2007 annual report

Honorable Sonny Perdue, Governor Robert Farris, Interim Director GEORGIA FORESTRY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Wesley Langdale, Chairman Jim L. Gillis, Jr. Victor Beadles
H. G. Thomas New Robert Pollard Fred Warnell H.G. Yeomans
Photo by Jen Kolb

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 9,812 forest landowners in Georgia received GFC forest management information during FY2007 addressing recommendations on 588,474 acres.
FOREST STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (FSP) The Stewardship Program completed its 16th year with a cumulative enrollment of 6308 landowners covering 1,562,823 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 35,818 acres were written in FY2007 by GFC Foresters. The unique cooperation between the public and private sectors has continued and strengthened this year as consulting and industry foresters provided 277 plans on 77,662 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 256 certified stewards for a total of 200,229 acres.

Held the GROWS (Georgia Recognizes Our Woodland Stewards) Landowners Conference at Callaway Gardens with tremendous success.
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.
Enhanced the partnership with the Quality Deer Management Assoc including field days and participation on several TV show episodes.
Through the seed subsidy program alone, Stewardship cost shared over 20,000 pounds of seed creating over 500 acres of habitat improvement on Georgia forest land.
Developed web page for stewardship and GROWS where landowners can obtain information.
Created new displays for meetings and other public events with new partners.
Sponsored a graduate student to develop a protocol for recreational components within stewardship management plans and other requests for technical assistance.
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.

2007 Forest Stewardship Program Accomplishments: 9 landowners planted 321 acres of longleaf pine under the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program (A partnership with USFWS, GFC, & the Longleaf Alliance)

The incentive programs include:
Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) FLEP was created within the 2002 Farm Bill. FLEP is a

cost-share program providing incentives to landowners for implementing multiple use practices on their forestland. The GFC provided technical assistance to 193 landowners preparing plans on 26,576 acres. Costshare assistance through FLEP was provided to 153 landowners on 16,820 acres.
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.

determination, practice supervision, performance check, final reporting and request payment), and payments are made directly from the GFC Administration Department in Macon. This streamlined process has been favorably accepted and is working well to minimize the beauracracy that landowners face with many federal cost share programs. Statewide, forest health training (including southern pine beetle and our cost share program) was provided to foresters, resource managers, loggers, nurserymen (& regulatory) and field days on 200 occasions (12,643 attendees).

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 1,645 tree planting plans covering 61,898 acres. Assistance was provided on 429 performance inspections for practice completion covering 15,788 acres.

Southern Pine Beetle Prevention & Restoration Program (SPBPR) - The USDA Forest Service has provided federal grants in this program area for four consecutive years in the amounts of $500,000, $800,000, $1,000,000, $1,950,000, and $1,500,000 for the years 2003 - 2007, respectively. These grants were primarily utilized for direct cost share payments to Georgia landowners to implement several prevention practices to treat high risk (for southern pine beetle damage) stands, and several restoration practices.

Of these grants totaling $5.84 million, $3.68 million has been obligated towards direct landowner payments under cost share practices. Over 126,931 acres have been approved for treatment.

Loblolly/Slash Planting, 16,611

Thinning, 9,261

Longleaf Planting, 7,043 Hardw ood Planting, 142

Release, 24,168

Prescribed Burning, 69,434
Georgia's SPB cost share program summary chart showing acres by practice for the period 2003-2007
Landowners deal directly with their county GFC forester for all phases of the program (application, needs

REGENERATION Georgia planted 221,162 acres artificially regenerated with hardwood and pine seedlings during the 2006-2006 planting season. This included 160,076 acres on private lands, 59,225 acres on forest industry lands, and 1,529 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: www.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 1,551 management plans involving 122,044 acres for the year. Statewide, forest health training was provided to foresters, resource managers, loggers, public works departments (state and county), nurserymen (& regulatory) and field days on 200 occasions (12,643 attendees) involving most of the program areas listed in this report.
Special notes of interest:
Annosum Root Disease Outbreak - Widespread damage in recently thinned pine plantations (Slash and Loblolly) was first detected in 2005, and the disease appears to have peaked in 2006, and some ongoing damage and new sites reported in 2007. The primary region with the highest incidence and most severe mortality is a zone from Augusta to Columbus and south for about 75 miles (correlating to our sandhills and upper coastal plain regions). In an effort to educate the public and resource managers, 3 regional Annosum root disease workshops were held which included classroom time in the morning session and a field trip after lunch. Michele Cram (USFS FHP in Athens) was our principal speaker on the

