2006 annual report

Honorable Sonny Perdue, Governor
Kenneth C. Stewart, Jr., Director
GEORGIA FORESTRY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Jim L. Gillis, Jr., Chairman Victor Beadles
Wesley Langdale H. G. Thomas New
Robert Pollard Fred Warnell H.G. Yeomans

Forestry-related technical information and assistance is provided to Georgia's private forest landowners by the Forest Management Department to enhance their woodlands for economical, social, and environmental benefits.
RURAL FORESTRY ASSISTANCE Rural forestry assistance promotes healthy, vigorous forests that provide a renewable and dependable source of forest products for the state's economy. Approximately 5,709 forest landowners in Georgia received GFC forest management information during FY2006 addressing recommendations on 464,923 acres.
FOREST STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (FSP) The Stewardship Program completed its 15th year with a cumulative enrollment of 5,910 landowners covering 1,426,755 acres in Georgia. The cornerstone of the Forest Stewardship Program is the Forest Stewardship Plan developed for each landowner in the program. These plans evaluate the landowner's timber, wildlife, soil, water, scenic, and recreational resources making specific recommendations on how these resources can be best managed. A total of 121 plans covering 35,228 acres were written in FY2006 by GFC Foresters. The unique cooperation between the public and private sectors has continued and strengthened this year as consulting and industry foresters provided 176 plans on 81,542 acres for their clients.
The Program also recognizes landowners demonstrating commitment to forest stewardship with by doing an outstanding management of their property. The state total of those receiving this honor has risen to 235 certified stewards for a total of 194,359 acres.

Maintained the "Virtual Forest" website to show landowners how different forest stands should be managed
Held 2 GROWS (Georgia Recognizes Our Woodland Stewards) Landowners Field days in Devereux and Hillsboro Georgia.
Provided assistance to the GA Envirothon and Regional FFA Field Days.
Strengthened a partnership with the N.W.T.F. by developing several Stewardship Field days, a seed subsidy program, and the creation of a promotional video on stewardship.
Created a new partnership with the Quality Deer Management Assoc including field days and a discounted offer on their food plot book.
Through the seed subsidy program alone, Stewardship cost shared over 24,000 pounds of seed creating over 550 acres of habitat improvement on Georgia forest land.
Created a consulting foresters short course along with DNR and UGA to enhance plan writer skills for consultants and other plan writers.
Created new displays for meetings and other public events.
COST SHARE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS GFC is the technical agency responsible for determining specifications necessary for landowners to install a range of forest practices under three different cost share incentive programs administered by the Farm Services Agency (FSA). An additional program, introduced in 1992, is administered by GFC with assistance from FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Department of Natural Resources, and U. S. Forest Service.

Forest Stewardship Program Accomplishments -2006: 20 landowners planted 707 acres of longleaf pine under the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program (A partnership with USFWS, GFC, and the Longleaf Alliance)

The incentive programs include:
Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) FLEP was created within the 2002 Farm Bill. FLEP is a costshare program providing incentives to landowners for implementing multiple use practices on their forestland.

The GFC provided technical assistance to 178 landowners preparing plans for cost-share assistance. Cost-share assistance through FLEP was provided on 2,011 acres. To qualify for cost-share landowners are required to have a Forest Management Plan meeting basic requirements of a Forest Stewardship Plan.
FLEP funding is also used to provide educational programs, throughout the state, to assist landowners in helping them to make wise decisions in their forest management endeavors.
Stewardship Incentive Program (SIP) - This federal program is the companion to FSP. It promotes multiple resource management practices as identified in a Landowner Forest Stewardship Plan. Seven practices are available under SIP. GFC serviced 37 SIP requests on 662 acres. SIP was replaced in the 2002 Farm Bill by the Forest Land Enhancement Program.
Forestry Incentive Program (FIP) - The purpose of FIP is optimum production of wood fiber products. Since its inception in 1975, FIP has been responsible for tree planting on 440,988 Georgia acres. Cost-share assistance was provided on 606 acres of reforestation.
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) - The Conservation Reserve Program, primarily created to provide soil erosion protection and crop base reduction, was expanded to improve wildlife habitat. GFC foresters provided technical assistance in preparing 280 tree planting plans covering 10,463 acres. Assistance was provided on 659 performance inspections for practice completion covering 8,000 acres.
REGENERATION Georgia planted 203,117 acres artificially regenerated with hardwood and pine seedlings during the 2004-2005 planting season. This included 118,181 acres on private lands, 82,513 acres on forest industry lands, and 2,423 acres on government lands. Georgia has led the South in tree planting for the past 20 years GFC still maintains its list of recommended site preparation, tree planting, and herbicide vendors for landowners seeking those services. This listing can be found at the GFC website: gatrees.org.
FOREST HEALTH The Forest Health Unit provided statewide leadership and guidance to consulting, industry, and GFC foresters and other natural resource managers on a wide range of forest health related issues. GFC foresters incorporated

