Georgia forestry, Vol. 7, no. 3 (Mar. 1954)

GEORGIA FORESTRY
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Forest Fires And The Farmer

(From the Atlanta Journal)

Georgia Forestry Officials indicate that many of the recent forest fires throughout the state were caused by malicious incendiaries and by farmers c arelessly burning off their fi e lds . The incendiary , of course , i s a criminal. But the farmer, wi th his land to be clea red, often is an unintentional fi r ebug.
In the first case, a man sets fire to his neighbor's property for spite, or jus t for the heck of it. He should be apprehended.
In the second case - one that is much harder to deal with - a fellow sets fire to his own land to clear the underbrush, to 1 1 sweeten the ground,'' or to chase away snakes.
This fellow has a perfect right to burn his fields or his woods. But in recent days, carelessness has allowed these local

fires to s pread on to adj oin!ng property, destroying valuable t imbe r .
In the weeks ahead, farmers in the state will prepare their fields for spring plowing. They will clear new land and burn underbrush.
Foresters have advised farmers to refrain from setting fires until hard rains have soaked the ground and the burning can better be controlled. They have asked that necessary blazes be watched closely, and that fire breaks and fire fighters be readied in advance.
More than 890 fires have ripped through sane 17, 47 5 acres of Georgia fares ts in the past week. Much of this wast e could have been prevented by taking simple precautions and by respecting a neighbor's property.

Vol. 7

GEORGIA FORESTRY
l\larch, 195-t Published Monthly
by the GEORGIA FORESTRY COi\li\llSSIOX,
State Capitol, Atlanta, Georgia Guyton DeLoach, Director

No.3

1\Iembers , Board of Commiss ioners:

Sam H. 1\Iorgan_____ __ _______ _____ __ ___ ___________________ ______ ____ ________________

.John l\I. McElrath __________ Macon

K. S. Varn ___ ___ __

C. l\I. J ord a n, Jr. ______________ Alamo

H. 0. Cummings __

__ Savannah _Waycross Donalsonville

Georgia Forestry is entered as second class matter at the Po~t

Offi ce under the Act of A ugu st 24, 1912. Member of the Georgia

P r ess Association.

EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS _

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_ Richard E. Davis R~b~rt Rutherford, Catherine Dismuke

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DISTRICT OFFICES, G EORGIA FORESTRY COl\ll\IISSIO~:

DISTRICT ! -Rout e 2, Statesboro

DISTRICT VI-P. 0. Box 505, Milledgeville

1-IST:PciCT li-P. 0. Box 26, Cam!lla

DISTRICT VII-Route 1, Rome

Ill STRICT III-P. 0. Box 169, Americus

DISTRICT VIII- P. 0. Box 811, ' Waycross

DISTRICT IV-P. 0. Box 333, Newnan

DIST RICT IX- P. 0. Box 416, Gainesville

DISTRICT V-P. 0. Box 328, McRae

DISTRICT X- P. 0. Box 302, W as hington

County Profits
In Protection
Of Forest Land
(From the Atlanta Constitution)
One doesn't always have to fight fire with fire. On the contrary, that method usually is the last resort. Much better is prevention and preparation that betters the chance to nip the blaze at the start.
Henry County has found that protection pays. The county has a fares try unit. In 1953 three lookout towers were available for the unit's use. As a result, losses from fire were cut to 253 acres as c ompared to the average of 2,500 or 3,000 acres that burned annually in the days before organized protee tion.
Besides timber, many homes and other buildings were saved becau se the firefighters got there in time to suppress the blazes in the woods and in the broom s edged fields.
The Henry County story is typica l among those c ounties which have, through cooperation with the state, established organized forest protection.
When smoke from wildfire is spotted on the Georgia horizon by County Forestry Unit towennen or by aerial patrol planes, a chain of reaction is immediately begun which does not halt until the last ember and flicker of flame from the wildfire are extinguished by a suppression crew. The tower operator or pi lot make their report via two-way FM radio to the dispatcher. The dispatcher, in turn, sends a suppression crew to the wildfire site, where an immediate attack is begun against the flames.

March Winds
Bring Forest

Fire Danger

Brisk wi nds, traditional ' 'trademark'' of t he month of Mar ch, migh t send Georgia's annual fares t fire loss soaring t his man th un less citizens take t he '' greatest precautions' ' wi th f i re in or near the woods.