Annosum disease cycle, and Dr. Sara Covert (UGA forest geneticist) spoke on her ongoing genotype investigations of Phloebiopsis gigantea. Forest health staff gave presentations on various other issues at these sessions also.
The principal reason for this disease outbreak (in our opinion) is the extremely high number of acres that have been thinned over the past 5-7 years in this region (initial CRP plantations along with ongoing forest regeneration), and the wetter summers of 2004-05 created ideal conditions for Annosum to infect these pine stands. Several counties with the highest number of Annosum infections had in excess of 25,000 acres planted during the 1986-89 CRP period.
The FH Coordinator and 4 regional specialists responded to 282 forest industry/consultant/GFC forester requests requiring field visits throughout the state. Annosus root rot, pine bark beetles, and drought related damage were to blame in the many of these inspections.
Red Oak Decline was present in most of the state by late summer (2007). The ongoing drought is to blame for most of this decline.
Pine Beetle Aerial Survey - Central Georgia experience southern pine beetle outbreaks in the summer of 2007. Epidemic Counties were Jasper, Jones, Putnam, and Stewart, and several other counties had significant numbers of spots that did not spread and gain the larger sizes: Baldwin, Twiggs, Wilkinson and Marion Counties. Minor problems were also detected in the Statesboro area.
Forest Health foresters carried out the southern pine beetle pheromone-trapping program 8 counties were trapped in 2007. Baldwin County projected moderate southern pine beetle problems for the year and this coincided with what was revealed during the survey.
Wildfire Damage - The largest single wildfire in the history of the southeastern U.S. occurred in Georgia and Florida between April 16th and early July, 2007. The Georgia portion of this wildfire burned 441,705 acres with a high percentage of this total contained within the Okefeenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Approximately 80,000 acres of upland stands near Waycross burned and an evaluation of this area was made for tree and stand damage and a report can be found in the appendix of this report. This examination was made shortly after the fire event, but further examination is planned for the winter

of 2007-08. Increased Ips beetle activity is occurring in stands with moderated and severe fire damage.
Website: The GFC's forest health web information was completely restructured to provide up-to-date accurate information: www.gatrees.org/ForestManagement/ ForestHealth.cfm
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid - A survey for the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) was conducted for a fifth year. Two temporary employees worked on this survey one on the eastern side of the range and the other on the western side. HWA continues to spread at a rapid pace and is now showing up as far west as Gilmer County. The counties with HWA include Rabun, Towns, Union, White, Habersham, Stephens, Lumpkin, Fannin and Gilmer.
HWA was detected in homeowner yards in Gilmer and Forsyth Counties via infested nursery stock. This information was relayed to the Georgia Department of Agriculture. They investigated the nursery and determined a nursery in NC had shipped the trees already infested and this out of state nursery has been dealt with at the source.
The GFC assisted the UGA predator beetle rearing lab by supplying infested branch material. An 8'x10' enclosed trailer and cutting tools were purchased to securely haul branch material from infested areas to the lab in Athens, GA. UGA provided training on the collection process to the GFC staff. GFC survey employees were used to scout for suitable collection sites. A load of infested branch material was delivered once every two weeks from December through early June. GFC also served as a site locator for the release of predator beetles raised by Georgia labs and the Clemson University lab.
The GFC continued to work with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to help survey and protect hemlocks on state lands. Dialogue continued regarding the treatment of hemlocks using pesticides. A supply of pesticide was given to DNR to help begin treating the many affected trees. GFC has been directly involved in the selection of predator beetle release sites and the actual releases on DNR lands.
The GFC has assisted numerous cities, communities, homeowner associations and individuals regarding HWA. Four kioritz injectors were purchased and made available

