wa trying 
Fraser fir grows prolifically only 13 
miles away in 
Highlands, North Carolina; but the elevation increases 
in this short distance from 21 00 to 4000 feet. 
 
it at the tim ." Dillard, w ho worksout of th e Atl anta 
a: headquarters of th e Departm ent 
Education (Vocation al Agri culture) as a vocational forester, tarted as a Chri tma tree farm er 30 years ago, o he kn ew th e potential for wasted ti me and money wi th hi peculative venture. 
" Actu ally, I tri ed to gro w Fras r fir be fo re balsam, bu t on ly abou t 20 perce nt lived," Dillard said. " Th ere just was n't enough elevati on. Elevation is only abou t 2100 fee t in Rabun and you need to be 3500 to 4000 feet." 
Dillard aid Fra er fir grows prolifical ly only 13 miles away in Highlands, North Carolina, but the elevation increases in this hart distance from 2100 to 4000 feet. Highland i the highest incorporated town in the Eastern United State . 
"Some people will tell you that elevation is not that much of a critical factor in growing Fraser fir, since both are cold weather trees," Dillard sa1d, "but after experiencing urvival rate of only 20 percent, I believe different." 
 
 So he tried balsam fir because "only the trained eye can tell the difference." He found that balsam fir not only thrived with an excellent survival rate, but grew faster than the adjacent spruces that include white, Norway, blue, and Serbian spruce. 
He considers terrain and climate to be critical factors in successfully growing balsam fir. He said that soil should be brown or black loam located in a sloping area that drains well - preferably with northeast exposure. 
RETIR EMENT PLAN S 
When Dillard retires in several years, he plans to devote full time to his balsam fir Christmas tree farm and take full advantage of the Florida market. He said that Georgia also has a good market, but " a lot of northerners are retired in Florida and grew up with the balsam or fraser fir as the traditional Christmas tree; it reminds them of home." He also pointed out the balsam's superb form - with trunks as straight as a pole- makes it a favorite Christmas tree for many people, regardless of where they live. 
Dillard's method of plantin g balsam firs is 5x5 foot spacing which supports 1,742 trees per acre. He said that some planters might consider this spacing too close and prefer 6x6 foot spacing, which supports 1,210 trees per acre. 
Judging from 30 years in the business, Dillard said the Christmas tree market remains changed very little for "good quality trees." However, he considers it a risky business for growers turning out "marginal quality trees," because of the increasing public demand for better quality Christmas trees. 
Dillard sums it up simply: " Growers producing good quality trees will continue to do well. Those who don't will be gone." 
 
Bob Williams new president of Georgia Christmas Tree Growers Association. 
 
Bob Williams, who retired from the U. S. Forest Service in 1986 and 
 
now owns and manages a Christmas tree farm in the scenic Salacoa 
 
Valley in Cherokee County, is the new president of the Georgia 
 
Christmas Tree Growers Association. 
 
More than 165 growers in the state currently hold membership in the 
 
association and two meetings are usually held each year, w1th one 
 
highlighted by a tour of a member's tree farm. 
 
Williams pointed out that all Georgians growing Christmas trees are 
 
not members of GCTGA, but he said "they should be." The veteran 
 
forester contends that the association offers "much valuable informa- 
 
tion that greatly benefits" those in the business.. . 
 
. . 
 
The group's pr~sident said Christmas t~ee grow1~g IS a lab~r-mt~ns1ve operation that requires year round attent1o~ . He sa1d many wlll.try 1f for a 
 
short time and then drop out w hen the p1tfalls become obv1ous. The 
 
association helps provide guidance and encouragement to grow~rs 
 
across the state, according to Williams. "The planting is easy," h~ s~1d, 
 
" but after that comes the hard part and that's where the assoc1at1on 
 
can help." 
 
Member farms range from a red cedar farm of 200 trees in Oconee County and a farm of 100 pine in Gwinnett County to large s.cale producers with 50,000 trees in Crisp and Monroe Count1es, accordmg to the association's latest directory. 
Williams said he started by planting four acres and ma.de annu~l increases until he peaked at about 35 acres. Now he h~s tnmm~d h~s volume and said he concentrates more on quality. H1s operat1on IS similar to many other members in that he invites customers to make their visit a family adventure when they come out and choose and cut their tree. Customers have an opportunity to ride a hay wago.n .from the sales barn to the field and hot apple cider is often served. yYIIIIams and many others sell wreaths and other Christmas-related 1tems at the 
 
farm site. 
 
 1  
 
Most members grow Virginia pine, but some offer add1t1ona speCies. 
 
At least 70 sell red cedar, the second most popular tree. A few sell 
 
Leyland cypress and other pine species. 
 
. 
 
In the past few years, the association has coop~~ted w1t~ the 
 
National Christmas Tree Growers Association i~ an advert1s1n~ campa1gn to 
 
convince the public that the traditional live tree IS more mean1ngful than th.e 
 
artificial "tree" at Christmas time. Williams said the tren? toward theplast.lc 
 
tree seems to have leveled off, but it continues to offer lively compet1t1on 1n 
 
the marketplace. 
 
Georgia Forestry/Winter, 1991/5 
 
 YULE TREE RECYCLING SCHEDULED 
 
An other Christmas tradition is gaining ground in Georgia and it comes around in the first week of January in the new year. 
Thousands of citizens will take down their Christmas trees on January 4 and haul them to a convenient collection site where they will be 
 
recycled. Some will be fed into a chipper and converted into valuable mulch for city parks and other public areas while others will be used in erosion control and the improvement of fish habitat. 
The Urban Forestry Division of the Georgia Forestry Commission, one of 
 
the partners in the statewide environmental project, is urging additional residents this season to join the hu ndreds of thousands of Georgians who brought in 275 ,000 trees last year. Th e program has grown from 20,000 trees when it was organized in 1988. 
Contact your local Clean and Beautiful Commission office for the location of the nearest recycling center. 
Those participating in the campai gn receive a tree seedling in exchan ge for their Christmas trees. 
The recycling effort last January diverted 36,000 cubic yards, or the equivalent of 4,000 dump truck loads of waste, from landfills. Most of the trees were chipped into mulch for use on community plantings as fertilizer or to provide erosion control and protection from drought. In Richmond, Barrow, Hart, Monroe and Hou ston Counties, the Christmas trees collected were dropped in area lakes to provide places for fish to live. Som e of Savannah's trees were used to build up sand dunes on Tybee Island, an d Dougherty County's trees were used by Procter and Gamble Paper Produ cts as an alternative fuel source. 
The successful recycling effort was coordinated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Clean and Beautiful Program 
aGnedorugniadPeorwwreirttceonmbpyany.fr:~. ma~ 
The company printed and distributed promotional flyers and directional signs. Georgia Power also offered assistance through its local company offices and purchased 150,000 seedlings for free distribution. 
Several other corporate contributors played a key role in the project. WSB-TV of Atlanta produced and distributed public service announcements to promote the recycling program and Th e Atlanta Dogwood Festival and Technology Park/Atlanta, Inc. provided 30,000 dogwood seedlings. 
 
6/Georeia Forestrv/Winter. 1991 
 
Top Photo: Persons are given tree seedlings as a reward for bringing their Christmas trees to the recycling center in Macon. At left, a steady stream of vehicles brought in trees during the campaign last january. 
 