That statement was made this

mon th by the Georgia Forestry

Commission in an appeal to Geor-

gia citizens to maintain a special

alertness during the extremely dangerous forest fire weather which Ma rch often brings.

RESULT OF MAN'S CARELESSNFSS--"hen Geo r gia farmers and landowners are careless with brush and trash bu r ning, especially during windy March days, forest losses like this are the res ult.

' 'The Comnilssion ' s Rangers and all its fire fighting personel, '' the report declared, ''will do all in their power t o de tec t forest fires and to suppr ess them as rapidly as possible . Unless the public is on our side, however- -unless special care is taken to prevent forest fires, we will be fighting a los in g battle.
The Commission's number one current objective is t o preven t a recurrence of the ras h of February fares t fires, dur ing which many counties r e p:>r t ed losing more acreage from wi l d -

fires in the first few days of the month than they had lost during the entire period fran July 1, 1953 to Feb. 1, 1954.
February ranked as one of the most dangerous - - and costliest -- months of recent date. Most of those fires were caused either by farmers burning off land preparatory to spring plowing or the l:urning of trash and brush piles. In each instance, the person hlrning would neglect to provide sufficient safety measures, and the fire would get ou t of hand and escape to nearby woods.

WILDFIRE'S MARK - -BLACKENED WOODLANDS--Fulton County Ranger W.G.

Harde s t hi t , according to Commission reports, were Districts 1,'2,3,4., and 8. Others received considerable damage, however; and it is felt that with the advent of the land clearing and plowing season in Districts further north,
these districts will re in cor-
responding danger from wildfires.
Several barns and buildings burned in fares t fires about the state in February, and more were prevented from burning only through rapid action of rapgers and fellow County Fares try Unit personnel. Several fares t experiment station buildings on the George Walton Experimental

HYatt, left, and Fourth Di st r ict Investigato r W. E. Lee ''mop up"

Forest in Dooly County narrowly

after a devastating wild fi r e. It will be many years before this escaped destructi on. In Carroll

forest is back in good product i on .

Coun t y, a sawmi 11 near Bowden

was not so fortuna t e, and Fourth

District Forester Curtis Barnes

joined other Commission District

Fores ters throughout the state

in as king farmers and landowners

to cease l:urning operations un-

til rains fell.

Commi s s i on i nve s tiga t ors were kep t busy, and in many a r e as thei r work s howed direct r esul ts a s s everal pers m s were brought to jail on charges o f violating t he s t a t e ' s forest fire laws. In Gw i nnet t Co\m ty, one person so
c ha r ged received a 12 months sentence, and in Camden County
(C on ti nued on Page 10)

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Schley County
Demonstration
Wood lo t management and fores t fire sup pressi on we re twin themes at a r ecen t Georgia Fo restry Commissi on demon stra ti on in Schley Coun ty near Ellaville.

Presen t ed unde r s pon s ors hip of t he Keep Schle y County Green ccmmi t t ee as one of that group's many activities in competition for t he annual Keep Georgia Green c on test cash award, the de monstration featured planting, 1ns ec ts and diseases, ores t management, and forest fire s uppression.
Schley County is 1953 wmner of the Keep Georgi a Green contest sponsored annual! y by the Georgia Forestry Assoc ia tion.
Dorsey Dyer , Extension Forester, Georgia Exten s ion Se rvi ce, and Troy Simm::m s , Assistant Dis trict Forester in Charge of Management, District Three, Georgia Forestry Comnis si on, headed the opening session on forest management. A demons tratioo plot from which a recent harvest had been made served as the management de,mons tr a ti oo si te.
Mr. Dyer demonstrated use of the pruning saw, and de scribed condi t ion s under whi ch pr un i ng is an ef fect i ve f orest management device. Th e t wo foresters outlined a proposed over-all cutti ng progr am fo r t he demonstration site under which reg-
ular cash crops cou ld be harves t e d and sufficient growing st ock allowed to guarantee additiona l cas h harvests at r egular interval s in future years..

DEMONSTRATION OF THE USE OF TELEVISION in spotting woods fires was a highlight of the recent meeting of the Georgia Forestry Commiss i on District Foreste rs in Rom e. Hermitage Tower on Arms t ron g Mountain was the scene of the demonstration. Towerman W. C. Lowery, top photo, temporarily exchanges his alidade for the TV camera in locating woods fires from his vantage point in Hermitage tower, center photo. In bottom photo, Guyton DeLoach, Georgia Forestry Commission Director, left, and Henry Cannon, Communications Engineer, right, watch the TV receiver, located in a house at the foot of the tower, for signs of a forest fire. The camera and the receiver were hooked into a closed circuit. The camera was fitted with a inch lens and a red filter.

