GFC eUpdate, 2018 March 14

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GFC eUpdate

Contents
District/Units of the Year Recognized
Forest Management Acorns
SouthWRAP Analyzes Wildfire Risk
Forest Utilization Updates
Reforestation Matters
Upcoming Events
Greene-Morgan Forest Landowners
Association Meeting 3/27/18
Buckhead, GA
Invasive Species in the Urban Forest 03/29/18 Milton, GA
Conservation Easements: Management Tools for Working Lands
04/25/18 Atlanta, GA
National Arbor Day 04/27/18
Ladies for their Lands Workshop 04/28/18
Statesboro, GA

District/Units of the Year Recognized
A group of Georgia Forestry Commission employees has been recognized with proclamations by state legislators for their outstanding accomplishments in fiscal year 2017. On February 7 at the state capitol, the Chattahoochee District was honored for its designation as "District of the Year." The district received commendation for its high productivity, along with service during assignments including the northwest Georgia mountain wildfires, Hurricane Matthew, Okefenokee spring fires, and wildfires in Oklahoma, Florida and Utah. GFC's Clayton/Pike/Lamar/Spalding/Upson Unit was honored for being named the Outstanding Unit of the Year for the northern part of Georgia, and the Bleckley/Pulaski Unit was honored for being named Outstanding Unit of the Year for the southern part of the state. Both units received commendation for exemplary service in wildfire suppression, reforestation, education, landowner services and assistance with hurricane and tornado response.
Forest Management Acorns
On February 15th, GFC officially celebrated Georgia's 127th Arbor Day with three simultaneous regional events. One was held in Atlanta, at which a mayor's symposium was presented, and Georgia Forestry Commission Director Chuck Williams helped recognize the accomplishments of outstanding state Tree Cities USA. A tree board roundtable and tree planting demonstration were held in Athens, and a tree care workshop was held in Woodbine. At each of these events all attending Tree City, Tree Campus and Tree Lines USA were awarded a certificate and photo to be included in a news release. In addition, a portion of each event was broadcast live using Facebook. Thirty-four of Georgia's 150 Tree Cities USA were represented at these three events, in conjunction with seven Tree Campuses USA. In addition to these regional GFC events, many communities across the state held Arbor Day events, including 26 that were posted on our GFC events page. Large scale events were held in Valdosta, Albany and Columbus, which, as Georgia's oldest Tree City USA, celebrated its 40th anniversary in the program. The link between forestland and clean water is coming into clearer focus in southeast Georgia. A USDA Forest Service Restoration grant is being matched by a group of water utilities to provide funding for conservation easements and cost share programs that help landowners along the Savannah River keep their land in forests. Priority Georgia counties for the $3.3 million Lower Savannah River Watershed Initiative include portions of Columbia, McDuffie, Warren, Jefferson, Richmond, Burke, Screven, Effingham, and Chatham. For more information click here or contact Scott Thackston. Springtime is the best time to identify cogongrass in Georgia. The invasive weed's white, fluffy seed heads flower mainly between April and early June, and are visible from a distance. The average size cogongrass spot is between 0.10 and 0.25 acres. Call your local GFC office if you suspect you've found an outbreak of this noxious weed. The Georgia Forestry Commission treats new cogongrass detections for landowners at no cost. Fifty southern pine beetle traps have been hung throughout Georgia as part of GFC's annual SPB prediction survey. Traps will be checked for SPBs and predator beetles by Forest Health staff every week for six weeks, and a projection about possible outbreaks will be shared in late April.

SouthWRAP Analyzes Wildfire Risk
Georgia's spring fire season is at hand, during which we usually see an increase in wildfire activity. GFC will be continually monitoring the daily and long range wildfire forecast, and is prepared to respond to any activity. Did you know, each year an average of over 3,800 homes and other structures are damaged or destroyed by wildfire in the South? SouthWRAP, the Southern Group of State Foresters' Wildfire Risk Assessment Portal, is a valuable online tool that enables viewers to review and analyze risk from wildfires at locations throughout the southeast US. The "public view" provides an easy to use web mapping application in which users can drill down to specific factors impacting their wildfire risk at pinpointed locations. An introductory tutorial and a number of map layers and views make the site extremely viewer-friendly. In addition to public view, the site provides applications for professional viewers and communities at risk program managers, which enhance their ability to prioritize tactical analyses, and provide education and mitigation treatments to help reduce wildfire risk.
Forest Markets and Utilization
The US Forest Service recently released results of the 2015 Timber Products Output survey, which provides estimates of a state's industrial uses of roundwood. All primary wood using industries in Georgia are surveyed biannually, including pulp mills, sawmills, veneer mills, composite panel (OSB) mills, and other industrial products mills, which convert roundwood products (saw logs, veneer logs, pulpwood, etc.) into primary wood products such as lumber, veneer or sheathing, poles and posts, and wood pulp. Highlights of the report are:
Total output of roundwood at Georgia's primary wood-using industries equaled 47.3 million green tons; an increase of 4% from 2013 (for perspective, 47.3 million green tons of logs equals approximately 1.9 million truckloads of logs). By species, 86% of all logs processed were softwood; 14% were hardwood. By product type, pulpwood led production at 46%; saw logs accounted for 32%. Find more at GaTrees.org.

Reforestation Matters
As another planting season draws to a close, we're proud to report that more GFC seedlings are taking root than ever before! A big part of that success is due to the genetically improved loblolly and slash we provide as a result of our participation in two tree improvement cooperatives. Controlled cross pollinations, seed collection and planting progeny tests result in genetically superior seed orchards. Progeny selections are assessed for growth, straightness, disease resistance, and wood quality. GFC grafts a number of these selections into our orchards for seeds we plant in our nurseries. The value of work being done at GFC's Arrowhead Seed Orchard is estimated to be $483 million! And according to data from our breeding co-ops, present value of the genetic gain from a single crop of GFC seedlings planted on 25,000 acres is $1.5-$4 million.
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Georgia Forestry Commission, 5645 Riggins Mill Road, Dry Branch, GA 31020