insect and/or disease advice on 1,489 management plans involving 110,489 acres for the year. Statewide, forest health training was provided to Foresters, Nurserymen (& regulatory), and other resource managers 61 times involving most of the program areas listed in this report. Forest Health was represented at 6 field days involving 1,000+ landowners.
Special notes of interest:
Pitch Canker Outbreak: Widespread damage of slash pine plantations in 6 counties in the Waycross Valdosta area was detected and surveyed in 2005 and checking these sites in 2006 revealed some new infections within the same stands but limited new infections in previously unaffected stands. Note: Diplodia was found in the same stands but Pitch Canker Disease was diagnosed as the primary causal agent with the damage. The GFC is screening our Slash Pine seed orchard families (via USFS lab in Asheville) to determine if any offer pitch canker resistance. Resistant seedlings may be offered in the future if adequate seed is available.
Diplodia Tip Blight was detected in lower central Georgia in the winter of 2005-06 and these counties are: Peach, Houston, Macon, Sumter, Dooly, Crisp, Wilcox and Pulaski (see map in the appendix). Some isolated tree mortality within these 5-10 year old Loblolly Pine plantations was also attributed to pitch canker (UGA lab testing), but the primary problems of stem and limb dieback were diagnosed as diplodia (no strain type specified).
Forest Health Staff responded to 60 forest industry / consultant/GFC forester requests requiring field visits throughout the state. Annosus root rot was to blame in the many of these inspections.
Red Oak Decline was present in most of the state by late summer (2006)
Pine Beetle Aerial Survey: 118 counties were surveyed and 601 spots were detected (only spots with 10 or more trees were plotted). Ips sp and Black Turpentine Beetles are causing the majority of this damage with most spots being under one-half acre. Stands that were already suffering from annosus root disease experienced the most ips and btb damage with several of these ranging over 200 acres and 30%+ mortality.
The GFC has added 4 Forest Health Specialist positions (state funded!), and these foresters are devoted 100% to forest health work. All of these foresters were promoted within the agency and the forest health team has an average of 16 years experience.

Special Surveys Conducted for various pests:
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid: Damage has now been found in 8 counties: Rabun, Habersham, White, Towns, Union, Fannin, Lumpkin, and Stephens. A great deal of public outreach to educate the public about this insect and control measures available for urban trees has taken place.
The GFC has also endorsed, sponsored and encouraged the efforts to establish a rearing lab on the UGA campus in Athens. This lab began production at the end of 2006.
Gypsy Moths: The GFC utilized the services of 6 interns to install 3500+ traps in 16 counties in Georgia. These were all located in north Georgia. Delimiting trapping occurred in White, Dawson, Fulton, and Cobb Counties. (APHIS employees trapped two counties: Rockdale and Henry and deployed traps at the Ports at Savannah and Brunswick and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.)
One moth was caught in Gwinnett by GFC trappers, and APHIS caught moths in Henry, Rockdale (2) and Glynn counties. Since the moths caught in Henry and Glynn Counties were within 20 miles of an international cargo import site, APHIS checked to insure they weren't the Asian Gypsy Moth strain. Tests were negative
Sirex Woodwasp: A total of 66 insect traps were deployed throughout the state from May until the end of December to detect the presence of a non-native woodwasp (Sirex noctillio). This insect has caused tremendous damage on 2 and three needle pines throughout other parts of the world and Loblolly is especially vulnerable. It was first detected in New York State in 2005 and has spread into Pennsylvania in 2006. Georgia was one of several southeastern states to participate in this early detection program. None were detected.
Cogongrass: The Georgia Forestry Commission along with many other government and private partners is cooperating to detect and eradicate all known cogongrass sites in the state. This invasive plant has the potential to negatively impact all types of natural resources throughout the state and has already invaded several other states nearby: Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. All known sites are being treated and an aggressive outreach and education program is taking place.

Redbay Wilt Disease: Redbay (Persea borbonia) mortality has now been detected in 15 counties in the coastal region (and most of the barrier islands). There were 6 counties infested last year, and this mortality has been linked to the non-native Redbay Ambrosia Beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and an associated Ophiostoma spp fungus. This mortality has almost completely removed this species in areas closest to Savannah and the situation has advanced at an alarming rate. A formal survey has begun in November 2006 and should conclude in the spring of 2007 to gain base-line infestation status.
Sudden Oak Death: The Sudden Oak Death monitoring program continues and Georgia now has 1 nursery that was confirmed positive (through APHIS) for Phytophthora ramorum in 2006 (Sharpsburg). The GFC provided on site assistance with the burning of these plants (along with Georgia Department of Agriculture and USDA APHIS officials). Georgia had 0 homeowner positives in 2006 and the number of homeowner samples being tested continues to decline as the media coverage on the SOD threat has also declined. Georgia checked 51 trace forward nursery locations with our perimeter surveys and the 3 homeowner sites. No positives have been found. The GFC is helping fund the labor associated with operating the plant pathology lab at UGA that does all the testing for Georgia. Approximately 7,200(+) samples have been processed to date through this lab. To date, no native vegetation has tested positive in Georgia or the eastern U.S.
FOREST WATER QUALITY The Georgia Forestry Commission has a contract with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) to coordinate the state's forestry water quality program. The major responsibilities include Best Management Practices (BMP) education in an effort to minimize erosion and sedimentation from all silvicultural practices; complaint investigation and remediation; and BMP monitoring. The Commission is excited that the General Assembly recently approved three full time water quality forester positions to assist in this statewide effort to keep Georgia's waters clean during forestry operations. With these positions, the GFC will strive to better serve our customers in a timely manner.
During the year, 139 BMP talks were given to over 3,691 people. Six of the talks were presented to 177 new loggers and foresters participating in the American Forest and Paper Association sponsored Sustainable Forestry

Initiative's Master Timber Harvesters' Program (MTH). Participants are able to interact with various experts speaking on the sustainable forest initiative, silviculture, wildlife habitat, endangered species, wetlands, water quality, harvest planning, business management, OSHA rules, workers' compensation, and safety management.

land. Statewide BMP implementation was 89.8% at that time. Stream crossings continue to be problematic as compliance was only 44%. A detailed report showing implementation and compliance rates by landownership category for each physiographic region and specific forest practice is available on the GFC web site.