for loan to the general public. The injectors were placed at GFC offices in Habersham, Union, Lumpkin and Fannin Counties. Use of these has been limited so far but expected to increase with public awareness. At least 20 presentations were made to the public on HWA. In an effort to relay information regarding HWA, several technical bulletins were wrote and posted on the GFC public website.
Invasive Weeds - Although many invasive plants cause problems within Georgia, most of our efforts have focused on Cogongrass. Our "Cogongrass Task Force" continues their mission in Georgia to address the threat this plant has toward our environment. Training has been given to resource professionals throughout the state, and an educational campaign is underway to help landowners identify the plant. Once landowners find suspect plants, they then notify the GFC to verify the identification, and if confirmed is treated by the GFC. All known cogongrass infested sites are being treated by either the GFC, APHIS, or in a few cases the landowners. A concentrated effort is underway to bring all concerned groups and agencies into this umbrella of detecting cogongrass. These groups include all state agencies including the Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, University of Georgia and the Extension Service and outside agencies such as SAF chapters, loggers associations, GA EPPC, The Nature Conservancy, Georgia Vegetation Management Association, and Georgia Power (and numerous others). All information regarding this noxious weed has been assembled at this web site: www.cogongrass.org
The GFC has secured permission through the State Attorney General's office to perform eradication treatments on cogongrass sites. USDA APHIS continues to treat some sites, but budget constraints have limited hiring and it has become necessary for the GFC to help with the treatments on newly discovered infestations. Landowners sign a contract with the GFC which gives us (or our subcontractor) permission to perform treatments and inspect the site for up to 5 years. To date, 18 of these contracts have been formalized with landowners for GFC treatment.
A cooperative weed management agreement for the State of Georgia for cogongrass has been formulated and is anticipated to be executed in early 2008. To date, there are 76 known cogongrass sites in 18 Georgia Counties.

Sudden Oak Death - The Sudden Oak Death monitoring program continues and Georgia had 2 nurseries that were confirmed positive (through APHIS) for Phytophthora ramorum in 2007 (metro Atlanta area). The GFC conducted perimeter (terrestrial) surveys at 16 of positive nursery sites in the ongoing efforts to detect the pathogen at the earliest possible stage.
Georgia's stream baiting continued in 2007 and 10 sites were chosen in northeast Georgia to detect the presence of P. ramorum. Stream baiting sites targeted watersheds near the positive nursery sites in the metro Atlanta area with the belief that many of these plants were sold and planted locally and could be causing further P. ramorum infections in the landscape undetected. All streambaiting samples were negative
Exotic Bark Beetle Trapping - The GFC participated in this program for the first time in 2007. Lindgren funnel traps were deployed in April with 21 traps at 7 locations near areas that import cargo with Solid Wood Packing Material (SWPM) from southeastern Asian countries.
Traps at each location were checked every two weeks over a 20 week period ending in September. Specimens collected were cleaned, sorted, labeled and sent to Tessa Bauman with the U.S. Forest Service in Pineville, LA for identification. No exotic species were detected.
Sirex Woodwasp - Lindgren funnel traps were deployed throughout the state from May through November to detect any Sirex noctillio that might be present in Georgia. These traps were (are) checked twice each month and any suspect siricids are screened for ID by the forest health staff. Only native woodwasps were caught in 2007, but trapping will occur again in 2008.
Traps were placed at the following locations:
22 traps - Warehouse sites that receive cargo with SWPM 26 traps - Truck stops/major hwys./high risk transportation sites
Total of 48 traps statewide
Redbay Ambrosia Beetle/Laurel Wilt Disease Redbay Ambrosia Beetle (Xyleborus glabratus) and the associate fungus (Raffaelea sp.) causing Laurel Wilt Disease continues moving rapidly across Southeast Georgia. To date 15 counties are confirmed for Laurel Wilt Disease and three counties (Jenkins, Brantley, and Pierce Counties)

