GFC eUpdate [June 24, 2017]

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GFC eUpdate

Contents
GFC Director Passes the Baton
Forest Management Acorns
Forest Protection Updates
Forest Utilization Updates
Reforestation Matters

GFC Director Passes the Baton
The GFC family said a heartfelt goodbye to our director and friend, Robert Farris, on his retirement in May. Robert has given 34 years of service to the commission and has been our state forester since 2007. He led GFC through two of the worst fire seasons in our state's history and through a severe economic downturn, while working to ensure Georgia's forests are plentiful and well managed for future generations. Please join us in wishing Robert all the very best as he embarks on his next rewarding life chapter!

Upcoming Events
Farming with Trees and Wood/Urban
Wood Use Networking 06/29/17
Atlanta, GA
Billy Lancaster Forestry Youth Camp
07/09 - 07/13/17 Covington, GA
GFA Annual Conference 07/21 - 07/23/17 Jekyll Island, GA
Trees as Green Stormwater
Infrastructure 08/10/17
Norcross, GA
College Canopy Conference 09/12/17 Morrow, GA
Arborist Certification Review Course 09/19 - 09/20/17 Grayson, GA

A seven-person committee has launched a nationwide search for GFC's new director. Chaired by Dean Dale Green of the UGA Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, the committee is made up of government, non-government and forest industry stakeholders. The application deadline is July 17, and finalist interviews will take place in August. The GFC Board of Directors will make a final decision on the person it recommends to the governor's office for appointment. If you or someone you know may be interested in applying, you can learn more about the position here.
Until the new director is named, GFC will be led by our Chief of Forest Protection and Interim Director, Frank Sorrells. He can be reached at 478.751.3490, 478-751-3480 or fsorrells@gfc.state.ga.us.
Forest Management Acorns
The sign-up period for Southern Pine Beetle Cost Share 2017 has begun and runs through July 7. Funding is offered for SPB prevention practices and reforestation, with approvals scheduled to be announced by July 28. Prevention practice highlights include non-commercial thinning, pine release and prescribed burning of loblolly/shortleaf pine stands and prescribed burning of young longleaf stands, with a $2000 limit per landowner. Restoration practices have the same limit per landowner and include funds for planting loblolly, slash, longleaf, shortleaf and white pine and commercial hardwoods. Landowners can access more information and applications on our SPB webpage. A campaign has been launched through the Georgia ReLeaf program to bring Albany, Georgia's urban forest back to life following violent storms in January. The Georgia Forestry Commission and Georgia Urban Forest Council partner in the ReLeaf effort, which aids in planting trees in public areas such as parks, schools and business districts to restore the many environmental, economic, and social health benefits trees provide. Click here to see a video about our efforts. Mark your calendar and please join us! The annual meeting of the Georgia Urban Forest Council will be held November 8-9 at Callaway Gardens. Keynote speakers include author Jill Jonnes (Urban Forests: A Natural History of Trees and People in the American Cityscape), Dr. Larry Morris, Professor of Forest Soils at the University of Georgia, and Mac Callaham, USDA Research Ecologist and Adjunct Professor at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. Breakout sessions will cover issues such as beneficial insects in the city, urban soils, city tree selection, tree ordinances, and much more. Tours will include the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center and the 27th Annual Awards program showcases the best of the best in urban forestry projects across the state. Click here for registration details.

Forest Protection Updates
From April through midJune, wildland firefighters battled a fire that burned more than 152,500 acres in south Georgia and north Florida. The fire, known as the West Mims Fire, was caused by a lightning strike on April 6 in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The fire burned a total of 32,180 acres on privately owned lands. No one was injured, but four uninhabited structures were destroyed during the fire. The GFC Type 2 Incident Management Team managed the fire during the first few weeks, then transitioned the management of the fire over to a Southern Type 1 Team Incident Management Team. A weather front with strong westerly winds moved into the area on May 6, causing extreme fire behavior and prompting evacuations in southern Charlton County. The 148 GFC firefighters assigned to the fire were joined by hundreds of federal, state, local, and timber industry personnel and equipment in a unified effort to battle the fire. Their hard work, along with timely rains in early June, contained the fire. What does the rest of the summer hold for Georgia? According to the National Interagency Fire Center, normal or below normal fire activity is predicted through August 2017.
Forest Markets and Utilization
The 2017 edition of the Georgia Wood-Using Industries Directory is now available for download on the Georgia Forestry Commission website. The directory is a valuable resource for producers seeking to market their wood products and for wood users in locating suppliers. The directory lists 214 Georgia mills in the categories of sawmills, chip mills, energy products, posts/poles, firewood, pulp/paper, log home, mulch, panel and engineered wood, shavings and veneer. It also provides company listings by county of mill location, type of business, exporting mills and urban wood utilization mills. Find the directory and complementing maps at http://gatrees.org/resources/directories/woodusing-industries/. Please contact a Utilization staff member if you would like a hard copy directory; a limited number is available. Another new directory of interest provides a summary of Southwide logging haul distances by mill type, and can be found here http://gatrees.org/utilization/industry-overview/.
Reforestation Matters
The calendar says summer but GFC's Reforestation Department is busy planning for the winter of 201718! Orders are being taken now for the wide variety of GFC pine and hardwood seedlings that will be planted this season. All pine prices are unchanged from last year, except for the new variety of slash pine that's been added. Premium Plus Slash is an improvement over its combined predecessors, Premium Slash and Pitch Canker Resistant Slash. Premium Plus Slash provides 32% more volume gain per acre and also resistance to pitch canker. For ordering information, visit GaTrees.org, call the Flint River Nursery at 229-268-7308, or stop by your local GFC county unit, where a GFC professional can answer questions and set up free delivery to your local unit.
Copyright 2005 Georgia Forestry Commission, all rights reserved 1- 800- GA- TREES
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