Forest resources of Georgia

GA
N200.F6
M1
1939

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
FOREST SERVICE
FOREST RESOURCES OF GEORGIA
u!s
PV^WfWT OfAWo/
January 1939

FOREST RESOURCES OF GEORGIA
BY
Georgia Division of Forestry
AND
U. S. Forest Service, Atlanta, Ga.
January 1939
Published in cooperation with The Georgia Forestry Association
AND The George Foster Peabody School of Forestry

PREFACE
DO YOU KNOW That Georgia has today more standing saw timber and a greater net annual growth of saw timber than any other state in the
South? That of Georgia's total land area of 37 million acres, 23 million
acres are forest or potential forest land, of which approximately 21 million acres are now growing timber? That Georgia' s wood-using industries furnish the equivalent of year-long employment to 71*000 individuals?
BUT HAS IT EVER OCCURRED TO YOU That in 1937 more forest land burned over in Georgia than in all the combined states west of the Mississippi River? That the annual growth of Georgia's forests is only three- tenths cord per acre and that, if fires were controlled, the growth could readily be doubled? That each year in the southern half of Georgia more pine timber is destroyed by fire than the total annual amount required by all wood-using industries? In spite of these appalling facts, do you realize that the
State of Georgia appropriates less for forest fire control than all except one of the eleven southern states?
L/B^ary

2395 F

FOREST RESOURCES OP GEORGIA'

The forests of Georgia in Colonial times were famous as producers of lumber and timbers - commonly known as Georgia Pine - and as producers of naval stores. Although the original virgin stands have almost disappeared and large areas formerly covered by dense stands of timber are now devoted to agriculture, more than 21 million acres, or 57 per cent of the land area of Georgia, are in some stage of forest growth (Table 1, Figure 2). Second-growth stands, many of which occur on abandoned fields, have replaced the virgin timber. Some of these present-day forests are in good condition; they pay dividends to their owners and help support communities. Other areas, also classed as forest, are so run down because of past abuse and fire that they can hardly be considered as an asset. Nearly two and onequarter million acres additional
are idle and abandoned farm land, much of which is now reverting to timber and will in the future doubtless be classed as forest land. (Table 2).
The management of these forest lands is of vital concern to the owners, to the local communities, to the counties, and to the State. If wisely handled, they can furnish forest products in increasing amounts for local consumption

and sale as well as for export and may serve as a permanent base for a much needed industrial expansion. If, on the other hand, these forest lands are abused and mismanaged, the percentage of worthless waste land and scrubby growth will increase, the yield of annual revenue will diminish, and the State as a whole will inevitably suffer.
This report aims to portray the present status of the forest situation in the State and to suggest means of protecting and building up the forest resource so that it may play its full part in guaranteeing future prosperity and security to the people of Georgia.
Farm Woodlands On the average, there are
approximately 47 acres of woodland per farm. Farm forests represent about 46 per cent of the total area in farms. The farm woodlands in the State - 11,675,000 acres - constitute 55 per cent of the total forest area. The importance of making these farm woodlands produce their share of the farm income cannot be too strongly emphasized. Woodland management should be an Integral part of farm management. The 2.\ million acres of idle and abandoned farm land, if not needed for agricultural crops or pasture, should be restored to forest. It

'Prepared jointly by the Georgia Division of Forestry and the U. S. Forest Service. The data on forest area, inventory, growth and drain are from the Forest Survey at the Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, La. These data are released as preliminary estimates based on the findings of the Survey, are subject to correc tion or revision, and are not for publica-
tion elsewhere without pe rmi s s^^^&v &fJ?T?outhe rn Forest Experiment Station.