Dollar s and cents figur es

were presented t o show the finan-

cial l oss suffered by the wood -

lot owner in clear cu tting oper ations.

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A field demonstration of trac

tor and plow units in suppressing

,

forest fires was given by per sonnel of the Georgia Forestry

J\\

Commission' s Third District Of-

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fice and the Marion County For-

estry Unit.

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MARCH, 1954

Southeastern Section Of SAF Holds Meet In Thomasville

The Southeastern Section of

With more than 250 fares ters

the Society of American Fares- present from Georgia, Florida,

ters concluded its two day meeting, Jan 20-30, in Thomasville with the installation of Ke nneth B. Pomeroy, of Lake City, Fl a., as chairman. Mr. Pomeroy, who will serve for one year,

and Alabama, the Thomasville
meeting is reported to have been the best attended and probably the mast successful ever held by t he Southeastern Sec ti en.

succeeds Archie E. Patterson. New officers also include Jack T. May, of Auburn, Ala., as vice-chairman, and F. H. Roberts on , Jr., o f Panama City, Fla., as secretary-treasurer.

F. F. Smith, of the Fayette Experiment Forest, Fayette, Ala., pr esided over Friday's sessions with J. W. Willingham, University of Florida, Gainesville, presiding over Saturday's sessions.

NEW AND OLD SAF LEADERS- -The installation of officers was a highlight of the recent meeting of the Southeastern section, SAF. K.B. Pomeroy, new chairman, top photo, addresses section mee t-

Ed Ruark , Georgia Forestry Commission Fire Control Chief, was elected chai rman of the Geo rgia Chapter of SAF , Earl T. Newsome, o f I n terstate Land Impro vement Co., Ma con , was elected v i ce-c hai rman, and Sa m Lyle of Union Bag and Pa per Gnp. , was e l ec t ed secretary-treasurer of t he Georgia Chapter.

Topics covered were ''Increasing the Use of Aerial Photographs in Forest Management,'' ''A Look at Short Rotation Pine Management,'' ''Soils Properties Related to the Growth and Yield of Slash Pine Plantations in Florida,'' ''The Present Status and Future of the Naval Stores Industry,'' ''Managing a Longleaf Pine Ex-
( Continued on Page 10)

ing following the installation

of officers. The group, shown i n bot t om pho t o, in- man; Jack T. May, API, Auburn, Ala., vice-chairman;

cludes, left to right, F. H. Robertson J r ., Inter- Archie E. Patterson, University of Georgia, reti r-

national Paper Co. , new secretary- treas urer; IL B. ing chairman, and Guyton DeLoach, Georgia Forestry

Pomerov, Southeastern Experiment Sta tion , new chair-
r
I .

Commiss ion Director, retiring vice-chairman.

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Multi-utilization

Heard County ;awmill Provides

Unusual And P1ofitable Market

Smith's Sawmill, shown top photo, specializes in cutting seven foot lumber which is manufactured into ammunition boxes at a box factory in LaGrange. This mill is located two miles west of Franklin, Georgia, on Highway 27.
Sawlogs ready to be sawed into box lumber, are shown below, on the yard at Smith's Sawmill.

A Heard County s awmill--along with nearly two dozen others operating in the nearby area-is providing an unusual and highly profitable market for tree fa rmers' improvement cuttin gs .
The mill, which specializes in cutting seven foot lumber for use in a box factory, the Newman Manufacturing Co. in LaGrange, is known as Smith's sawmill and is located two miles west of Franklin en Highway 27.
Mul ti -utilization, according to sawmill opera tor Max Smith serves as the theme of the'
mill's entire operations. His box lurrber comes from seven foot bolts or short logs which otherwise could not be utilized.
' 'These wood bolts, ' ' Mr.
Smith points out, ''could not be used for lumber because the logs are shorter than the minimum eight- foot length and because the quality of wood we use is too la.v for grade lumber. Many of the logs which come into the mill here are knotty or rough. Another reason tree farmers would be unable to utilize this timber elsewhere is because we are able
to t.ake ,m, any odd and inferior
spec1.es.
As a result, a new market has
been created in the area for rough pines and hardwood which, with the exception of some pine pulpwood, had no value otherWl.se. Today the West Georgia f armer is learning this wood does have a definite value. It is a source of irrrnediate cash which he can pick up on a rainy day when other farm work would be unfeasable. Unlike several other harvesting operations, the tree farmers do not deal with a middle man, l::ut merely harvest their wood and haul it