In order to deliver wood to SFI participating mills, MTH participants are required to complete 12 hours of continuing logger education classes every two years. Four of the hours must be environmental and two of those hours have to be BMP field trip related. The GFC provided 70 BMP talks concentrating on proper forest road and stream crossing construction and maintenance at continuing logger education classes during the year. The GFC presented BMP talks at 7 forest industry workshops and 7 forest landowner workshops. The GFC maintains a list of MTH timber buyers on its web site and a link to the UGA MTH list of all participants. The BMP manual is also on the web site.
The department received 84 documented water quality complaints related to forestry practices. Approximately 197 site visits were made by the GFC district water quality foresters to investigate and mediate those complaints. Forty-five complaints have been resolved, twelve have been turned over to the regulatory authorities and 15 remain pending.
GFC district water quality foresters made approximately 147 BMP pre-harvest advice site visits.
Sample timber sale contracts and invitations to bid, which include specific BMP language, are available at all GFC offices.
In an effort to determine if our educational efforts are effective, the GFC conducts a statewide BMP implementation survey every other year. The sites are selected to meet a stratified random sample which is based on the volume of wood harvested by county and the number of acres treated by the different ownerships (non-industrial private, forest industry and public lands). The sites have to experience forestry activities within the past two years, preferably within the last six months. Sites cover all geographic regions of the state.
The last survey was conducted in 2004 on 412 sites with the results released in 2006. By ownership, 69% of the sites were on non-industrial private forest (NIPF) lands, 26% on forest industry land, and 5% on public

The GFC monitored 357 pre-suppression and wildfire firebreaks for BMPs during the year. Results indicate that more BMP water bars are needed to reduce erosion impacts.
In its 2006 biennial report, the GAEPD identified 901 water quality impaired stream segments totaling over 6,983 miles and the USEPA identified an additional 41 segments in the state. Georgia is under a federal court consent order that requires well over 1,100 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits for various pollutants to be developed in order to improve conditions in these streams. It has been estimated that the fish communities (biota) in 286 of these segments are impaired due to sediment inputs attributed to nonpoint sources of pollution, which includes silvicultural operations. An additional 126 segments are impaired because of low dissolved oxygen levels attributed to nonpoint sources of pollution as well.
The GAEPD has contracted with many of the Regional Development Councils to write TMDL Implementation Plans to meet the TMDL requirements and is expecting the GFC to assist in the development of the forestry component for those plans. According to the federal requirements and proposals, there has to be "reasonable assurance" that BMPs will be implemented in order to meet the TMDL requirements. This could involve permits, written silvicultural plans, plan reviews, performance bonds, or BMP monitoring of every forestry operation within the watershed of a listed stream for a period of 5 years or until the stream is evaluated again during the next GAEPD River Basin monitoring cycle and at that time is either deleted from or kept on the list for another five years.
The GFC developed a forestry action template with the endorsement of the Georgia Forestry Association's Environmental Committee. In the plan, the GFC proposed to conduct monthly BMP assurance monitoring of active forestry operations instead of the permit, harvest plan, performance bond, and review process. Once the plan is developed, it must be submitted to the USEPA and put out for public comment. Afterward the plan must be

approved by the federal court and if approved becomes 2,852 tons of hardwood sawtimber - all with a total value

a part of the federal consent order.

of $ 4.108 million to the state.

Starting January 2003, the GFC began conducting a statewide BMP Assurance Monitoring Project targeting 63 sediment impaired TMDL watersheds identified by GAEPD as needing sediment reductions. Active sites are identified by air, on the ground observations, county records, and by requests. Logger, timber buyer, landowner, and receiving mill(s) information is identified. With landowner permission, GFC personnel conduct an initial BMP audit to provide any needed advice to prevent problems. A final examination is conducted once the operation is completed.
During FY 2006, there were 418 examinations made of which 342 involved timber harvesting operations and 76 involved site preparation or other timber management operations. Comparing the results from the initial and the final exams for timber harvesting indicate that a 7.8% increase in BMP implementation was achieved in the final inspection. The number of water quality risks identified dropped from 154 to 8 or 95%. This clearly demonstrates a pro-active approach of providing "reasonable assurance" that BMPs are being implemented and that water quality is being protected through the services of the GFC.
The GFC has been involved in the Governor's Comprehensive Water Plan Study Committee as Director Stewart is a member of the State Water Council. The plan will address water quantity and quality issues.
The GFC Water Quality Program was reviewed by the USFS and the Southern Group of State Foresters in February 05. Comments from the review indicated that the GFC program is certainly one of the region's strongest and most effective programs.
STATE LANDS ASSISTANCE Many state agencies request GFC assistance each year in coordinating timber sales from their lands. GFC is charged by law to handle such sales, which involve timber cruising to determine wood volumes, timber marking, advertising, sending out bid invitations, conducting bid openings, negotiating terms, and awarding contracts to successful bidders.
In FY2005, there were 39 timber sales on other state agency lands which involved 236,402 tons of pine pulpwood, 17,899 tons of hardwood pulpwood, 16,079 tons of pine chip-n-saw, 38,966 tons of pine sawtimber,