LIBRARY

is estimated that half of this area is worn-out land, the sole use of which should he forest production. According to the Georgia Experiment Station, between 1920 - when the area of land devoted to agriculture reached its peak - and 1930 there was a loss in agricultural area of 8.3 per cent. Modern methods of farming call for a smaller total acreage of field crops and allow more land to be devoted to timber growing. The rapid growth of oldfield stands of pine has shown that forest crops can be produced on these lands that are definitely unsuited to and no longer needed for agricultural crops.
Other Privately Owned Forest Land In addition to the farm wood-
land ownership, there are 8, 879*000 acres of forest land privately owned. Included in this total are the recently acquired holdings of the pulp and paper companies and the hunting estates in the southwest portion of the State. Naval stores operators also own a considerable portion of this acreage in the turpentine belt.
In a recent survey made by the Forest Service covering 3*180,000 acres of this land, 35 per cent of this area was found to be managed according to good forest practices, 64 per cent was in fair-to-good productive condition either through intentional or accidental methods, and only 1 per cent was not in a productive condition.
Public Ownership The Federal Government owns
more than a million acres of forest land in Georgia, most of which is not suitable for agricultural use. The State and counties own about 47,000 acres of forest land, of which 33,000 acres occur in the recently

acquired flatwoods area near Waycross.
Importance of Forest Industries The capital value of forest
industries in the State in 1919 was in excess of 40 million dollars, according to the Bureau of Census. In 1936, according to the Southern Forest Survey, the production and manufacture of raw forest materials furnished 11,370,000 man- days (10 hours each) of employment in the woods and 2,878,000 man-days in primary fabrication plants. The combined woods and mill work amounts to year-long employment for approximately 71,000 persons. According to the last complete census (1929) the forest industries of Georgia furnished onefourth of all industrial employment in the State. Wages and salaries paid by the various forest industries reached a figure of more than $13,000,000 in 1929* and the value of all forest products manufactured in the State in that year was in excess of $70,000,000.
Georgia now ranks sixth among the eleven southern states in lumber production, according to the Forest Service (Figure 9).
Georgia is first in naval stores production, producing 57 per cent of all the naval stores produced in the United States.
Georgia, with two pulp mills within its borders and five in nearby states drawing on its forests for raw material, is now one of the largest producers of pulpwood in the South (Figures 10 and 11 ).
Balance of Growth Against Drain and Mortality
Probably the most fundamental consideration In forest practice is

to plan cutting operations in such a manner that the amount of timber removed from the forest during any specified period will not exceed the net growth of timber for this period. Obviously, adherence to such a plan of harvesting forest products will mean continuous operation. Georgia has a greater quantity of standing saw timber and a greater net annual growth of saw timber than any other state in the South. It is highly important to study the annual balance of growth against the amount of timber removed in Georgia in order to work out a proper balance. The timber removed each year may be separated into that used by man, which is called "drain" (Figure 12), and that removed by all factors which kill timber, called "mortality." Drain consists of timber used for all such purposes such as lumber, ties, fuel wood, posts, and pulpwoodj whereas, mortality includes timber killed by fires, insects, diseases, wind storms, or other natural agen-
cies.

a

Based on preliminary estimates

made by the Southern Forest Survey

(Table 6) in 1956, there were in

Georgia approximately 120 million

cords of pine in sound trees 5 Inches

or more in diameter breast high.

During the year 1936, approximately

8 million cords were added through

growth. The commodity drain of some

4 million cords plus a mortality of

2.\ million cords makes a total of 6|million cords removed from the for-

est. In other words, for 1936, Georgia' s pine timber was growing by

some 1\ million cords more rapidly

than it was being removed by all

causes (Figure 1, Table 7).

