GFC eUpdate [July 29, 2014]

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GFC eUpdate

Contents
"Planes: Fire anad Rescue" Movie Day a
Huge Success
Forest Protection - It's a WRAP!
Forest Management Acorns
Reforestation Matters
Forest Utilization Updates
Upcoming Events
9th Annual Georgia
Environmental Conference 8/20 - 8/22/14
Jekyll Island, GA
The International Woodworking Fair
8/20 - 8/23/14 Atlanta, GA

GA Master Timber Harvester Workshop
8/27 - 8/28/14 Swainsboro, GA
GA Prescribed Fire Certification Training 9/9 - 9/10/14 Tifton, GA Landowner Field Day 9/19/14 Dawsonville, GA Georgia Prescribed Fire Council Meeting 9/25/14 Tifton, GA

"Planes: Fire and Rescue" Movie Day
a Huge Success
The Georgia Forestry Commission had star billing throughout the state on Saturday, July 19, as movie-goers flocked to showings of Disney's "Planes: Fire & Rescue." The animated feature tells the tale of heroes battling a wildfire in a national park, with equipment in the air and on the ground. At locations across Georgia, GFC professionals greeted patrons and personally linked the movie to GFC's real-life mission to prevent and suppress wildfire in Georgia. Ground equipment and aircraft were on display, as well as fire tents, suppression equipment, materials about fire safety and services of the GFC. Smokey Bear made numerous appearances, handing out temporary tattoos and making kids of all ages happy and better informed about wildfire prevention and healthy forests.
Forest Protection - It's a WRAP!
A new web tool that enables landowners, civic leaders and wildfire managers to identify and reduce the risk wildfire poses to Georgia communities is now available at www.southernwildfirerisk.com. The Southern Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal, known as SouthWRAP, displays mapping applications showing landscape features and fire potential that can help users better protect homes and communities. Developed by the Southern Group of State Foresters, SouthWRAP is intended to become a collaboration center where information, data and ideas can be exchanged between government entities at all levels to make decisions that reduce wildfire risk to their communities. The public access portion of the website contains the feature, "What's Your Risk?" which allows users to identify specific risk levels within a half mile radius of a home or other point of interest on the map. The website contains a wealth of valuable information useful to all members of Georgia's forestry community, so explore it soon!
Forest Management Acorns
A new Georgia law strengthening timber sale regulations and increasing protection for forest landowners went into effect July first. House Bill 790 brings change to many parts of the timber sale process, including scale tickets, civil damages for unauthorized timber harvesting, unintended harvest protection for landowners, statute of limitations for damages, and the authority of GFC law enforcement officers to enforce all laws relating to the protection, security, conservation or sale of timber transactions. For more information visit GaTrees.org.
Proposed rules from the Environmental Protection Agency governing waters of the US are available for review. Landowners and the forestry community are encouraged to learn more about these proposed rules and how they may impact your operations. A comprehensive website that provides information and instructions on submitting your comments can be found by clicking here. The next Georgia Urban Forest Council Quarterly Program will be held August 21, 2014 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Middle Georgia State College and the Waddell Barnes Botanical Gardens in Macon, Georgia. This program will cover stormwater projects around the state that involve trees and green infrastructure, such as the rain gardens at Macon's Mercer University and the Town Green in Rome. For more information: http://www.gufc.org/.

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) regulations are now in place in Georgia to prevent the insect's spread, while allowing limited wood movement from the quarantined counties in metro Atlanta. This forest pest will kill all species of the ash genus. It has been moving southward from Michigan over the past decade and was first detected in Georgia in 2013. For more information on EAB and current regulations, click here.

Service Forester App now available - The Service Forester's Handbook has long been a reference guide for many foresters, but was last updated in 1986 and printed in a small 4" x 6" green notebook. An "App" has been developed for iPhones and can be searched from the iPhone store under "Service Forester Toolkit." For some reason it isn't readily searchable for the iPad, but it can be found at this link: (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/service-foresterstoolkit/id874493052?mt=8). The App is free and provided by the US Forest Service along with the Southern Region Extension Forestry Program at University of Georgia.

Reforestation Matters
Think Seedlings Now! - GFC seedling sales for the 2014-15 planting season are tracking ahead of last year's rates. According to Reforestation Chief Jeff Fields, all varieties of pine seedlings are in strong demand and hardwood seedling sales are brisk as well. From a small 10-pack order to orders that number in the thousands, stock remains solid. If specific species are mandatory for your plan, Fields says it's wise to place the order soon. Hardwood seedlings prized for aesthetics, such as dogwood and crepe myrtle, as well as varieties that attract wildlife, such as white oak, persimmon and crabapple, are especially popular with GFC nursery customers. Fields predicts a good upcoming season for bare root planting due to recent rainfall statewide. For more information about GFC seedlings and to place an order, visit www.gaseedlings.org.

Forest Utilization Updates
GFC/GDOT Salvage Verification Affidavit Project a Success Governor Deal's 120-day executive order, allowing for increased truck weights for the transportation of damaged timber from the February ice storms, expired on June 30th. Georgia Forestry Commission foresters assisted loggers by inspecting and verifying damaged timber from the February 2014 ice storms and issuing 33 salvage verification affidavits. There were an estimated 8,733 truckloads of damaged timber harvested on approximately 6,107 acres in east-central Georgia, primarily in Burke, Screven and Jefferson counties. This effort could not have been possible without the support of GFC Foresters Cathy Black (who led the effort with 22 of the 33 affidavits), Michael Torbett, Adam Weatherford, Shane Barrow and Dane Bass who conducted the field inspections of the damaged timber and provided the salvage verification affidavits that enabled the loggers to acquire their GDOT overweight permits. This project was a good example of two state agencies assisting one another and their constituents by facilitating and expediting the rapid removal of damaged timber from the winter ice storms.

Potential Positive Biomass Implications in EPA's CO2 Reduction Proposal On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) unveiled a proposed plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 30% by 2030, when compared to 2005 emissions. Regulators want to cut carbon dioxide because many scientists have tied it to climate change. The proposal, titled the Clean Power Plan, will be implemented through a state-federal partnership that is designed to provide each state with flexibility in meeting its specific goal. The proposal provides guidelines for states to develop plans to meet state-specific goals set by EPA. Each state's goal will be tailored to its own circumstances, and states will have the flexibility to reach their goal in whatever way works best for them. EPA says that state goals are not requirements on individual electrical generating units. Rather, each state will have broad flexibility to meet the rate by 2030 by lowering the overall carbon intensity of the power sector in the state. Interestingly, according to various published reports, 10 states including Georgia have already cut carbon emissions from power plants by more than the 30% national target. To view more information on this topic, click here.
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