STATE FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT GFC owns or manages several properties in the state. These lands incorporate forest stewardship (multiple resource) management, including forest products, wildlife, recreation, soil and water conservation, aesthetics, historical, and cultural resources. Forest Stewardship Plans on these lands detail various activities benefiting the state and general public economically, socially, and environmentally. The properties include:
Dixon Memorial State Forest The largest of GFC holding (35,708 acres), the Dixon Memorial State Forest is located near Waycross, Georgia. It is a bio-diverse forest including approximately 15,000 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp. Dixon has been managed by the GFC since 1938. Accomplishments for FY2006 include one total harvest timber sale involving ten planted pine stands totaling 434 acres and 35 years of age. Volumes and values of wood in the timber sale were as follows: 8,299.46 cords of pine timber (including pulpwood, chip-n-saw and poles) for an estimated total of $471,796.74. Timber stand improvement thinnings were conducted on 3 stands of planted pines totaling 302.28 acres. These thinnings totaled 6,714.38 tons of pine timber and generated approximately $101,905.41. Other accomplishments include 717.87 acres of site preparation and 457.29 acres of tree planting, 163.2 miles of firebreak maintenance, 263.64 miles of road and ditch maintenance, and over 12.0 acres of prescribe burns. Revenues received through the sale of various forest products at Dixon totaled $576,997.95. Expenses amounted to $221,300.92 resulting in approximately $355,697.03 in net revenues.
The Herty Building at Dixon Memorial State Forest hosted over 1,200 persons attending a total of 32 meetings: including Logger Workshops, Natural Resources Meetings, educational training programs by the Department of Transportation, and the GFC.
Dawson Forest - Dawson Forest, a 10,130-acre forest located in Dawson County, is owned by the City of Atlanta and managed by GFC. Forest management activities for FY2006 included 47.5 acres of timber stand improvement (TSI) in 7 stands, 110 acres of prescribed burning, and timber harvest on 20 acres. Timber income was $32,331.00 while trail income totaled $15,857 for the year. Maintenance and construction of access facilities

included: 15.3 miles of road grading, applying gravel (1161 tons) to 8.5 miles of roads, vegetation establishment on 6 miles of forest roads, installation of 133 signs, and mowing of 18.1 miles of roadsides. Entire road system (28 miles) was traveled and cleared of downed trees as needed throughout the year. Herbicides were applied as spot treatments across a large portion of the property for the control of Kudzu, Autumn Olive, Privet and unwanted vegetation along access roads. Two culvert projects using 70 ft of pipe were completed during FY 2006.
The Dawson Forest and staff was host to four organized trail rides and three Boy Scout campout events for a total of 415 persons attending. Over 750 pieces of literature were distributed in FY2006. The recreational trail program, a cooperative effort of Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division and the Georgia Forestry Commission, provided 28 miles of horse and bicycle trails for public use. In addition to the many hunters and fishermen using the Forest, an estimated 2532 persons used the horse and bike trail network during FY2006. The entire trail system (28 miles) was checked and cleared as needed during the year. Two sections of the trail system (1.3 miles) were re-graded and enhanced using GFC dozier.
Educational programs given to organizations: Cub Scouts of America, UGA Leadership Development Program, and Upper Etowah Recreation Group. Various training programs were conducted on Dawson Forest during the period. These programs included two handline construction/wildfire training courses involving GFC and local Fire Departments, One prescribed burn training with GFC and Volunteer Firemen, Two Georgia Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue programs as well as one Georgia DNR Search and Rescue event.

marking/posting included 2.1 miles of line using a total of 108 signs. Twenty eight timber stands totaling 1,220 acres were evaluated for management needs.
Access/Maintenance included: Installation of 60 feet of 48" culvert and 98 bags of gravel mix on two stream crossings and grass seeding and fertilize application on 2 miles of forestry roads. Five trash details were completed throughout the year to remove various materials from the property.
Other related activities included: Meeting with Georgia DNR on two occasions to evaluate and discuss land trespass. Two meetings were held with Georgia DNR to discuss management objectives and law enforcement needs.
GEORGIA'S FOREST INVENTORY/ FIA The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program in Georgia has accomplished the measurement and/or re-measurement of 1,395 forested and non-forested plots and 689 intensification plots (which are land use identification plots used to help improve the accuracy of forest land acreage estimates) in FY 2006 with an excellent 97.58% average for all of Georgia's plots that were check cruised in FY 2006. These plots were collected by seven certified crews strategically located across the state. Of the 1,395 plots, 105 were Forest Health Monitoring Plots, which require a greater collection of data involving forest health criteria.
Georgia's Cycle 9, Panel 2 collection was completed October 18, 2005. Collection of the Cycle 9, Panel 3 data began the same day. As of June 30, 2006, we are two months away from Cycle 9, Panel 3 completion, which puts us two months ahead of schedule.