to the millyard, where they receive ready cash for their product.
The diameter specifications of wood utilized by this mill range from a minimum of eight inches t o a maximum of fourteen inches. Th~ prices paid for this wood range from $12 to $ 15 per standard cord.
Nearly all species except oak, hickory and ash are used. Maximum utilization is obtained by \}Sin g' an 00-Frick sawmill, with the carriage speed stepped up. The mill cuts on the inch with a board width range from three to 12 inches. Lumber is utilized t o manufacture ammunition boxes for the U. S. Government, with the production of boxes by the Newman plant m LaGrange .
Mr. Smith began operating in Heard County early last year, and since then has cut more than two million feet of lumber, averaging fran 10 to 12 thousand board feet a day with a sevenman crew .
''We're all in business to make a profit,'' he declares, ' ' and if we plan to remain in business, we must take protective measures to assure a constant timber supply for today, as well as for t he future. We've found that most farmers in this area have a small patch or two of rough timber scattered about the farm. There are very few woodlots I have seen which could not be greatly improved by a little timber stand improvement . Now the timber stand improvement can be a s ource of immediate income to the farmer. ' '
He pointed out that since t he seven foot bolts are light in weight, no expensive heavy equipment is required to harvest the wood.

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Buck Golden, sawyer, slices logs into seven foot box boards in the saw ni.ll in top photo.
William Echoles, below, stacks green seven foot lumber onto a truck that will take the lumber to the drying yard and the ptanlng mill. All the box lumber comes from seven foot bolts or short logs which otherwise could not be used.

BOY SCOUTS OF THE GEORGIA-CAROLINA COUNCIL learned by doing at a recent two-day forestry camp in Augusta under the direction ofT. M. Strickland, Richmond County Ranger. In top left photo, James C. Tu mer, lOth District Forester, shows the use of hand tools in fire suppression to Troup 19, Augusta. In top
right photo, Troop 52, \\aynes!Joro,
receives instruction on construction of firebreaks from Bob Hagar, Columbia County Ranger, and Reg Fitzgerald, Columbia County Trac-
tor Driver. In left center photo, ' scouts are shown how to plant
seedlings by Richmond County Dis-
patcher Bennie Fulcher, extreme left, and Management Forester Jim Coad, extreme right.
Negro Boy Scouts of the Council also met a week later at Camp Josey in Augusta to lParn forestry
practices. The scouts are shown in two bottom photos.

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MURALS ERECTED IN SCHOOL OF FORESTRY--The Georgia Forestry Commission, in an effort to illustrate some of its work being carried on in the field of Forest Conservation has supplied the University of Georgia School of Forestry in Athens with three large murals. The mural in top photo, five feet X

12 feet, located on the main floor of the forestry building, presents the four phases of forestry practiced by the Georgia Forestry Commission - Fire Protection, Forest Management, Reforestation, and Information and Education. The theme of fire protection is depicted in the mural shown below.

Rangers In
The News
Bibb County Ranger Harvey T. Stapleton, Jr. ana his forestry unit are helping the Shirley Hills Garden Club in Macon with a unique tree planting idea. The garden club women have launched a project whereby they will supply and plant pine seedlings on a 11 Macon school grounds needing trees. At one school, they have set aut as many as 1,000 sea:llings. Ranger Stapleton and his crew are assisting in distrihltion and planting of the seedlings.

RANGER ~ORKS ON KEEP GREEN EDITION--Talbot County Ranger Curtis Wiggins, left, works with Talbotton New Era Editor B.L. Tyler and other New Era staff members in preparing the county's annual Keep Georgia Green edition. The special edition will highlight forestry activities of Talbot County.