 WOOD TECHNOLOGIST CREATES ASUPERIOR PACKAGING MATERIAL 
curls could replace phoney peanuts and poisoned popcorn 
 
By Howard Bennett 
 
UCA profes or experiments in wood laboratory. 
 
lot of Christmas gifts shipped directly from the manufacturerthis season were packed in those pesky little foam pellets that seem to have no further purpose than to scatter all over the rug and under the sofa when you unpack the box. The packing material, known in the trade as "foam peanuts," has been around for many years, but a professor at the University of Georgia feels it's about time the spongy stuff is phased out to make way for a superior product - an environmentally safe product he created earlier this year. Dr. jim Rice, of the university's School of Forest Resources, ha perfected a way to turn out clean, light, resilient and completely recyclable wood curls that should be ideal for the safe packing of a delicate vase or lamp, sensitive equipment, expensive crystal, dinnerware or other fragile objects. The professor wasn't seeking a better way to package merchandise when he came upon the wood curl in his experiments. Actually, he was working at the request of an Atlanta client to find a way to economically produce wood shavings for fragrant potpourri. Some coarse wood pieces are found in the potpourri on today's market, but it consists mainly of botanicals and the 
 
industry was interested in something much thinner and more attractive than the planner shavings that are currently used. 
Dr. Rice, who holds a degree in forestry from Auburn University and majored in wood tech nology at North Carolina State, where he earned Master and Doctorate Degrees, set to work modifying the knives on a disc flaker- a machine used in the production of structural flakeboard and similar construction panels. He experimented with many settings until he found the proper blade configuration that would produce a sliver of curling wood. 
The professor soon realized, however, that the project had headed into a different direction. The critical adjustments on the knives resulted in a clean, spring-like curl that would be more suitable as a packing material than serve as scented chips in potpourri baskets. The inventor had hit on a packing material that would be perfectly biodegradable, a product that would not be thrown away, but have secondary uses such as a mulch for plants, a pet litter, a fire starter for the fireplace and others. 
Vince LaTereza, an attorney for the university who is helping Rice secure a patent, termed the development a breakthrough for companies that have sought more environmentally sound 
 
methods of packaging their products. Rice and the university's research 
foundation are currently working with two companies that have shown keen interest in the product and a much greater response will surely come now that the United Press and Cable News Network have picked up the story. 
The wood curls also could replace popcorn (real popcorn, that is.), another material manufacturers found to be an effective, inexpensive cushion to protect merchandise. It seemed to be ideal for packing until it was found that insects liked to hitchhike in the edible material. Shippers began spraying with pesticides to eliminate the bugs, but that brought on another problem; some humans ate the pesticide-laced popcorn. Street people and other persons rumrr.aging through garbage cans and boxes for food were known to eat the poisoned material. 
Wood particles have been used in the past for packing and Rice is often asked why excelsior, a tangle of thin wood strands that preceeded the foam peanut, is no longer popular. The wood technologist explained t hat excelsior, which is still being used to some extent, has to be manually stuffed around items that are packaged, while foam peanuts and the 
(contin ued on page 23) 
 
 A properly constructed logging road is essential to a good timber harvesting operation. 
 
HARVESTING PRACTICES CLOSELY MONITORED 
 
[!] here wa a time when a careless logger could build th e kind of forest road s and log decks during a timber harvest that would lead to soil ero ion and sedimentati on in adjace nt streams and w etland and th e landowner would not be overly co nce rn ed w ith his shoddy perform ance. 
Th e landowner would end up w ith his property damage d, but he wo uld not be held re pon sible for having hired such an irrespon ible logger, even wh en hi neighbor's land and property far downstream were affected by th e gros negligence. 
But tim e have changed. Th ere i now great public conce rn over environmental problems; th ere are demand for tri cter control over our natural re ource . 
Accordin g to th e Environm ental Protection Division (EPD), th e landown er 
now ultimately re pon ible fo r 
r ia Fore t Winter 1 91 
 
activities on his land that may cause water quality or wetlands violation s. The determination of EPD in carryin g 
Seriousness Of Harvest Problems Stressed In Workshop 
Series 
out environmental protective measures is reflected in its penalties; a landowner could be fin ed for each day of violatio_n. 
 
Staff Forester Frank Green of th e Georgia Forestry Commission is state coordinator for the program . He planned a series of December workshops in cooperation with the Cooperative Extension Service to appri se landowners of the seriousness o f the problem and provide measures they can take to protect themselves. 
" In my work I often hear complaints about loggers from landowners who have recently sold timber," Green said. " Th ey say the loggers fill the creeks with debris, scar the land with eroding logging road s, and literally trash th e property with oil containers, old tires, cables and even human waste. " 
The coordinator said he always asks if they used the services of a professional forester or insisted on a properly written contract. " In most instances", he said, " their answer to both questions is 'no."' 
Green advises landowners to 
 
 engage a professional forester who would (1) determine a fair stumpage price for the timber, (2) point out sensitive areas on the tract that would need special protection, (3) locate anu :ay out roads, log decks, stream crossings, etc. , (4) develop a contract with these concerns in mind, and (5) monitor the logging operation to assure the landowner that all conditions are met. 
The Forestry Commission was designated by the EPD in 1978 to coordinate the forest water quality program. Since that time, Green and others with the Commission have conducted numerous workshops, seminars and demonstrations to promote measures called " Best Management Practices." The measures, often called BMP's, are guidelines now used by thousands of Georgia landowners in managing their natural resources. 
Green pointed out that a wealth 
of literature dealing with the subject has been created over the years and various booklets, bulletins and other printed pieces are available at all Commission offices. He said a sample "Timber Sale Agreement" for landowners, which lists the BMP's, is also available. 
As a requirement of the Clean Water Act, the Commission recently conducted a survey to determine BMP compliance among all landownerships. Overall, compliance was lowest by the private landowner when compared with forest industry and U. S. Forest Service. In addition compliance was generally lower in the mountains than in the coastal plain or all ownerships. 
Problems noticed most were poorly constructed logging roads, improper stream crossings, and logging debris left in streams. With advanced planning and appropriate timber sale contracts, most of these problems can be easily avoided . 
 
A renewed emphasis on the importance of forested wetlands has prevailed in recent years and a definition of these lands and their benefits to the environment are found in the excerps from the booklet, Best Management Practices for Forested Wetlands in Georgia: 
Georgia's forests provide a tremendous variety of goods and services for the people ofthe state and region.lf properly managed, using good conservation practices and techniques, these forests can provide continued and improved benefits, even with the pressures of increased population and urbanization. Wetlands have been recognized as one of the nation's important resources. 
Wetlands are those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Georgia's forested wetlands are an important component of the state's forests. 
The south's fourth forest report identifies 3.5 million acres of bottomland hardwood in Georgia. In addition, portions of several other forest types are classified as wetlands. These wetlands have many functions and values, among which are: water quality, timber production, fish and wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, recreation, education and research... 
Best Management Practices have been developed by a task force representing a wide range of interests in forested wetlands. Properly and carefully implemented, BMPs will protect and enhance important wetlands functions on most sites under most weather conditions while allowing economic silvicultural operations. Some wetlands sites are not suitable for commercial timber production. On extremely sensitive sites or in extremely severe weather conditions, more stringent measures may be required. These BMPs are designed and intended for silvicultural operations where sustained timber production is one of the landowner's objectives... 
Geor ia Forest /Winter 1991 9 
 
 A lone reconnaissance helicopter whirled above the great Okefenokee Swamp as shadows lengthened. The pilot was about to call it a day when he spotted a small fire of less than a quarter of an acre in size near Jack Island. Unfortunately, the aircraft was low on fuel and could not begin an initial attack before refueling in Waycross 40 miles to the north. By the time the pilot was able to return for a water drop, the fire had grown to several acres and was racing too rapidly across the dry swamp for the pilot to handle. 
The date was August 1, 1990 - a day to be long remembered by the Georgia Forestry Commission. The small fire grew in intensity and size and before it was finally subdued two months later, it had burned 20,773 acres of swamp and forestland, required the largest deployment of forest firefighting manpower and equipment ever in Georgia and cost $9 million. 
It went down in the record books as Fire 4275-Short's Fire. 
 