Paulding Forest The 10,000-acre Paulding Forest in Paulding County is also owned by the City of Atlanta, but managed by GFC. Forest management activities for FY2006 include the near completion of 75.8 acre of timber harvest. Five stands totaling 96 acres were identified and boundaries marked for selective thinning. Timber harvest income for the year was $168,719.45. BMPs were applied to harvest areas and roads accessing these areas by GFC personnel following timber harvests. Site preparation for tree planting was accomplished on 15.8 acres and 16.5 acres of tree planted was completed. Seedling survival surveys were performed on 43.8 acres including 34.4 acres of piedmont longleaf pine. Boundary

The number-one goal of Forest Protection is to protect Georgia's 24 million acres of forest resources from the devastation of wildfires. This protection influences many factors including public safety, economy of the forest industry, guarantee of forest environmental amenities such as clean air and clean water, and last - but not least - provision of forestland for public enjoyment.
Forest Protection deploys a diverse approach through early wildfire detection and coordinated, forceful fire suppression responses. Fire prevention is emphasized statewide, but there is also a focused fire prevention program in the 32 top wildfire-occurrence counties. Presuppression firebreaks are installed at a nominal fee for landowners desiring permanent protection from encroaching wildfires; and professional burning assistance is provided for those needing help with outdoor burning.
Georgia law requires permits for outdoor burning. Forest Protection is responsible for administering permit authorization.

offices and 131 county units. Response to wildfires, issuing burn permits, presuppession firebreak plowing, professional burning assistance, fire prevention programs, training, records and reports, surveys, local community assistance (all aspects of Forest Protection) depend on this network of offices and employees for services provided statewide.
Firebreak plowing is the most popular landowner service provided by Forest Protection. During 2006, forest rangers serviced 10,675 requests, installing an estimated 40,983 miles of presuppression firebreaks. Due to increasing demand for this valuable service, there was a monthly average of 614 requests pending for firebreak plowing during 2006.
On Line Permits, which began in 2004, allows homeowners to receive permits (via the Internet) for burning small piles of yard debris. The Georgia Forestry Commission highly promotes the use of the Internet to obtain permits to help alleviate more than 250,000 telephone requests for such burning. During fiscal year 2006, 21,787 Georgians received permits on line.

WILDFIRE ACTIVITY In Fiscal Year 2006, Georgia experienced 8,250 wildfires that burned 32,419 acres with an average size fire of 3.93 acres. The month of March had a total of 1,915 fires, more fire activities than any other month. Escaped debris fires continue to be the number one source of wildfires with 44% of the total. Woods arson or incendiary causes rank second for 18% of the wildfires.
Forest rangers report an estimated $7,613,329 in damage to structures, improvements, motorized, crops and livestock due to wildfires in 2006. A total of 393 homes and outbuildings with an estimated value of $4,058,000 were lost or damaged. In addition, 1768 homes/outbuildings valued at $112,391,972 were threatened but saved by fire suppression activities.
Fire departments participating in the Rural Fire Defense program report responses to 7,179 forest and open-land fires that burned a total of 14,121acres.
COUNTY AND DISTRICT OFFICE OPERATIONS The strength of the Georgia Forestry Commission Forest Protection program is the focused operations of 10 district

There were 453,368 burning permits issued in Georgia during 2006. Approximately 27,163 requests were denied due to fire danger or smoke management concerns
WILDFIRE PREVENTION The wildfire prevention effort in Georgia is coordinated through 10 District offices, 131 County offices and Macon headquarters. This effort is funded with grant monies from the National Fire Plan. These efforts include exhibits and programs at the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee, Moultrie Sunbelt Expo and the Georgia State Fair in Perry. Smokey Bear supplies and materials are provided to GFC county offices to conduct school programs. Roadside signs, billboards, tabletop displays, stand alone exhibits, magazine ads and newspaper ads are utilized. There are also Smokey Bear sports programs conducted with the University of Georgia and the Augusta Lynx hockey team.
Part of the statewide wildfire prevention program is a specific National Fire Plan grant, the 32 County Grant. This grant provides funds individually to the top 32 counties with the highest number of wildfires. A Fire Prevention Specialist position, funded from grant monies, helps to coordinate

this effort with these 32 counties. Each office develops a county wildfire prevention plan addressing situation, analysis, strategies and budget. The grant allows these counties to target their top fire causes locally with newspaper ads, billboards, signage and giveaway promotional items. Some unique applications are wildfire prevention "cargo" trailers. These trailers are equipped with fire prevention exhibits utilizing video and audio programs.
FIRE WEATHER FORECASTING Wildfire behavior is determined by the forest fuels, surrounding topography, and on weather conditions such as wind and relative humidity. Daily readiness for fire suppression is usually expressed in terms of fire weather and fire danger. Georgia uses a sophisticated National Fire Danger Rating System where weather data is measured and interpolated into levels of readiness understood by forest rangers and fire cooperators. The fire danger ratings, with fire weather forecasting, are produced by the Forest Protection meteorologist daily and posted on the web at gatrees.org.
Valuable tools and information are available on the fire weather website for forest managers intending to conduct prescribed burning. These tools include weather maps, rainfall maps, drought maps, point-forecast system, and prescribed fire climatology system.
In Fiscal Year 2006, the long-anticipated web-based Vsmoke application finally came online. With this application, landowners and prescribed burners can see on the map where smoke may go before they start a fire. This will be a valuable tool in planning a prescribed fire.
In cooperation with Environment Protection Division, Georgia Forestry Commission began to put a burn permit restriction statement on our district weather forecasts for Atlanta, Macon, Augusta and counties near Chattanooga, TN when ozone concentration is forecast to be high. This shows that by working together, we can find solutions that will satisfy the desires for clean air without seriously reducing the benefits of prescribed burning.
AIR OPERATIONS Forest Protection operates 23 single engine air patrol airplanes and two fire suppression helicopters. Air patrol provides added fire detection during periods of moderate to high fire danger; also provided is support to rangers who need direction to wildfires or information the pilot can provide from above the fire scene. Air patrol was responsible for the initial detection of 743 wildfires in Fiscal Year 2006. Suppression support, advice to forest rangers from aircraft, was provided on 1,031 wildfires. An additional 37,768 permitted burns were checked for safety by Forest Protection aircraft.