On the other hand since 1936 pulp mills established within this and neighboring states have added

an annual drain which would probably equal 700,000 cords (Figure 11 ). Even so, however, Georgia as a whole is still growing substantially more pine timber than that necessary to balance the amount removed each year by all causes.
Although the State-wide picture is reasonably bright, the balance between growth and timber removed is highly unfavorable In the southern part of the State when it is considered separately (Figure 8, Table 7). There are probably few localities in the United States more favored for timber production than the naval stores region of Georgia. Within this vast area of more than 10 million acres of timber land, much of which is of unsurpassed productivity, forest fires exact a tremendous annual toll. Thus, for the year 1936 the loss of pine volume through mortality was 152 million cubic feet as compared with only 118 million cubic feet used by man for all purposes. This is an appalling condition. It should be remembered that fires, directly or indirectly, cause about 75 per cent of the mortality in pine timber. Expressed in other words, the above figures mean that in 1936 enough pine timber was destroyed in South Georgia alone, directly or lndirectlyi by fire to supply all pulp mills using Georgia wood with pulpwood for approximately two years . Fire control should, therefore, be the first consideration in Georgia's Statewide forest program.
Fires not only kill timber outright but greatly retard growth of the remaining trees. With full stocking and reasonable care the average acre of pine forest land in Georgia should produce approximately one cord per acre each year. Yet,

for the forests In the State as a whole, the net annual growth is only three-tenths of a cord . This extremely low productivity may he, for the most part, directly attributed to fires during past years. Trees left after logging have been destroyed by fires. Fires have prevented natural restocking of cutover lands. Lastly, fires have greatly retarded growth of the trees now present on the land.
Control of the fire situation in Georgia would probably result in doubling the net annual growth of timber within ten to fifteen years, other factors remaining the same.
The Forests of Georgia The forest situation is pre-
sented in the following figures and tables based on the most accurate information available. The State has been divided into five units by the Southern Forest Survey, these units being based primarily on their forest types and economic condition. The unit boundaries are shown by Figure 1.

Units 1 and 2 include that portion of the State which lies within the naval stores belt. In these two units are found most of the longleaf and slash pine, and most of the turpentine stills. Unit 3 includes the upper Coastal Plain and part of the lower Piedmont counties. In this unit loblolly is the most important pine. Unit 4 includes the counties in the upper and a part of the lower Piedmont. It Is characterized by forests of loblolly and shortleaf pine mixed with hardwoods. Unit 5 is the mountain and valley unit. It is characterized by upland hardwoods mixed with shortleaf pine. Units 1 and' 2 were surveyed by the Southern Forest Survey the first half of 1934; Units 3, 4, and 5 were cruised in the latter part of 1935 and early 1936.-
The figures and tables were prepared in the Regional Office of the U. S. Forest Service, Atlanta, and are based on data furnished by the Forest Survey at the Southern Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, La.

FIGURE 1
SOUTHERN FOREST SURVEY UNIT BOUNDARIES STATE OF GEORGIA

YEAR OF SURVEY

-- UNIT I
-- UNIT 2 -- UNIT 3 -- UNIT 4 -- UNIT 5

1934 1934 1935 1935 1935

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LAND AREA CLASSIFIED BY MAJOR USES
STATE OF GEORGIA
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STATE TOTALS

LEGEND

ACRES

PERCENT

FOREST LAND
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IMTO AGRICULTURAL LAND*

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OTHER USES
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21,045,200 14,743,500
999,000
TOTAL 36,787,700

57.2 40.1
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INCLUDES IDLE AND ABANDONED FARM LAND SHOWN TABLE 2

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FIGURE 3
PRODUCTIVE FOREST AREA CLASSIFIED BY FOREST TYPES STATE OF GEORGIA
DATA FROM SOUTHERN FOREST SURVEY

LEGEND
PINE
PINE -HARDWOODS UPLAND HARDWOODS
^\ BOTTOMLAND HARDWOODS
FOR YEAR OF SURVEY SEE FIGURE 1

PRODUCTIVE FOREST AREA

STATE TOTALS

MILLION ACRES %

13.0

61.6

3.7

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TOTAL- 2 1.0

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PRODUCTIVE

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INVENTORY OF SAWLOG SIZE TIMBER- JAN. 1, 1937^
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INVENTORY OF GROWING STOCK 1936
NET CORDWOOD VOLUME - INCLUDING SAWLOG TIMBER- GOOD TREES ONLY