DIARY OF AMAJOR FIRE 
 
SEPTEMBER 1: Additional resources, including hand crews and helicopters, were ordered and the Commission began plowing firebreaks to protect threatened areas, but the fire continued to spread rapidly within the swamp and by the end of the day it had spread to 15 acres. State office personnel were notified. 
SEPTEMBER 2: Fire has now grown to 225 acres as tractorplow units continued to prepare uplands adjacent to the swamp for a major run . 
SEPTEMBER 3: It was Labor Day, it was no holiday for the firefighters as the inferno spread to 800 acres over the dry swamp. Flames were 75 feet high. At 8:00 p. m., the final run of the day drove the fire out of the swamp, across the refuge boundary and onto Container Corporation lands. Resources on the scene now included 20 tractor-plow units, three engines, a 9,000-gallon water tank truck, three helicopters and 57 firefighters. Suppression activities were concentrated on halting the spread of fire on private lands. 
70/Georgia Forestry/Winter, 7991 
 
SEPTEMBER 4: As the fire continued to spread, crews worked on fast moving flanks along the swamp' ed ge. Helicopters fought to cool advancing heads as gro und crews worked to reduce fuels ahead of the approach ing fire front. Sprinkler systems were installed to protect the Stephen Foster State Park facilities and hand crews began raking around hundreds of trees inhabited by redcockaded woodpeckers. An open line on the fire was too hot for hand crews to begin containment activities. 
SEPTEMBER 5: In addition to the woodpecker habitat, private residences and commercial tourists enterprises were threatened by the stubborn fire . A Type II in cid ent commander and other interagency overhead were ordered. 
SEPTEMBER 6: An interagency team led by Joe Kin g o f Cherokee National Forest was assembled to command the Short's Fire. 
SEPTEMBER 8: All of the area between Georgia Highway 
 
 117 and the main fire had been burned out and the east side of "the pocket" had been black lined between the highway and the swamp's edge. Retardant drops began on 
the east flank of the fire to protect Stephen C. Foster State 
Park. Helicopter bucket drops began reinforcing the retardant line. Hand crews began mop-up on the upland flanks of the fire but the swamp flanks were still too active for direct attack. The fire area had increased to 2,500 acres. Resources on the fire at this point included 29 tractorplow units, seven engines, a watertender(9,000 gal.), one retardant aircraft, six helicopters and 170 personnel. 
 
SEPTEMBER 9- 16: The mop-up on burned out areas continued . Hand crews began containment along the south flank in the swamp. The fire area had been stabilized at 2,600 acres. Seventy percent of the line had been contained by black lines, retardant lines, sprinkler systems, or helicopter/bucket wet lines. Within the 2,600-acre containment zone, fuels were low scrub-shrub, some of which were burned twice in the past five years. It was possible to work on the fire in the swamp and there was a reasonable chance of containing the fire until suppression action peaked during this phase of the fire at 20 tractor-plow units, eight engines, one engine tender, five helicopters, two retardant planes, and 253 personnel. The overhead team began demobilizing personnel and equipment and by September 17 had turned the fire back over to refu ge personnel, leaving only the refuge staff, one 20-person crew, three helicopters and air support personnel. 
SEPTEMBER 18- 19: Refuge personnel were faced with the task of holding the fire perimeter around a 2,600-acre fire , mostly within the swamp, with over 200 acres of burning peat in one area. Fire activity immediately began picking up. Several spots were suppressed around the 
 
By the ninth day of the fire, six helicopters were on the scene. This one is 
making a water drop to reinforce a 
retardant line established by an air tanker. 
Georgia Forestry/Winter, 7991/11 
 
 Firemen from several counties used hose to assist forest firefighters who battled the blaze with plow units and pilots who fought the widespread fire from the sky. 
72/Georgia Forestry/Winter, 1991 
 
 A tanker releases retardant as it makes a pass over the burning forest. 
 
perimeter of the fire. All available resources were committed toward reinforcing lines in anticipation of a cold front scheduled to pass with the next few days. Additional resources were ordered. 
SEPTEMBER 20: As fire behavior conditions worsened in anticipation of the passage of a strong cold front, an interagency short team was ordered . 
SEPTEMBER 21: The Virginia Team , led by John Coleman of the Washington National Forest, assumed command of the fire. 
SEPTEMBER 23: The long expected cold front passed through with winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour and relative humidities in the 20's. Lines held throughout the day, but just before dark, gusty winds blew flaming Spanish moss over the southeast corner of the swamp perimeter line. Attempts to suppress the escaped fire with helicopters before dark failed. North winds continued to expand the escaped fire area throughoutthe night. The fire spread into swamp forest areas with heavier fuels. At this point, all suppression action within th swamp was curtailed and action was now concentrated on protecting property or resources on upland areas around the swamp, except where it was necessary to drop water or retardant in the swamp to cool off or slow down a run or front advancing toward suppression crews on the upland. The fire area increased rapidly over the next few days. 
SEPTEMBER 26: The fire had now grown to 10,500acres. Suppression action involved plowing lines between the swamp edge and the nearest major break (usually the Perimeter Road), burning out between the breaks, then suppressing any spots escaping the burn-out zone when the main fire made its runs toward the swamp's edge. Steady winds from the east aided suppression efforts tremendously, allowing suppression crews to confine the 
(continued on page 18) 
 
It takes a lot of interagency 
 
teamwork to subdue a major 
 
forest fire. It requires well 
 
trained personnel, modern 
 
equipment, dependable com- 
 
munications and effective 
 
strategy. 
 
Alan Dozier 
 
Associate Chief, Forest Protection Georgia Forestry Commission 
 
Georgia Forestry/Winter, 1991/13 
 
 THE COMPOSITION OF HEARTWOOD 
 
As trees reach maturity, they begin to develop heartwood in the center of the stem, major limbs and roots. Heartwood is composed of cells no longer involved in the life processes of the plant, and its primary function is to provide strength and stiffness to 
the tree. In some species, such as black walnut, heartwood is 
easily seen because of its darker color. In other species, such as baldcypress, Southern yellow pine, and chestnut, the heartwood also can exhibit varying degrees of resistance to decay. In species that may exhibit decay resistance, wood from very old and slowly grown trees seems more likely to possess this 
characteristic. Between the heartwood and bark is a shell of living 
tissue called sapwood, which varies in width with individual trees and different tree species. Sapwood cells in the living tree are alive, and much of the younger 
 
timber being grown for commercial use today is almost all sapwood. 
Sapwood products of all species will rot if placed in a moist, warm environment that encourages the growth of decay organisms. The sapwood of Southern yellow pine will accept preservative pressure treatment very well, and therefore it is the species most favored forth is use in construction nationwide. 
As heart timber from decay resistant species is generally unavailable in commercial quantities today, preservative treated wood is used instead in situations where decay may be a problem. For most uses, this is the logical and practical choice, as available heart timber may be both expensive and variable in decay resistance. 
Species which may have heartwood of moderate decay resistance in Georgia include: Douglas fir and larch in softwood and honey locust in hardwoods. 
 
UNPAINTED HEARTPINE HOUSE STILL SOUND AFTER WEATHERING 91 YEARS 
assing through jewel, Ga. is like traveling through a time warp that has left this small community virtually untouched for almost a century. j. C. Raley's ominous looking heartpine house - complete with gables and the appearance of being haunted- enhances the nostalgic impression. 
 