TYPE II INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM The GFC Type II team prepared for what was projected as another bad Hurricane season this year, but weather patterns changed and there was no call for Hurricane response. The Type II team instead was called by the state of Texas to respond to wildfires. The team reported to Granbury, Texas in September for 21 days. The team returned for a second response in October and closed out the West Texas Summer Fire Incident. Several of the team members have also been involved with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the State of Georgia forming the State Agriculture Response Team (SART). This SART will be the first defense in the event of an avian influenza outbreak.
There are approximately 60 active members on the team. The team is growing with future plans to integrate other agencies into team membership building a multi-agency all hazards team for Georgia.
For the first time the GFC has a representative on the Georgia Emergency Management Agency Command Staff at the State Operations Center. The GFC has utilized experienced team leaders to fill positions in the Logistics section at the command center.
PRESCRIBED FIRE Prescribed Fire continues to be the best, most cost efficient forest management tool for wildlife management, protection of the forest from wildfires, restoration of fire dependent forest ecosystems, forest regeneration, and eradication of certain unwanted plant species According to permits issued, there were 1,103,118 acres treated with prescribed fire in 2006 by 24,534 practitioners.
Often misunderstood by the general public, this age-old forest management practice requires support and promotion in today's increasingly urbanized Georgia environment. Forest Protection supports this practice with a Georgia Prescribed Fire Manager certification program. The program guarantees a basic level of knowledge and experience for those who practice prescribed burning. In 2006, there were two certification sessions conducted certifying a total of 70 prescribed burn managers. Since inception of the certification program in 1993, 2,467 practitioners have been certified. In addition to the certification classes, the Prescribed Fire Manager has held four other educational workshops for professional land managers and landowners on the importance of prescribed fire and the proper use of it.
Prescribed burning is used for forest management statewide and there is a keen interest in this practice in southwest Georgia because of Bobwhite quail management and perpetuation of the longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem. For this reason, a Prescribed Fire Council was formed in southwest Georgia

four years ago to help promote and gain continuing support for the use of prescribed fire. Since then, the Council has spread and plans this year to continue outreach across the entire State. The Georgia Prescribed Fire Council has the full support of the Georgia Forestry Commission and for the third year, the two have been successful in having the Governor sign a proclamation declaring the first full week in February as Prescribed Fire Awareness Week in Georgia.
Forest Protection coordinates an interagency prescribed burning team. The team selects and burns special forested sites that may be difficult to burn or sites that may compliment other planned prescribed burning. In 2006, the team accomplished a total of 4 prescribed burns on 2,100 acres.
OFFICE OF FLEET MANAGEMENT This year, the Georgia Forestry Commission added an Office of Fleet Management (OFM) under Forest Protection to help manage GFC's 1,100+ vehicles and equipment. The OFM has designed and implemented an online system that allows Districts and Departments to set priority on vehicles/ equipment needing replacement as well as track the status of what has been ordered, purchased, and delivered. OFM works closely with the fabrication shop on modifications and design of equipment.
The OFM has evaluated different equipment to be purchased this year including the J series dozers by John Deere, a mini dozer by Rayco with a mower head attachment, and a four wheel drive rubber tire farm tractor. The farm tractor is being tested in Southwest Georgia for the effectiveness of pulling harrows.
This year, with the added funds from bonds, the OFM was able to purchase 38 crawler tractors, 17 loboy trailers, 28 ton pickups, 5 type 6 engines, 30 midsize pickups and 7 sedans. Thirteen truck tractors, 9 transports and 1 passenger van were also purchased.
FABRICATION SHOP During Fiscal Year 2006, the Fabrication Shop manufactured 20 tanks for the Rural Fire Defense Program, constructed 20 150 gallon tanks for ranger pickup trucks, built eight steel transport beds for service, and fabricated five mountain plows to be used on new equipment. There were 16 different styles of harrows built and issued to the field.
The Fabrication Shop also equipped eight new tractors with guards and doors for safety; mounted fire plows as needed, in addition to 235 special repair requests on V-Blades, transports, tractors, plows, and other suppression equipment were filled.

RURAL FIRE DEFENSE & FIREWISE PROGRAM OPERATIONS RFD lease equipment provided for rural fire departments during FY06 totaled 18 units with the most requested type being the new Super Fireknocker. In addition, 16 type 6 wildland fire engines were produced for internal use by GFC county units. Another 23 work orders for repairs of pumping equipment for internal GFC customers were processed. 12 work orders were processed for repairs of RFD equipment such as vehicles, pumps, tanks, and plumbing.
Volunteer Fire Assistance funds managed by RFD were dispersed as 50/50 grants to 40 Government entities to purchase structural fire gear, hoses, nozzles and other items needed to make fire trucks operational. Additional uses of VFA funds were grants to the Georgia Fire Academy to provide basic firefighter training for rural fire departments and to support 2 regional training sessions.
Through the GFC "Helping Hands" program, 1906 items of wildland firefighter clothing were provided to fire departments, forest industry cooperators, and other state agencies involved with prescribed and wildland fires.
Four quarterly meetings were held with the Rural Fire Defense Advisory Council, a group comprised of Georgia Fire officials, Cooperators, and insurance representatives. GFC has provided facilitation and logistical support of the council's activities for 15 years.
Forest Protection has adopted the national Firewise and Firewise Communities USA program that helps communities and individual homeowners share responsibility for protecting their homes and businesses from wildfire (www.firewise.org). Communities are offered free Firewise evaluations and an opportunity to become a Firewise USA Community. Individual homeowners are offered wildfire risk assessments. In 2006, Wildcat Developments in Dawson County became a Georgia, Firewise Community. They also joined Randall Creek in Muscogee County and Kinderlou in Lowndes County as nationally recognized Firewise, USA Communities.
The Firewise traveling exhibit used to display concepts of defensible space, Firewise landscaping, and fire resistant building materials, traveled throughout Georgia in 2006. The trailer was set up at 19 events involving 72 show days and an estimated 600,000 people were exposed to Firewise information.