Another in a rapidly expanding list of counties which have installed forest fire warden post systems is Catoosa. Under the leadership of County Forest Ranger Ralph R. Clark, Jr., a fire warden past has been established in each district of Catoosa County within recent weeks. These posts were set up in cooperation with persons at the end of the telephone lines in the county. After the warden receives a fire report, he relays the message to headquarters, and as soon as possible after the message is received, fire fighting equipment is dispatched to the site of the fire.
Rangers an d tower operators of District 10, Geor gia Forestry Commission, rec entl y recei ved a firs t-h and lesson in towe r communi cati ons at a one- day schoo l on r adio comrmmi cati ons at the Washingt on distri ct o ffice. A tape recordi ng of radio canmunications in that district on a busy day was played to show the need for proper use of radio

signals to reduce traffic. A short quiz on radio signals followed.
Walton County Ranger W. B. Palmer reports the Monroe Kiwanis Club's agricultural and conservation committee has ''big plans'' for reforestation in that county. The committee has set a goal of a million pine seedlings to be planted on eroded land in Walton County next year. The club will work to supply information to landowners on the advisability of planting idle lands, and the obtaining of seedlings. A mechanical planter is available to landowners for use free of charge.
' 'Georgia Fares t ry Today'' is a new Sunday s how on Augusta' s WJBf- TV . Th e t e l e vision ser i e s brings f ares t r y t o t he Upper

Savannah River Valley c1 tlZens and features personal appearances and demonstrations by District Forester James C. Turner, Richmond County Ranger T. M. Strick! and, and Assistant District Foresters Bob Randall and James Coad. A sandbox planting demonstration and an appearance by the Commission's live Srrokey Bear have highlighted the programs.
Camden County Ranger C. W. Neill invites those who have doubts as to the ability of a cigarette to start a fares t fire to take a tour over 40 acres of charred and blackened woodland in that county. That acreage was turned, the Ranger exclaimed, because someone recently tossed a cigarette from a passing automobile. Fanned by a light wind, the fire spread quickly, turning not only woodlands but engulfing and destroying a farmhouse. Two other homes nearly went up in smoke before the fire was suppres sed by the Camden County Forestry Unit.

March Winds--
(Continued j rcm Page 2 )
a woman was charged .,.,i th setting a fire that burned 20 acres. Warrents were issued for two per3ons in Toombs County.
Most of the fires were caused from carelessness in burning brush or trash, but in Harris County a freak fire was combined wi. th tra~dy as a young air force pilot was killed when his fast-flying F-86 Saberjet crashed in the tinderdry timberlands near Hamilton. Flames from the still rurning plane
ignited a 35 acre tract of for-
~tland, and Harris County firefighters spent hours in securing the blaze.
Fairly general rains throughout the state during the third week of February helped reduce the fares t fire danger; but rangers were quick to point out that on1y a few dry days were needed to bring the state rock up to its high fire danger period.
''February's fire record,'' Conmission leaders declared, ')should serve as a warn1ng to all of us. Burning fields, brush and trash in cleaning up operations prior to spring planting is dangerous unles s done properly."
SAF Meeting---
(C ont i nued from Page ~ )
perimental Forest,'' and ''The Use of Overall Administrative Management Surveys in Fares try Organizations."
E. L. Demmon, of Asheville, N.C., national president of the Society of American Foresters, was principal speaker at the StU<' annual banquet held Friday evening a-t Three Toms Inn. Guyton DeLoach, Director, Georgia Fares try ~mmission, was master of ceremon1es.
Wives of the foresters were entertained at a tea Friday afternoon and were taken on a tour of Thomas County plantations Saturday morning.

\\OMAN CONSERVATION LEADER HONORED--Miss Eli zabeth Mason, right , in charge of women's activities for the U.S. Forest Service, Region 8, receives a citation from the Georgia Federation of \\omen's Clubs for her outstanding conservation efforts for that organization.
Mrs. E. o. Cabaniss, conservation chairman for the Federation, made
the award. The presentation was made at a recent GFWC board meeting at which Mrs. Chester E. Martin, president, announced that a 10 acre forest on IIi ghway 123 near Toccoa has been acquired for the Federation.
INTERSTATE COMPACT GROUP-- Governor Herman E. Talmadge, right, swears in Georgi a members of the Southeastern Forest Fi re Protection Compact. Members are, left to right, Guyton DeLoach, Director, Georgia Forestry Commission; Adjutant General Ernest Vandiver, and Representative Jack Murr, of Sumter County.
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Georgia Forestry
March, 1954
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TREES ARE GOOD INSURANCE
A cash tree crop is growing up with this lad. Trees are good insurance for his future, as the} will provide money for his education. Tree seedlings planted now may be ready for their first harvest within 20 years.
More idle acres planted in trees and prorected f rom fire today mean more raw materials tomorrow for America's wood-using industries.

Enttrtd a!! stcond clan matter at the Po11t Offict, Atlanta, Gtorgia.
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