have unconfirmed reports on the leading edge of the infestation. The majority of the reports of Laurel Wilt Disease come from Redbay (Persia borbonia) but Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) infestations are documented in four counties in Georgia (Liberty, McIntosh, Effingham, and Screven Counties). No chemical or mechanical control methods are available, but a suppression effort was undertaken on Jekyll Island in December, 2006. All symptomatic trees throughout the island were cut and transported to a central location where they were subsequently burned. This involved almost 500 stems from the undeveloped portion of the island and an unknown number from yards and neighborhood areas. By mid summer, 2007 additional symptomatic trees were found throughout the island indicating that once infestation occurs, suppression efforts will likely be futile through this method. Several significant and large redbay have been treated with the systemic insecticide, imidacloprid, and to date no symptoms of Laurel Wilt Disease have been detected but monitoring will continue.
Redbay Ambrosia Beetle is an efficient flyer spreading at an alarming rate across South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. We expect to confirm the reports of Laurel Wilt Disease in Pierce and Jenkins Counties before the winter of 2007 and expect to find new infestations on the leading edge of the spread in Emanuel, Candler, Toombs, and Ware Counties by the spring of 2008. Areas of Sassafras will be monitored closely in counties on the northern edge of the Laurel Wilt Spread. The transition from Redbay to Sassafras begins in Screven, Emanuel, Jenkins, Burke and Counties to the north and west of the leading edge of the infestation; for this reason we expect to see Redbay Ambrosia Beetle begin a transition to a second host in the Lauraceae family. Sassafras is an alternative host and an effort will be made during the 2007/08 survey to document this transition.
In December 2006 "The Redbay Symposium" was held on Jekyll Island, Georgia bringing researchers, Foresters, Scientist, and Federal and State Forest Protection Divisions together in one place to insure all key players were made aware of all ongoing work regarding this new insect and disease. The name "Laurel Wilt Disease" was chosen as an accurate representation of the disease. In an attempt to consolidate information on Laurel Wilt Disease and Redbay Ambrosia Beetle a one stop service center Web site was produced by The US Forest Service, Southern Region, Forest Health Protection Division devoted to Laurel Wilt.

The web site went live in July 2007 and was a direct product of The Redbay Symposium. The web site can be found at: www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/laurelwilt/index.shtml
Laurel wilt was positively confirmed in Camphor Tree (Cinnamomum camphora) by Dr. Steve Fraedrich in lab tests in the spring of 2007. The infected Camphor tree was identified in McIntosh County by Chip Bates. To date no other specimens have been found with the disease. Symptoms on Camphor tree differ from Redbay and Sassafras; the canopy does not exhibit the total and sudden loss of turgor pressure as Redbay and Sassafras. One limb begins to turn black and there is a steady progression of dieback toward the main stem. The dieback resembles frost damage. Mortality does not appear to be sudden as with other members of the Lauraceae Family.
In April 2007 the initial Laurel Wilt Survey was completed in Georgia and 15 Counties returned plots with varying degrees of infection. A second Survey will begin in the fall of 2007 to continue tracking the rapid spread of this disease. Dr. Scott Cameron will conduct the survey for 2007/08. A series of permanent plots will be established in areas with Redbay and Sassafras to track mortality rates over the next two years. Sites containing the federally endangered Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia), and the state threatened Pondspice (Litsea aestivalis) will be surveyed to determine the amount of mortality in these sensitive habitats. This portion of the survey will be done in conjunction with The Department of Natural resources.
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's program is managed with four full time regional water quality forester positions and six part time district water quality forester positions to assist in this statewide effort to keep Georgia's waters clean during forestry operations.
During the year, 136 BMP talks were given to over 5,000 people. Four of the talks were presented to 105 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.

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.