EDUCATION Georgia Forestry Commission professionals serve educational requests throughout the year to a wide range of audiences using a variety of methods.
Public outreach numbers for Fiscal Year 2006:
- 535,083 - GaTrees.org website - 19,045 - Bartram, Hightower, & Spirit Creek
Educational Forests (on-site and outreach) - 21,687 - GA Forests Forever mobile classroom program - 70,792 - Presentations, programs, workshops, exhibits
Fiscal Year 2006 provided development funds to build bathrooms at Spirit Creek Education Forest and a pavilion at Hightower Educational Forest.
URBAN & COMMUNITY FORESTRY The Sustainable Community Forestry program (SCFP) seeks to minimize the loss of trees while maximizing their benefits and provides communities with resources to increase awareness related to benefits of a healthy and sustainable forest. The SCFP Council was formed to provide leadership and direction for the program. In 2006, Urban & Community Forestry and UrbanRural Interface educational opportunities for foresters, citizens, and partners were offered through the SCFP.
To encourage citizen involvement in building longterm and sustainable community urban forestry programs, the Financial Assistance Program provided federal cost-share funding for 26 community-based projects. The 2006 Program Focus was again the FiveYear Plan for Georgia's Urban & Community Forest; total of $281,170 was allocated. Recipients matched this with $526,275 in cash, and $220,285 in in-kind services and contributions. Seven grant workshops were held in Fort Valley, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Lithonia, Columbus and Statesboro.
GFC continued to promote the Georgia Model Urban Forest Book and continued to promote www.modelurbanforest.org

specifically to landscape architects and planners. The project provides Georgia's citizens and local officials with an interactive, virtual tour and links to the book.
The statewide Arbor Day Ceremony was conducted by GFC in Atlanta in celebration of the statewide Arbor Day theme, Trees Make Dollars and Sense. One yellow poplar tree was planted in Centennial Olympic Park by John Rosenow with the National Arbor Day Foundation, Kelly Cafferelli with The Home Depot Foundation, Mark Banta with Centennial Olympic Park and Ken Stewart. The Mayors of Georgia's new Tree City USA communities and the National Arbor Day Foundation Poster Contest winner were recognized. Fifth grade student, Hannah Stuckey of Southwest Laurens Elementary School in Rentz, received the State Arbor Day Poster Contest Award. 55 communities posted Arbor Day events on the Georgia Forestry Commission Arbor Day website pages; 120 media articles resulted.
The second Arbor Day Seedling Program for Legislators took place. A packet was mailed to each legislator which included media tools and a self-addressed, stamped postcard that asked them to simply identify a deserving non-profit organization in their district to which the GFC would donate 50 seedlings on their behalf. Thirty six legislators participated in the program.
Tim Womick presented the Trail of Trees program in the Tifton, Albany, Forsyth and Atlanta areas for city and county public schools, Browns Mill Park, Arabia Mountain Heritage Area and Zoo Atlanta. Womick engages students at a level unlike other speakers; his message has impact due to his unique presentation of mixing rhythm, fast-paced dialogue, and interaction with students. Teachers and 1,890 students left this program with at least one memorable fact about trees - and benefits they previously did not know. They also were presented with the big picture of processes within trees and the vital role of trees in the environment.

The GFC Website was updated to include sections on Tree Care, Benefits of Trees, Tree Boards, Tree City USA, Storms, the Five-Year Plan for Georgia's Urban & Community Forest, Professional Assistance and Arbor Day.
The cities of Toccoa, Kingsland and Luthersville received first-time Tree City USA certifications for outstanding accomplishments. One hundred and three communities received recertification, for a total of 106 Tree City USA's in Georgia. Thirteen cities received the Tree City USA Growth Award and were recognized for programs demonstrating environmental improvement and higher levels of tree care.
GFC worked with the Georgia Urban Forest Council (GUFC) to host several educational programs across the state and an annual conference and awards program in October. In addition, a committee was convened to update the Five-Year Plan for Georgia's Urban and Community Forest.
GFC foresters provided technical assistance for Georgia communities with tree ordinance development, project management, cultural practices, educational activities, and partnership development.