STATE TOTALS MILLIONCORDS

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FIGURE 7
COMPARISON OF GROWTH, MORTALITY & DRAIN 1936
STATE OF GEORGIA
DATA FROM SOUTHERN FOREST SURVEY

PINE

HARDWOODS & CYPRESS
*q us., r.rt

W
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{dV& 301SNI) 'Id -no JO NO 1111

Forest Industries Fluctuation in lumber pro-
duction in the State is illustrated by Figure 9 These fluctuations can be attributed mainly to changing economic conditions throughout the country rather than to the supply of available timber. These data were compiled by the Forest Service and, although they are not considered to include all lumber produced, they are nevertheless comparable year by year for the mills reporting. Areas from which the original old-growth stands were removed have restocked to rapidly growing secondgrowth timber. This condition has made it possible for Georgia to maintain generally its place among the other states in lumber production.
The distribution of certain industries dependent on the forest for raw materials is shown by Figure 10. The pulp mills are a recent establishment. The drain of pulpwood will be greater than is indicated by the two mills shown on the figure because five mills in Florida and one in North Carolina obtain a large portion of their requirements from Georgia timberlands.
During the 193^~35 naval stores season 629 turpentine stills, or 56 per cent of all the stills in the naval stores belt, were operating in Georgia.
Although there is a large number of sawmills in the State, most of them are of the portable type. Only 3 per cent of the total number of sawmills produce over 20 M bd. ft. per mill per day. In numerous instances operators of these small mills pay low wages, own little or no forest land, and pay no taxes. In addition they frequently

move from one location to another, cutting largely immature timber, and leave the cut-over areas in a state of low productivity. Fortunately most of these mills are found in and north of the Piedmont area and they do not at present compete strongly with the increased pulpwood utilization which is confined generally to the Coastal Plain.
In 1936 there were 104 nonlumber primary wood- using plants in the State, such as treating plants, veneer mills, stave and heading mills. These industries, while essential, do not constitute a very large portion of the wood-using industry.
Contrary to general belief, the volume of wood used by pulp mills each year is actually only a small percentage of the total consumed by all wood-using industries. Thus in 1936 only 1.7 per cent of the total commodity drain was pulpwood. If all of the 7 existing mills using Georgia timber operated at capacity the total annual drain would be approximately 700,000 cords. This would represent approximately one-eighth of the total commodity drain.
It has already been mentioned that in 1929 the primary wood-using industries contributed 25 per cent of all industrial employment; they paid 9.7 per cent of- all salaries and wages, and produced 10 per cent of the value of all industrial production in Georgia. The establishment of new pulp and paper mills has undoubtedly increased these figures. These figures as. contrasted with the 1910 census show a decline in importance of the forest industries because in 1909 and 1910 the forest industries furnished employment to

22

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FIGURE 10
SAWMILLS AND PULP PAPER MILLS GRAPHIC PRESENTATION BY COUNTIES
BASED ON FOREST SURVEY DATA
STATE OF GEORGIA

LEGEND
10 SAWMILLS i CAPACITY I- 19,000 BOARD FEET SAWMILL , CAPACITY 20 - 39,000 BOARD FEET SAWMILL, CAPACITY 40 - 79,000 BOARD FEET
: PULP MILL

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more persons than all other Industries combined, excluding the manufacture of cotton goods. This decline in relative importance has been caused in part by the expansion and establishment of nonwood- using industries such as textile mills which to a large extent have absorbed the increase in available labor.
With adequate fire control and good cutting practices the annual supply of raw material available for manufacture probably can be doubled within the next fifteen years to serve as a sound base for a greatly increased industrial development .

owners have not insisted on proper cutting methods because they themselves have seldom known what needed to be done. Cutting for fuel wood from farm woodlands has also been poorly conducted from a forestry standpoint. All too often the best formed, straightest, fastest growing, and easiest splitting trees are cut for fuel wood, leaving the crooked, slow-growing runts for future growth. Under such cutting plans the woodlands have deteriorated to the point where they are capable of only very slow growth. The stands are often poorly stocked as a result of poor cutting practices, lack of protection from fire, and over-grazing.