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 53 BMP talks at continuing logger education classes during the year. The GFC presented BMP talks at 14 forest industry workshops and 6 forest landowner workshops. In addition, 8 talks were provided to local Southeastern Wood Producers Association Chapter meetings, one Society of American Foresters Chapter meeting and at 46 various other state or local government meetings. Topics focused on identifying stream types and floodplain features, determining streamside management zone widths, proper stream crossings, and proper road building techniques.
The GFC maintains a list of MTH timber buyers who have completed this training 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 76 documented water quality complaints related to forestry practices during the year. Approximately 145 site visits were made by the GFC district water quality foresters to investigate and mediate those complaints. Forty-five complaints have been resolved, 8 have been turned over to the regulatory authorities and 23 remain in the process of being resolved.
GFC district water quality foresters made approximately 143 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

The GFC has completed the 2007 BMP survey and is now drafting the final report. The Georgia Forestry Association has developed new BMP guidance regarding gullies and headwater ephemeral areas. This new guidance will used to evaluate current treatment levels during the 2007 BMP survey. Copies of this new guidance can be obtained by contacting the GFC.
The GFC plows approximately 30,000 miles of firebreaks annually. The potential for erosion and stream sedimentation could be great if BMPs are not installed properly. Violations of water quality standards (sediment) could subject landowners to hefty fine by GAEPD. Therefore the GFC has an aggressive implementation and evaluation policy to ensure firebreaks are in compliance with BMPs. During the year, GFC personel evaluated approximately 8,500 miles of pre-suppression and wildfire firebreaks on 2,912 sites for BMPs. 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 a part of the federal consent order.

As a result of the large wildfires in SE Georgia, Kg'd firelines were established on approximately 287 miles along the Okefenokee Swamp. Water quality foresters spent much of June and July assessing the damage from the firebreaks and worked with contractors to remove much of the windrows from blue-lined streams to restore flow into and out of the swamp.
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 FY2007, there were 25 timber sales on other state agency lands all with a total value of $ 2.377 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 2007, there were 419 examinations made of which 330 involved timber harvesting operations and 89 involved site preparation or other timber management operations. Comparing the results from the initial and the final harvest exams for timber harvesting indicate that a 4% increase in BMP implementation was achieved in the final inspection. The number of water quality risks identified dropped from 41 to 2 or 95.2%. 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 Interim Director Robert Farris is a member of the State Water Council. The plan will address water quantity and quality issues.

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 biodiverse forest including approximately 15,000 acres of the Okefenokee Swamp. Dixon has been managed by the GFC since 1938. Accomplishments for FY2007 include one total harvest timber sale involving five planted pine stands, the completion of a seed tree cut, and the completion of a previous salvage wood sale on a total of 587.68 acres and 40 years of age. Volumes and values of wood in the timber sale were as follows: 29,264 tons of pine timber (including pulpwood, chip-nsaw and poles) for a total of $783,893.11. Timber stand improvement thinnings were conducted on 10 stands of planted pines totaling 431.66 acres. These thinnings totaled 13,846.61 tons of pine timber and generated approximately $168,995.85. Emergency timber sales were held on 9 tracts of timber totaling 3,514.9 acres burned by the 2007 Wildfire, harvesting 33,984 tons of

pine timber for a total of $ 214,237.14, an additional 15,000 acres of swampland located within boundaries of Dixon Memorial State Forest was burned by this wildfire. Other accomplishments include 356.31 acres of site preparation and 261.71 acres of tree planting, 56 miles of firebreak maintenance; 36 miles of road and ditch maintenance, and over 966 acres of prescribe burns. Revenues received through the sale of various forest products at Dixon totaled $1,171,502.10. Expenses amounted to $170,241.60 resulting in approximately $1,001,260.50 in net revenues.
The Herty Building at Dixon Memorial State Forest hosted over 925 persons attending a total of 25 meetings: including Logger Workshops, Natural Resources Meetings, educational training programs by the Department of Transportation, and the GFC, and served as headquarters for 2007 Wildfire, where over 1000 firefighters from across the this country met and departed to suppress and control this wildfire.
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 FY2007 included 15 acres of site preparation, 5 acres of tree planting; 29 acres of timber stand improvement (TSI) in 2 stands, 288 acres of prescribed burning, and timber harvest on 10 acres. Timber income was $15,300.00 while trail income totaled $15,475 for the year. Maintenance and construction of access facilities included: 4.3 miles of road grading, applying gravel (988 tons) to 6.3 miles of roads, herbicide treatment on 13.4 miles of forest roads, installation of 65 signs, and mowing of 24.5 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.
The Dawson Forest and staff was host to four organized trail rides and five Boy Scout campout events for a total of 433 persons attending. Over 520 pieces of literature were distributed in FY2007. 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 2890 persons used the horse and bike trail network during FY2007. The entire trail system