The Forest Products Utilization, Marketing and Development (Forest Marketing) program has traditionally provided technical and marketing assistance to the existing forest products community. During FY 2006 the program added two new focuses: assisting with forestry related economic development projects and facilitating the development of new forest products and values. These new services, combined with the traditional assistance program, ensures that Georgia's forest industry remains a viable competitor in the global marketplace while contributing to the state's economic well being. Without healthy markets, owners of Georgia's 24 million acres of commercial forest have few economic incentives to manage their forests. Wise utilization of the state's forest resource base -- as an economic engine -- is a high priority. Rural development activities relate to quality of life issues as well as creating and sustaining jobs; this emphasis is vital to the state's overall effort to maintain a sustainable economy and healthy forests.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTRY RELATED PROJECTS Forest Marketing staff foresters provided assistance to a total of twenty-eight potential projects. Seven of these projects involved companies wishing to establish facilities to produce traditional wood products. Two involved the development of facilities that would use new technology to produce building products, such as new methods of producing structural beams and treated lumber. Fifteen projects involved companies that desired to develop facilities to produce either energy or energy products. Examples of this include biomass-to-electricity generating facilities and wood pellet production facilities. The remaining four projects were conducted to assist local economic development groups with assessing the potential for forest industry development in their area.
Thirty-two resource reports regarding timber availability were provided to firms by the Marketing Staff as part of their feasibility analyses. An additional thirty-three other types of reports were provided for additional information.

As part of the economic development program, forty sites with the potential to be used by a forest-based industry were inspected and inventoried by the Marketing Staff. Information on the sites was incorporated into reports and other information provided to firms involved with the projects listed above.
The department again contracted with Georgia Tech's Economic Development Institute to perform an analysis of the "Economic Benefits of the Forestry Industry in Georgia: 2005". According to the report, forestry has a $26.0 billion annual impact on Georgia's economy and provides direct employment to over 67,600 Georgians. This continues a slow rebound from the 2003 low of $20 billion.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND MARKETING The Commission's Forest Products Marketing Directory database was updated and published on the Commission's website and as a printed booklet. This directory continues to be in heavy demand with over 1,800 downloads per month and requests originating throughout the United States and foreign countries. Information for the directory was collected by a survey performed in conjunction with Georgia Tech's Advanced Wood Product Laboratory. Data was collected from 1,299 forest industry firms engaged in secondary processing of wood in Georgia. The secondary processor information was combined with data previously collected from primary forest product manufacturers to complete the directory.
The GFC Marketing Staff responded to 295 individual requests for technical and marketing assistance. Formal presentations were provided to eighteen groups during meetings, workshops, or conferences with a total audience of 672 persons. The topics of these presentations included: the potential biomass energy industry, timber resource assessments, the development of a carbon registry for Georgia, and others. A total of 2,602 literature items were distributed

Two reports were completed for the Forest Marketing Program to help assess the sustainability of Georgia's resources. An Analysis of Wood Supply Sustainability at all County Locations in Georgia was conducted by Dr. Chris Cieszewski and Shangbin Liu of the University of Georgia Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. A Biomass Wood Resource Assessment on a County-by-County Basis for the State of Georgia was provided by General Bioenergy, Incorporated.
. The staff developed a variety of marketing tools for new and existing forest products. Several web pages were added to the www.gatrees.org website to address biomass energy, carbon sequestration, and economic development. A biomass GIS (geographic information system) database was established for Georgia. Eleven fact sheets and two displays were developed for use at conferences and other meetings. The Marketing Staff assisted with the planning and participated in the 2006 Smallwood tradeshow and conference in Virginia.
A media blitz was organized and conducted to raise awareness of the potential of forest biomass to provide energy products for the State. The results of this activity included the following as a minimum: nine newspaper and magazine articles, five radio programs or interviews, and three television interviews. Two other news articles were written by the Marketing Staff.
The marketing staff cooperated with the Georgia Department of Economic Development in planning and participating in a foreign business recruitment mission to Germany, Norway, and Sweden. Thirteen organizations were visited and provided with Georgia forestry data. Three active economic development projects resulted from this mission with future potential in Georgia.
NEW FOREST PRODUCTS AND VALUES The recent increased interest in energy security combined with Georgia's forest biomass availability has created an optimal opportunity to develop a bioenergy industry with the State. A Forest Energy and Development Director was named and the entire Forest Marketing staff was proactive in providing awareness of this potential, as well as providing data on sustainable levels of biomass on a statewide and local basis within the State. These activities are quantified above within the Technical Assistance and Marketing section. The GFC provided support regarding biomass energy in developing Georgia's Energy Strategy

by providing data, reports, reference comments, and by State Forester Ken Stewart participating as a member of the Energy Council. The GFC will be increasing its activity on providing resource data and awareness to firms and the general public about biomass during FY 2007.
The Forest Marketing staff instigated limited activities to begin the process of developing a carbon sequestration registry for Georgia, as outlined in SB 356 passed by the Georgia legislature in 2004. A development committee was formed and a meeting facilitated to gather input and assistance with the Registry development. Although the absence of funding for the project prevented its development in FY2006, continued coordination with University of Georgia researchers and the development of a draft Registry protocol occurred. This program will be fully developed and implemented within FY 2007.
The department continues to be active as an advisor to Georgia Tech's Advanced Wood Products Laboratory, on the Traditional Industries Program research committee, a member of the Southern Alliance for Utilization of Biomass Resources, a member of the Southern Forest Products Association, a member of the Energy and the Environment Committee, and a member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association.

Dollars Employment

Forest Industry Economic Variables in Georgia 2001 - 2005

35,000,000,000

250,000

30,472,391,839 30,000,000,000

25,000,000,000

25,359,632,252

25,972,228,986 200,000 22,729,379,114

20,000,000,000

20,199,375,514

150,000

15,000,000,000 10,000,000,000
5,000,000,000

100,000 50,000

Output Income Employment

0 2001

2002

2003

2004

0 2005