Jewel, population approximately 75, is located on a strip of Highway 16 running east and west from Sparta to Warrenton, where the Ogeechee River separates the counties of Warren and Hancock. The Raley heartpine home is on the east end of a strip of housing fringing both sides of the road. It is next to impossible to pass this house without noticing it. 
"The house draws a lot of attention," 
said the owner, 76-year-old J. C. Raley. 
"Always has." Raley, who has lived in the house since 1950, raised a family there. His two sons live nearby. Raley and his wife, Inez, still live there and remain unperturbed by curious travelers who stop to take pictures and inquire to what degree the house is haunted. 
"I guess we've had people from every 
14/Ceorgia Forestry/Winter, 1991 
 
state in the Union stop by and take pictures." Raley said. " I just tell them to go ahead and I then go on about my business. " 
Raley said there is one lady from Macon who stops frequently when enroute to Augusta and always gets around to saying, "this house has just got to be haunted." 
What may be misinterpreted for haunted could be an atmosphere of sturdy calm. Even Raley's 13-year-old 
dachshund, C. C. (named for Charlie 
Chaplin) seems as relaxed as the town of Jewel. 
The Raley house is unusual in anumber of ways. Raley has never painted the house because he says it looks better in its natural state. Indeed, to awood purist, 
 
painting this monument of heartpi ne would be a terrible transgression. Built in 1900, Raley remembers that his fath er told him of hauling in the heartpine via a two-horse wagon from surroundi ng forests. 
A carpenter by trade, Raley bought the house in 1950. He is reluctantto say what he paid for it, but emphasizes that he "didn't pay as much as they w ere asking. " 
The inside of the Raley house is just as impressive as the outside. Th e cavemou rooms, with high ceilings and picture from the tum of the century looking 
Mr. and Mrs. Raley stand in front of their picturesque home. 
 
 down from the walls, reflect a peaceful quality. Stained glass windows refract morning sunlight on an intricately designed staircase. The mantle, also heartpine, is a masterpiece of woodwork that has prompted many offers of purchase; but like the rest of the house, it remains intact. 
"I guess the only part that's not heartpine is the backsteps," Raley said. .He replaced the originals with treated pine to alter the steep 13-step climb to the backdoor. The redesigned steps do not detract from the personality of the house. Even C. C. seems to like them; sleeping under the steps in a basket is one of the dachshund's favorite pastimes. 
Actually, Jewel is old cotton country, once bustling with agricultural activities. But Raley remembers that when the cotton mill burned in 1927, commerce began to go downhill. To make matters worse, the cotton gin then fell into 
 
disrepair and the bustling ground to a halt. 
Now retired, Raley has spent his entire life in the Jewel area. As a boy he began learning the carpentry trade by covering houses with wooden shingles. During all this time, Jewel and Raley's heartpine house endured in their original state as a reminder of times past. The community and the land reflect basic values. Sixtyfour of Jewel's 75 residents belong to the Jewel Baptist Church. 
Some people think it's just a matter of time until Georgia's growing movie industry discovers the Raley house for a good old fashioned horror movie. "I wouldn't have any objections to something like that," Raley said, "if we could work out the terms." 
 
But so far, Jewel and the Raley house remain relatively obscure. "We are off the beaten path and we're small," said Raley sitting on the backsteps of the house. "Everybody here knows everybody else, and we're not really close to other towns." 
He paused and looked out at the pine woods in the distance. "But all things considered, I think we're blessed," he said . 
 
Geor ia Forest Winter 1991/15 
 
 TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN 
H. L. STODDARD SAYS BURN! 
 
By Bill Edwards 
 
orne people might say H. L. Stoddard, Jr. has a serious case of Smokophobia (fear of Smokey Bear). "Smokey Bear is the most dangerous mammal ever to walk the North American continent," proclaims Stoddard looking out over the pine forests of his 1,000 - acre Sherwood Plantation near Thomasville. Stoddard's dislike for Smokey dates back many years to what he calls "a propaganda campaign that labeled all fire as bad and inadvertently instilled harmful concepts that we 've been paying for ever since." " Smokey was a carefully calculated and effective propaganda tool," Stoddard said. " He was personalized , humanized and well liked .by the American public. Worst of all, he was believed, and the second most recognizable figure in the world. The first was Santa Claus." Stoddard pauses, picks up a pine cone and examines it. " Smokey's creators had the best of intentions," he continues, "however, results have been disastrous fires that could have been prevented through intelligent burning programs. But it's hard to run wide open in one direction for so many years, then turn around and convince people in the opposite direction. " Stoddard's ideas are regarded by many as radical, but he calls them progressive and offers evidence and experience to support them. His premise is simple : In fire dependent ecosystems, only bad management allows extreme accumulation of hazardous fuel ; fire should be constructively used on such ecosystems and regulated as nearly as possible to imitate nature's use of fire to cause oxidation. In non-fire dependent ecosystems, natural decay replaces fire as a catalyst for oxidation. " Fire is rapid oxidation," Stoddard said. "Decay is slow oxidation . Fire dependent ecosystems need fire- and Southern yellow pine species are 
16/Georgia Forestry/Winter, 1991 
 
definitely fire evolved, fire adjusted, and fire dependent." Stoddard says growin g Southern yellow pine efficiently demands frequent and correct use of fire . 
EVOLUTION BY Fl RE Stoddard can become eloquent when talking about fire. " Earth was born in fire," he said. " As life evolved, the most adaptable form s of vegetation and animal s formed a bond with fire to reap oxidation benefits. In America, our most magnificent forests existed in a sea of grass, wh ich offered combu stibility for recyclin g and perpetuation of life." He makes a sweeping gesture to the tall pines surrounding him, " In my opinion, you cannot burn these pine forests too often," Stoddard said, " simply because nature will prevent it by lack of fuel. When fire is completely removed from thi s environment, forces are set in motion that will 
Stoddard in the midst of his well managed forest. 
 
destroy pines in time, mainly through being replaced with hardwoods. Not to mention that allowin g excess fu el to accumulate can result in burnin g the forest to worthless crisp." 
Stoddard believes that fire, under natural conditions, was much more frequent among pine species than we have been led to believe. He conten ds that the research , based on an already altered environment, is basi cally flawed . 
The Thomasville timber grower can go on for hours with detailed and scientific debate on the benefits of controlled burning. He has been in almost every state in the U. S. gathering evidence to support " controlled burning" theories. He dislikes the term " prescribed burning" because he says"it sounds like a doctor who might know what he's doing." 
" I do not consider myself an official forester, ecology analyst, botan ist, environmentalist, or anything el se in an official capacity," Stoddard sai d. " I do consider myself a capable observer and I draw conclusion s on that basis." 
Stoddard's modest evaluation of himself contrasts with an authority he reflects when discussing his theories. Could he be right and traditional theories be wron g? If Stoddard is an authority on prescribed (or controll ed) burning, how did he reach this statu s? 
A LIFETIME WITH NATURE 
Stoddard's father moved the family from Wiscon sin to Thomasville in 1924. They settled on the same 1,000 acres that Stoddard lives on tod ay. Young Stoddard was five years old at the time. His father, a self-taught ornithologist who had been a taxidermist for the Milwaukee Museum, spent the rest of his life studyin g quail, which led to a variety of forestry consultant duties for Thomasvi lle's numerous plantations. The senior Stoddard wrote a 559 page book titl ed 
 