Present Cutting Practices In spite of the indicated ex-
cess of growth over drain, considering the State as a whole, there are local areas where heavy cutting has reduced the growing stock far below that desired from the standpoint of good forestry. Furthermore, the indicated excess of growth is mostly in the smaller diameter classes. For the most part, the commodity drain, whether for sawlogs, poles, fuel wood, or pulpwood, has been accompanied by high grading the timber stands. The best trees have been cut; the poorer slow-growing Individuals have been left; and the quality and growth rate per acre has been decreased accordingly.
With the exception of a few large holdings the cutting for industrial purposes falls far short of desirable practices. The selection of trees to cut into sawlogs for the hundreds of small sawmills is in the majority of cases left to irresponsible hands who have no interest in timber as a crop. Land-

Some progress has been made in improving pulpwood cutting practices. Pulpwood cut from the holdings of the pulp and paper companies has been in accordance with approved forestry practices for the most part, Although the cutting practices on other than company- owned lands have shown some recent improvement, they still result in most instances in greatly depleting the growing stock. Here again the problem is mainly one of educating the forest landowners so that they can and will insist on their timber being cut in such a way that it is left in a productive condition capable of providing another cut in from 5 to 10 years.
Forest Fire Control It is estimated that 23 mil-
lion acres of present and potential forest land in Georgia need protection from fire.
The budget estimates for the year ending June 30, 1939, for fire control purposes on other than federally owned land amount to $237,946

25

FIGURE 11
COMPARISON OF TOTAL COMMODITY DRAIN WITH PULPWOOD DRAIN
STATE OF GEORGIA
1936 1 1937 DATA FROM SOUTHERN FOREST SURVEY

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FIGURE 13
EXPENDITURES AND SOURCE OF FUNDS SPENT FOR FOREST FIRE PROTECTION OF STATE AND PRIVATE FOREST LANDS
JULY 1,1937 TO JUNE 30, 1938
MONEY SPENT SHOWN IN PERCENT OF TOTAL FUNDS NECESSARY FOR STATE WIDE PROTECTION
ALA. ARK. FLA. GA. LA. MISS. N.C OKLA. S.C TENN. TEXAS
STATES

obtained from the following sources: Federal funds $74,287, State funds $39,329, private funds $98,937, and county funds $25,393.
Adequate State-wide protection from forest fires would cost approximately $1,200,000 annually. This objective will now be brought much closer as a result of the passage of a Constitutional Amendment at the November 1938 general election. This Amendment gives the counties the right to cooperate financially with the State in fire protection work and makes it possible to place under protection hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land.
The State Division of Forestry, in cooperation with groups of landowners and several counties during the calendar year 1937, protected 3,490,100 acres of forest land, or less than 17 per cent of the private forest land needing protection.
Figure 13 and Table 8 indicate that of eleven southern states, Georgia ranked seventh in obtaining adequate funds from all sources for State-wide protection. Georgia ranked tenth in the amount of state funds appropriated for this objective. The county and private contributions were nearly two and a half times as much as the State appropriation (Figure 13).
Problems in forest production in Georgia are few. Yet so acute is one of these problems that upon its successful solution hangs the future of Georgia as one of the great woodproducing states of the country. This vital problem is the prevention and control of forest fires. In the naval stores region of the State