 "The Bobwhite Quail: Its Habits, Preservation and Increase", published by Scribner's in 1931. Although now out of print, the book is still used by colleges and universities and considered by some to be the most definitive book on Bobwhite quail ever written. Columnist Ralph McGill described the book in a 1957 Atlanta Constitution column. Stoddard was later awarded the Brewster Medal for his book, the highest honor conferred by the American Ornithologist's Union. 
So young Stoddard grew up in close rapport with nature. Birds, animals, and pine forests of the vast Thomasville estates became his constant companions. Controlled burns, although not defined as such, were common in those days because people who had lived close to the land had a different perspective of fire. Young Stoddard often accompanied his father when burns were implemented, timber tracts evaluated, and quail studies made. 
Stoddard filed all these things away for future reference, but one incident in particular stands out in his memory. 
BUZZARD STUDY 
When Stoddard was eight years old, he accompanied his father on a series of buzzard study excursions. At the time, virtually no studies of buzzard habits had been done. The elder Stoddard fashioned a wire trap (20 feet long and 4 feet high) to catch buzzards for banding. Later, their migrations would be traced by recapturing them. 
The trap was placed deep in an undisturbed section of pine forest. A rotted mule or cow carcass was placed inside for bait. The next day, Stoddard and his father would return to find buzzards trapped inside having lunch. Stoddard's father would crawl inside the trap and band the buzzards. 
Buzzards do not like to be disturbed when they are having lunch, and Stoddard remembers their reactions very well. 
"A buzzard can regurgitate with a good deal of force and accuracy up to four or five feet," Stoddard remembers, "and while Paw was crawling around in there banding them, fifty buzzards would be scrambling around to take aim at him. I have to admit, he had a stronger stomach than I do. I had to get upwind." 
On a list of undesirable substances, buzzard vomit would maintain high priority. It may have been subcon- 
 
cious reaction to this childhood experience that turned young Stoddard's primary interest from ornithology to forestry. 
FORMAL EDUCATION 
Sustaining an interest in forestry, Stoddard learned as much as he could from his fat~er and surrounding plantation owners. When he enrolled at the University of Georgia, he majored in zoology, feeling that a formal study of forestry would duplicate much knowledge he had already acquired. But he always made the connections of forestry, zoology, geology and the schemes of nature that interrelated. 
"That's when I really began to consider nature's role for fire," Stoddard said . "It was obvious that it had been a factor in preserving nature's balance and harmony for thousands of years before human beings even thought about it. It relates to everything in a fire dependent ecosystem ." 
Going all the way back to the buzzard banding experience with his father, Stoddard even relates the decline of buzzard populations in pine forests to lack of burning in a fire dependent ecosystem. 
"I believe the heavy undergrowth makes it difficult for them to find carrion in pine woods," Stoddard said. "There's always been a lot of debate on whether buzzards locate food by sight or smell." 
RARE RESEARCH 
One of the major influences on Stoddard's study of fire was his involvement with the nearby Tall Timbers Research station in Tallahassee, Florida. A close friend of the organization's founder, Stoddard's father was active in establishing the facility and served as president of the organization for several years. Tall Timbers has been serving the public for 30 years by protecting wildlands. 
"It also has the largest collection in the Southeast on fire statistics relating to woodlands," Stoddard said. "This may be the largest collection of such data in the world, but I'm not sure about that." 
Stoddard does not serve in any official capacity with Tall Timbers, but maintains contact with the organization and its expanding activities. 
"Tall Timbers has data proving what is so hard for many people to believe," Stoddard said, "that fire is a necessary and beneficial tool of nature. It also provides a place for people from all 
 
over the world to come and compare notes on the constructive use of fire; and that sort of place is hard to come by with all the misunderstanding instilled by years of misguided propaganda." 
It is Stoddard's inflexible contention that society had better learn more about the proper application of fire and other aspects of harmonizing with nature "because our natural environment is shrinking and management techniques must blend with the patterns of nature, rather than resisting and distorting them." 
Stoddard said the U.S. Forest Service in some Western states has increased controlled burning programs by 25 percent in an effort to curb the annual fires that rage in some forested sections. He also said burning practices on Indian reservations have produced excellent results because reservation restrictions are less stringent. 
"Native Americans know how to maintain the land and forests in harmony with nature," Stoddard said. " They always have." 
When people ask Stoddard what makes him an expert, he generally does not refer to textbooks or statistics. His initial response is to show them the picturesque stands of pines on his 1,000 acres of Sherwood Plantation forests abounding with game and other wildlife, but almost devoid of such nuisance as Lymedisease carrying ticks. This supports Stoddard's belief that fire properly used "sanitizes" the forest. 
"I 've had the opportunity to burn on the same 1,000 acres of pine forests for 64 years," he says. " I burn loblolly stands on an annual basis and they look better every year. I know it works. And I know that when you exclude the carburetor that runs a fire dependent system, you open the door for something else to take its place." 
Stoddard sees many forestry personnel of the future serving as "burning technicians" in ecosystems that need their services. He envisions these forest custodians as highly trained and dedicated to the maintenance and balance of nature. 
" It is inevitable that if we survive as a species, we are going to have to begin to imitate nature in many ways; fire is just one of them," Stoddard says. "Some sources say the world's population will double in 40 years. If that happens, it doesn't take an environmentalist to figure out that some changes are going to have to be made." 
Georgia Forestry/Winter, 1991/17 
 
 DIARY OF AMAJOR FIRE 
(continued from page 73) fire to the southwest part of the swamp by working the fire along the swamp's edge as the fire area enlarged to the south. Any time during the active phase of the Short's Fire, strong winds from any other direction could, in two days time, move the fire to any part of the swamp's edge, making defense of private property almost impossible. Although the east flank of the fire held during the escape and did not grow during the remainder of the suppression effort, a major concern was that the black line would be outflanked by the active head growing to the south. A south wind could once again endanger Stephen Foster State Park. In addition to protecting private lands and resources around the perimeter of the swamp, fire proofing activities continued around all west side refuge and state park facilities, refuge facilities at Camp Cornelia, and Chesser Island. Hand crews raked all red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees within threatened areas. Suppression costs were now approaching $200,000 per day. 
OCTOBER 2: Transition occurred from the Type II Virginia Team to the Type I Southern Interagency Red Team led by Robert Kitchens from the Southeastern Regional Office of the USFS. The Short's Fire area continued to grow daily. Preparations were made for the expected burn out of the southern half of the Okefenokee Swamp. Several helicopter dip sites were constructed near the perimeter of the swamp. 
 
OCTOBER 9: The Short's Fire had burned 20,773 acres of swamp and forestland. Resources committed to the suppression action were 46 tractor-plow units, 16 engines, six engine tenders, six helicopters, three retardant aircraft and 629 personnel. During this period, other natural force~ were at work. The progress of tropical storm Klaus had been monitored for several days. Although the storm began to disorganize as it approached the area, it still had four inches of rain to drop over the Short's Fire. Tropi cal storm Marcos followed, dropping another two and a half inches of rain . Water levels in the swamp increased 12 to 18 inches. 
OCTOBER 10: Demobilization began on this date. 
OCTOBER 14: Plans were made to replace the Type I Red Team with the Type I Blue Team led by Rex Mann of the Daniel Boone National Forest to continue mop-up and fireline rehabilitation operations. Mop-up continued for several weeks as hot spots kept showing up. Rehabilitation of firelines, roads and camp sites, bank sloping and weeding of helicopter dip sites, repairing damaged culverts, etc. continued throughout the remainder of the year. 
O CTOBER 28 : The last of the team left. The Short's Fire was turned back over to the refuge. Much of the remaini ng mop-up in the swamp was accomplished by a helicopter rappelling team from Arizona. 
 
Personnel and equipment from the following agencies were used to suppress the Short's Fire: Georgia Forestry Commission, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U. S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Weather Service, Department of Defense, Federal Emergency Management Authority, Florida Division of Forestry, Texas Forest Service, orth Carolina Division of Forestry, Charlton County, Ware County, Brantley County, Clinch County, Jefferson Smurffit/Container Corp., Champion International, The Langdale Company, and Gilman Paper Company. During most of the suppression operation, the unified command concept was utilized where the interagency team and the Geor~ia Forestry Commission and sometimes the Florida Division of Forestry were in JOint command. 
 
78/Ceorgia Forestry/ 
 
 CfiD - - - - - - I11 f - - - - - - 
The University o fGeorgia 
Georgia Center for Continuing Education 
A short course, Negotiating Skills for Foresters, will be held at The University of Georgia's Center for Continuing Education on January 23, 24, 1992. This one and one-half day course will introduce the principals of successful negotiations, discuss the traits of good negotiators and carefully examine the negotiating process. 
Class exercises will be conducted throughout the course to develop participants' negotiating skills. The course is designed for procurement, service and consu lting foresters and others who are responsible for buying or selling forestry services or products. 
The instructor is James E. "Jim" Doescher, president of Jim Doescher &Associates, and a consulting forester with Natural Resources Planning Services, Inc. in Panama City, Florida. He is also a visiting lecturer at the Auburn University School of Forestry. 
Other forestry related courses offered during the first quarter of the new year include: Negotiating Skills for Foresters, Jan. 23-24; Desktop Mapping with Remotely Sensed Data, Feb. 12-14; Timber Income Tax, Feb. 24-28 ; and Natural Regeneration of Southern Pine, Mar. 2-4. 
For more information, contact Dr. Richard C. Field, Georgia Center for Continuing Education , The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 or call (404) 542-3063. 
 
GEORGIA'S NF SHARE ANNOUNCED BY FEDS 
Georgia will receive approx imately $916,500 as it hare of nati onal forest receipt coll ected in fi ca l year 1991 , accordin g to th e U. 5. Fore t Servi ce. 
By law. th e Fore t Servi ce pay 25 perce nt of th e revenues it co llects from timber sal e . grazing, recreation , minerals, and land u e to tates in which nati onal forest lands are located. Th e fund are u ed for schools and roads. 
Forty-one state and Pu erto Ri co w ill share in payment totaling more th an $304 million . 
Th e largest payment will go to Oregon, approx imately $136.73 6,700, and th e small e t amolJ.!Jl w ill be paid to orth Dakota, $64.75. 
WHAT IF EVERYONE PLANTED JUST ONE TREE? 
 
COMMISSION RECEIVES SAF AWARD 
The Georgia Forestry Commission has received the 1991 Society of American Foresters (SAF) Employer Recognition Award. 
Presented for the first time this year, the award recognizes employers who have given outstanding support to their employees' professional development. John W . Mixon, director, accepted the award on behalf of the Commission. 
To win the award, the Commission met a strict set of criteria, including strong support for foresters to participate in SAF continuing education and other professional activities. 
"Employers of members are extremely important to SAF participation. Their support makes it possible for members to attend meetings, serve on committees, and conduct the affairs of the Society," William H. Banzhaf, SAF executive vice president, explained, "Such support is to the benefit of not only employees, but also to employers, the forestry profession, and the community at large. " 
The Society of American Foresters is the national scientific and educational organization representing all segments of the forestry profession in the United States. 
 
LOOKING 
BACK 
 
45 YEARS AGO 
Another seven counties joined Georgia's expanding forest fire control program by signing an agreement to establish protection units. Negotiations are underway to interest other counties to join the 13 now in the system...Twenty forestry educators, from states as far away as Maine and California, visited Georgia to inspect its woodlands and forest industries...One of the new forest lookout towers was erected recently in Haralson County...One of the largest sawmills to be built in North Georgia in many years is now in full operation near Ellijay ... 
25 YEARS AGO 
The first national "natural" landmark was dedicated in Floyd County. The Marshall Forest near Rome became one of 14 natural landmarks in the United States. located at the base of Horseleg Mountain, the forest is used by Shorter College and other area schools as a laboratory...386 forest firefighters from the Commission, industry and federal agencies participated in a massive drill to help train personnel for the "real thing"... More than $200 million went into construction of wood-using industries in Georgia in 1966. Companies building new plants included U. S. Plywood Corporation, Allied Timber, Ace Post and Georgia-Pacific ... May 1 marked the 25th anniversary of the nationwide Tree Farm Program. Georgia observances included special programs recognizing the first tree farmers in the state to participate in the movement... 
 
ear i f, 
 
1 
 
 Senior Forester Dale Higdon (/eft) and Patrolman Terry Trammell, of the Gwinnett County Commission Unit, examine ro w of ornamental pear trees for disease. The treesare typical of the thousands planted in the Atlanta area that have contributed to Atlanta 's national image as a " City in a Forest. " 
URBAN FORESTRY EMERGING WITH VITAL NEW INFLUENCE 
 
Larry Morris, Commission District 
 
Forester for Atlanta and surroundin g 
 
urban areas, remembers when urban 
 
forestry was considered by som e to be 
 
a trivial fringe benefit- somethin g nice 
 
to have, but maybe not necessary. 
 
All that is changing now, as urban 
 
forestry programs move to the fore- 
 
front of public awareness and increasing 
 
federal funds are provided to urban 
 
forestry projects. Motivation for funding 
 
is based not only on alleviation of 
 
environmental crisis factors, but also on 
 
little publicized sociological benefits. 
 
" It may surprise 
 
a lot of people 
 
when they leam 
 
just how vital, ver- 
 
satile and influen- 
 
tial urban forests 
 
are," said Morris, 
 
who has been 
 
active in Atlanta's 
 
urban forestry 
 
MORRIS 
 
activities in the 
 
past 13 years. " From an environmental 
 
perspective, trees can have a tremen- 
 
dous beneficial affect on clean air 
 
quality, temperature, erosion, humidity, 
 
wildlife habitat, noise level control, and 
 
20/Geor ia Forest /Winter 1991 
 
atmospheric carbon levels." Morris also pointed out that an 
increasing number of studies are revealing sociological benefits of trees in an urban atmosphere. For instance, studies show that hospital patients having windows facing trees heal faster and require fewer pain killers. Also trees absorb noise, especially high frequency sounds that are stressful to humans. 
However, one of the most basic benefits of urban trees is removal of particulate matter and conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygen. This means cleaner air and healthier people who breathe the air. One acre of mature trees creates enough oxygen for 18 people. 
" Finally, the necessity and urgency to meet urban forestry needs is being recognized," Morris said. "In the seven county area served by our district, we're busier than we have ever been in all the years since I've been here. President Bush recognized the environmental significance of urban forestry and is supporting national programs like America The Beautiful and Global ReLeaf." 
So things are better. There is more 
 
public awareness and support for urban forestry. Funding is available for programs even in this time of severe economic recession . 
But with new attention comes closer scrutiny, some of which veteran urban forester Larry Morris considers to be questionable. 
QUESTIONABLE SURVEY 
Although Atlanta is popularly 
known as a " City in a Forest" , a recent 
national survey gave Atlanta low ranking among major cities for the number of trees shading its streets. The survey blames Atlanta's rapid development and declining forestry budget for the situation; cutting of urban forests for development is a major concern. 
Morris agrees that Atlanta has serious urban forestry problems, but based on his 13 years experience, he takes exception to the survey's low ranking of Atlanta. " I would call this survey an incomplete evaluation conducted with techniques that are not comprehensive," Morris said. "We have just received a grant from the ATB (America The Beautiful) program to help Atlanta conduct a comprehensive street survey. The 
 
 results of thi urvey will determine how accurate the previous evaluation was." 
Meanwhile, another report by the American Forestry Association (AFA) tated that " over twice as many trees are removed than are planted in Atlanta." Morris points out, however, that th national average for urban tree removal i four removal for every one planting. 
Marcia Ban I y, head of Tr Atlanta, a private organization that promote planting and maintenance of urban tre , aid Atlanta is losing an average of nearly 30 acres of tree a day for con truction of hou ing, hopping centers, highway and oth er dev lopments. Morris aid a continuou effort to curb thi type of tree loss is underway but more public awareness and upport are needed. 
 