during the year 1936, 152 million cubic feet of pine timber were lost through mortality. Conservatively, 75 per cent or 114 million cubic feet were lost, directly or indirectly, from fire . Expressed In dollars, and assuming a valuation of $1 per cord on the stump, this means that in one section of Georgia alone timber valued at more than $1,250,000 was lost as the result of fire. At a time when economic conditions throughout the nation are in general discouraging and when living conditions in many rural communities are critical, it seems ridiculous for a modern state to permit the wanton destruction of a valuable commodity such as timber.
That forest fires in Georgia can be prevented is obvious from the
mere consideration that 97 per cent are man- caused. Being caused by man they assuredly can be prevented by man. Moreover, for 1937 the annual fire loss on the several million acres under, organized fire protection was less than 1.8 per cent. This small loss, contrasted with an estimated loss of 19. 8 per cent incurred throughout the State on areas not under organized protection, shows beyond doubt that fires can be prevented (Figure 14).
Federal funds for fire protection in Georgia have greatly exceeded funds appropriated from the State Treasury for every year since the beginning of organized protection in 1926. Several counties are appropriating thousands of dollars annually for fire control and many others would do likewise if only the State would take more vigorous action. This question of adequate appropriations of State funds for fire control is one of the most important

29

FIGURE 14
Results of FOREST FIRE PROTECTION in Georgia
1937

Forest Protectioh Ledger

Data for Protected Forest,
17<jfc is PROTECTED

Data for Unprotected Forest
5^. is UNmOTECTED

3,-4 90,100 ACRES

J^J/V
IO&4 FIRES 0UR.NEO OVER. l.8^o OP THE PRIVATE FOREST LAND UNPER.
PROTECTION

.24,781 FIP.ES BURNED OVER. \9.&<fc> OF THE PRIVATE: FOREST LAND
UNPROTECTED

$96,000 DAMAGE
0ONE9V FlRETO FOREST UN PER PROTECTION

*3.70QOOO damage:
PONE BY FiRE TO UNPROTECTED FORESTS

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Result of PROTECTION

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Result of NON-PROTECTION

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problems facing the State Legislature.
Forest fires are a stigma on Georgia's claim of being a modern state. They can and should be prevented.

The ratio of expenditures for forest fire protection on State and privately owned 2 ands to what would be required for State-wide protection on such lands is shown in the table below. The graphs illustrate the data.

TABLE 8. State and privately owned forest lands Georgia - July 1, 1937 to June 30, 1958

Amount required for State-wide protection : $1,200,000 ; 100.0^

State funds expended Federal -"unds expended County and private funds expended

34,479

2.9

66,510

5.5

84,258

7.0

Total funds expended

$185,227

15.4

Ratio of present expenditures to requirements for State-wide protection

Amount available - 15.4^/o

State -2.9$
I
Federal - 5.5$

Source of funds

County and private 7.0$

31

PERTINENT POINTS TO CONSIDER

Studies of the forest resources in Georgia reveal the following pertinent facts.
1. Georgia is today, as she has been in the past, producing vast quantities of timber.
2. In spite of the great annual production of timber in Georgia at the present time, this amount could be easily doubled if adequate protection from fire were provided.
3. Doubling Georgia's annual production of timber would allow for the expansion of her forest industries which in turn would provide for a substantial increase in the number of persons engaged in the woods and mills of the State.
h. The most pressing problem confronting forest landowners in Georgia today is adequate fire prevention and control. The funds needed for such prevention and control are not great. The entire State could be protected for an average of not more than 5 cents per forest acre per year. Funds for fire protection are now being appropriated by individuals, counties,

the Federal Government, and the State; but State funds are lagging far behind funds from other sources.
5. Of the eleven southern states, Georgia ranks tenth on the basis of adequate state appropriations for forest fire control.
6. Provisions should be made authorizing an annual appropriation by the State of 1 cent per acre per year for all forest land in the Stare, provided that this fund is used in matching county funds appropriated for the same purpose.
7. An increased educational campaign should be inaugurated to the end that man- caused fires be materially reduced If not entirely eliminated.
8. If Georgia is to continue to be a great timber-producing State the program of State-wide fire protection and the adoption of better methods of harvesting the forest crop must be far more vigorously supported. The improvement of forest practices should go hand in hand with fire control so that the forest lands may yield maximum returns.

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