OLYMPIC IMAGE 
 
Atlanta' "City in a Forest" image ha 
 
become even more important with 
 
the 1996 Olympic . M ayor Maynard 
 
Jackson has appointed a special commit- 
 
tee to examine Atlanta' tree need . A 
 
report from the group is expected early 
 
next year. 
 
. 
 
Commi ion Director John M1xon, 
 
who directed the nation' fir t urban 
 
forestry program establi hed in Atlanta in 
 
the mid 60 ', is chairman of th 
 
Georgia Tree oalition formed in co n- 
 
junction with immed iate urban for- 
 
e try n ed . A major objective of the 
 
Coalition i to plant tree in Atlanta and 
 
other Georgia Citi s to beautify the tate 
 
for the co ming Olympi cs. 
 
During a two month period, Commis- 
 
sion per onnel supervised the 
 
planting of 16,000 tree in the Atlanta 
 
area under the auspice of the Coali- 
 
tion . M emb rs of th e oalition 
 
in clud : ity of Atlanta, Fulton 
 
ounty, M arta, DeKalb County Com- 
 
mi ion , Tr es Atl anta, Atlanta Park 
 
Pride, Georgia D partment of orrec- 
 
tion , and G orgia Department of 
 
Tran portation . 
 
Looming larg over Atlanta' growing 
 
con cern over urban fore try ne d i th 
 
e timate ba ed on a nationally u ed for- 
 
mula that ay the average city tre t in 
 
Ameri ca cou ld upport 200 tr et tr e 
 
per mil b tween idewalk and urb. 
 
Based on thi formula an d an e ti mat d 
 
75,000 exi ting tr et tree , Atlanta ha 
 
pace for nearly a half million more 
 
tree . 
 
MORRIS NOT SURPRISED 
From hi Com mi ion office in Stone Mountain, wh re the urban forestry need of even urrounding counti 
 
converge, Larry Morris is not surprised at the current surge of civic interest over trees. Morris, like other urbanforestry-oriented individual and organization , ha b en repeating tatem ents of need for years. 
"The need for an urban forestry renaissance in Atlanta i not new," Morri aid. " Its ju t that the facts have now been accelerated into the public arena by environmental concerns and the scheduled 1996 Olympics. Actually, there are similar situation in urban areas - large and small - all over the United State ." 
Morris favors long range programs that will harmonize nature with urban progre s - rather than a quick fix approach instituted by the udden ru h of public concern . 
"The growing of a tre i a low process," Morris aid, "and the maintenance of urban tree i more cone ntrated simply because urban tree are subject to o much stress. So the basic con ideration hould be planning. Con id rhow longa replanted tree require to grow - and consider the consequence before cutting urban fore t ." 
Morri said urban ordinance are nece ary to in till the e valu s. Commission personnel from his di trict have a i ted with the adoption of numerous tree ordinance program . Tho e assisted by th e Commission in adopting ordinance include: Cobb ounty, City of Atlanta, Acworth, M arietta, Clayton 
ounty, and Gwinnett County. 
EDUCATIO NA LSERI ES 
Commission urban fore try personnel al o provid an ongoing erie of educational programs for school children, and 24-hour fire protection for wooded area of seven urban counties. Th ey also erve a technical advi or of regional and national promotional campaigns for urban fore try. One of th mo t important of the e program i Proj ct Learning Tr , a national effort involving faci liatory work hops de igned to educate teacher on fore try. The teacher in turn educat tudent . 
" Urban forestry ha com e a long way ince it was establi hed and ba ical ly ju t worked hade tre ca e - althou gh thi wa and isstill very important b cau e of the influence on cl ean air," Morri aid. "W 'r getting more and mar involved in things that we've never b en involved with before. Hopefully, thi urge of public concern will erv a a cataly t to provide the public upport and fundin g to do what i n ed d in Atlanta. The know-how i already here. W hav it in thi o ffice." 
 
THE BOOK CORNER ~1 
TH E SOUTHERN FOR EST, A chronicle, by Laurence C. Walker. University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, TX. $29.95 plus $2.00 postage. 
When the first European explorers reached the southern shores of North America in the early seventeenth century, they faced a solid forest that stretched all the way from the Atlantic coast to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. The ways in which they and their descendants used-and abused-the fore t over the next nearly four hundred years form the subject of The Southern Forest. 
In chapters on the explorers, pioneers, lumbermen, boat builders, and foresters, Laurence Walker chronicles the constant demands that people have made on forest re ources in the South. 
With the advent of professional forestry in the twentieth century, however, the southern forest has made a comeback. A professional forester himself, Walker speaks from experience of the difficulties that fore sters face in balancin g competing interests in the forest and offers predicition for the forest's future. 
/ BOOKS -.r" 
GIVE US . / . 
WINGS 
 b 
 
I 
 
: 
 
Gear i fl 
 
& 
r 1 21 
 
 DISTRICT FORESTER WALL 
 
ENDS LONG GFC CAREER 
 
Forester Rowe Wall had his degree from the University of Georgia back in 1959 and was eager to get his career underway when the Forestry Commission assigned him to the Randolph County Unit to become the county's first forest ranger. 
He was named assistant district forester in fire control, Americus District, a short time later and in September of this year he retired as district forester in that 17-county district, the largest in the state. 
HEADED THREE DISTRICTS 
But Rowe Wall didn't spend all his career in the Americus District. After a decade in the fire control assignment, he was named district forester of the Newnan District, and in 1972, he transferred to Columbus to head a district that existed at that time. In 1980, it was back to Americus, where the veteran forester served his last 11 years. 
Wall, a native of Bainbridge, graduated from high school in Decatur County and went on to Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for two years before entering the School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia. 
The retired forester and his wife, Jeffie, continue to make their home in Americus, where they are active in the First Baptist Church. Wall served in the U. S. Army Reserve for several years and was active in th e Kiwanis Club in prior years. 
FLINT DEVELOPMENT 
Wall said one of the major developments in his district in recent years was the Flint River Nursery, the Commission's modern seed ling growing and packing facility in Dooly County. Personnel throughout his district have been involved in the success of the large nursery. 
The forester and his wife, who teaches school in Americus, have two sons and a daughter. Jeff, an ensign in the Navy, is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. Chris is a ophomore at Georgia Southwestern College and Fran is a senior at Americus High School. 
What will Wall do now that he is reti red? He is presently "taking it easy" he said, but friends who know the 
 
retired Commission employee realize that he will soon be into some kind of activity. They remember how energetic he has been for the past 32 years! 
 
PAUL BUTTS, UTILIZATION SPECIALIST, RETIRES AFTER 33 YEARS OF SERVICE 
 
Forester Paul Butts had his army discharge papers in his pocket and was headed South to resume his work with the Florida Forest Service when he suddenly decided to pay a courtesy call at the Georgia Forestry Commission state headquarters in Macon. 
It turned out to be more than just a friendly visit. There was an opening for a project forester in the Commission's McRae District on that particular day and Butts was offered the position . He readily accepted it. 
That was 33 years ago. Butts retired on the last day of November. He said he has witnessed tremendous Commission progres between those two dates. 
The retired forester is being remembered mainly for the pioneering work he accomplished in wood utilization. After six years in the McRae office, he transferred to Macon to accept the newly created position of Forest Utilization and Marketing Speciali t. It was part of a national program aimed at reducing waste in the manufacture of a broad range of wood products. He worked with forest industries around the state and also compiled and updated a comprehensive directory every third year on wood manufacturers, a publication widely used by 
 
companies, chambers of commerce and individuals. 
Prior to his employment with the Commission, the Oglethorpe County native had a tour of duty with the U. S. Army in treel ess Iceland, assisted th e post forester at Fort Ru cker an d worked for a short time for a pulp mil l in Alabama. 
During his many years of work in forest utilization, Butts said he aw th e emergence of Southern pine plywood, strand board, flake board, particle board and many other innovative building material that have now become commonp lace. 
Butts graduated from Oglethorpe County High School and earned a degree in forestry at the University of Georgia. He is married to the form er Miss Mary Elizabeth Swain of Tel fair County and they reside in Gray, wh ere they are members of Gray United Methodist Chu rch. Th y have a married daughter, Su an, who lives in Milledgeville. 
The veteran forester was pre ented a plaque by David Westmoreland, Assistant to the Director, in r cognition of his faithful service to th e Commission and the forest industry. Th e pre entation was made at the Commission's annual Thanksgiving Dinner. 
 
Paul Butts has erved as an "unofficial historian" of the Forestry Commission for sev ral years by collecting and preserving old documents, publications, artifacts and other materials pertaining to the state agency's past. 
One of his intere t has been the history of old Camp Wheeler, an infantry training center that stood on ground now occupied by the Commission's state headquarters. 
Macon and Bibb County re identssupplied him with photographs of the camp as it appeared as a tent city during World War I and the barrack th at occupied th e land during World War II. He also obtained pictures, sketches and map of the camp from the National Archives in Wa hington, D. C. 
Butts, along with Forester Charles Plac (retired), was instrumental in onvincing the tate to erect a historical marker at the site. 
 
 METRO FORESTRY PIONEER RETIRES 
 
J. L. STANFORD, district forest ranger of the Commission's Athens District, retired December 1 to mark the end of a 33-year career. The ranger, a native of Putnam County, came with the Commission in 1958 as assistant ranger in 
 
the Putnam Unit and became ranger of 
 
the Wilkinson County Unit two years 
 
later. He was named ranger of the 
 
Clarke-Oconee Unit in 1965 and 
 
assumed the position of district ranger 
 
in 1984. The retired ranger and his wife 
 
Joyce, have two sons, Kent of Putnam 
 
County and Donnie of Athens, and 
 
two grandchildren. Commission per- 
 
sonnel and other friends honored 
 
Stanford with a retirement dinner in 
 
Athens on December 2 . . . JENNY 
 
BROWN, a senior at Washington Com- 
 
prehensive High School, is the 1991 
 
winner of the F&W Young Forester 
 
Award and Scholarship. The award is 
 
presented annu- 
 
ally to a student 
 
for outstanding 
 
achievement in 
 
Georgia 4-H for- 
 
estry activities. 
 
The 16-year-old 
 
recipient of the 
 
honor will receive 
 
a $650 college scholarship. The 
 
SIM PSO N 
 
winner is selected 
 
by a panel of judges from the University 
 
of Georgia's Cooperative Extension Ser- 
 
vice ... RANGER JIM SIMPSON OF THE 
 
Camden County Unit ended an almost 
 
30-year-old career with the Commis- 
 
sion October 1 and many friends were 
 
on hand to honor him at a retirement 
 
supper. A graduate of Camden County 
 
High School, Simpson attended the 
 
Forest Rangers School at the University 
 
of Florida and worked for Union Camp 
 
Corporation and Kings Bay Army Term- 
 
inal before coming with the Commis- 
 
sion in 1962. The retired ranger and his 
 
wife, Betty, have two sons, Walter, an 
 
engineer, and Tim, who is in com- 
 
munications. Simpson spent his entire 
 
career as ranger in his home county 
 
and was presented a plaque from the 
 
county for his outstanding service to 
 
landowners and others for almost 
 
three decades. Simpson said he will be 
 
busy in his woodworking shop and do 
 
a little gardening now that he is 
 
retired.D 
 
 
 
WOOD TECHNOLOGIST 
(continued from page 7) 
curls he has created are "loose fill" and readily surround objects to be protected. He pointed out that loose fill is often automatically dispensed from great hoppers or chutes and must flow freely into the shipping containers. 
Rice said there is one disappointing aspect in the curling process; experiments in the school's wood shop and laboratory proved that only green wood would produce the desired curl. Well seasoned wood makes tight spirals that lack the cushion effect of the curl. 
Rice said scrap wood, including sawmill green trim, could be the source for a wood curl operation, but that represents a limited supply and it might be feasible, therefore, for timber to be purchased for the specific purpose of making the packing material. He said pine and yellow poplar seem to be the best species for curling. 
Now that Dr. Jim Rice has painstakingly positioned the sharp knife blades on the whirling disc flaker for a curl of a uniformed thickness and found a way to introduce wood grain at a certain angle to make that happen, you might expect to find the box you open next Christmas packed with blond wood curls instead of foam peanuts, popcorn or old fashioned excelsior. 
 
One of the five foresters who 
 
initiated the Commission's Metro 
 
Forestry Service almost a quarter of a 
 
century ago- a project that has grown 
 
into the widely acclaimed statewide 
 
Urban Forestry Program - has retired 
 
after a 35-year caree[r~.il!i~~~ 
 
Many 
 
who 
 
attended 
 
the 
 
recent retirement 
 
dinner in Gaines- 
 
ville 
 
honoring 
 
Crawford Cooper 
 
also remembered 
 
the other impor- ...... tant assignments _ ___ ~....,-., 
 
he ably handled L......--- - - - - ' through the years as the Commission evolved into one of the nation's leading forestry agencies. 
Cooper was born in Wilkes County and grew up in Athens. He worked as a tree trimmer after graduation from high school, served four years in the Air Force, attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and later transferred to the University of Georgia, where he earned a degree in forestry. 
His first assignment with the Commission was at the Dixon State Forest, later transferring to a forest technician post in Coffee County. He was a crew leader during a spraying operation during the state's devastating pine beetle epidemic in 1962 and was later transferred to Rome to become assistant district forester. He was assigned to lead the Resource Conservation Project in Gwinnett County three years later and in 1967 was called to Atlanta to help establish the Metro Forestry group. 
Cooper went on to work as an area forester, a project forester in the old RC&D program in Gainesville, and a wood energy specialist in Blairsville during the nation's fossil fuel crisis. He returned to the Gainesville District in 1981 to serve the remainder of his career as a project forester. 
The forester said he has "never been accused of rushing into anything" and fellow workers were not overly surprised when he married at age 52." In forestry terms, I guess I was a'deviation from the norm," he said. Cooper believes he is the only Commission employee to have become "a husband , father and grandfather all in a single day!" 
 
Georgia Forestrv/Winter.1991 /23_ 
 
 LET THIS BE 
THE YEAR! 
If you've considered planting trees on some unproductive acreage on your place for several years, but have never quite gotten around to it, let 1992 be the year. Isn't it about time you joined thousands of landowners across the state who have converted idle land into productive forests? 
Georgia has the ideal soil and climate conducive to the rapid growth of trees and as one of the nation's leaders in forest-related industries, you're not far from a good, steady market for your wood. 
Contact a Georgia Forestry Commission forester or ranger in your area or call a private forestry consultant for information on buying, planting and protecting seedlings that will turn your marginal fields into healthy stands of pine. 
Let this be the year. 
 
GEORGIA 
 
FORESTRY 
 
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({~} AI~~~"~ 
 
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