(28 miles) was checked and cleared as needed during the year. Four sections of the trail system (4.9 miles) were re-graded and enhanced using GFC dozier.
Educational programs given to organizations: Cub and Boy Scouts of America and various training programs were conducted on Dawson Forest during the period. These programs included one hand-line construction/ wildfire training courses involving GFC and local Fire Departments, one Dist 2 firebreak plowing training, two equipment demo meetings, one prescribed burn training with GFC and Volunteer Firemen, and Two Georgia Civil Air Patrol Search and Rescue programs.
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 FY2007 included two stands totaling 122 acres were identified and boundaries marked for selective thinning. There was no timber harvest income reported for FY 2007. Seedling survival surveys were performed on 15 acres of piedmont longleaf pine. Boundary delineation was performed on 3 miles of boundary. Eighteen timber stands totaling 984 acres were evaluated for management needs. 3 stands consisting on 202 acres were prescribed burned during FY 2007.
Access/Maintenance included: Grading of 2 access roads for 1.7 miles, three trash details (including 300+ tires) 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. One meeting was held with Georgia DNR to discuss management objectives and law enforcement needs.
GEORGIA'S FOREST INVENTORY/ FIA During fiscal year 2007, the Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) in Georgia measured or remeasured 1,319 forested and non-forested plots and 619 intensification plots (Intensification plots are land use identification plots used to help improve the accuracy of forest land acreage estimates). These plots were collected by seven certified full time crews strategically located across the state. Each crew is made up of 2 FIA Foresters.
Of the 1,319 plots, 95 were Forest Health Monitoring Plots, which take considerably more time to complete

than a regular plot since there is a good deal more forest health indicator data to collect than on a regular plot.
A certain percentage of FIA plots completed are rechecked by USFS personnel for accuracy of data collection. A percentage score is given to the person responsible for the data collected on that plot. Georgia had an excellent check score average for FY 2007 with an average of 97.5% for all of Georgia's plots that were checked for accuracy in the fiscal year. In accuracy, Georgia ranks in the top 2 and is often number 1 among the southern states.
FIA data collection is broken up into cycles and panels. A cycle includes data collection on all of the FIA plots in Georgia and should take approximately five years. Each cycle is broken up into 5 panels. Each panel consists of approximately 20% of the total number of plots. Each panel should take about 1 year to complete.
Georgia began Cycle 9 in late October, 2004 with panel 2. Georgia's Cycle 9, Panel 3 data collection was completed August 28, 2006. Collection of the Cycle 9, Panel 4 data began the same day. As of June 30, 2007, we are about two months away from Cycle 9, Panel 4 completion. Georgia is right on schedule to complete the data collection of panel 4 in one year. We are 2 months ahead over the full cycle of data collection, which should be completed within the 5 year goal. Georgia has 2 more panels in Cycle 9 after panel 4 is complete (panel 5 and panel 1).

Georgia experienced an unprecedented series of wildfires in 2007 due to extreme dry conditions. On April 16, 2007 a downed power line started the Sweat Farm Rd. fire southwest of Waycross consuming 20,000 acres within the first 48 hours. This fire grew so large it was renamed the Georgia Bay Complex, one of the largest wildfire in history, which burned for more than two months. This fire burned over 564,450 acres in Georgia and Florida and destroyed $65 million in timber. More than 3,300 firefighters and other personnel from 44 states, Canada and Puerto Rico worked together to battle this fire. Fortunately, no lives were lost due to the personnel's dedication and long hard hours fighting these fires.
As drought and warmer temperatures become more frequent, the likelihood of wildfires increases. The Georgia Forestry Commission is committed to developing programs and resources to more effectively deal with the prevention, management and suppression of wildfires, as well as improve recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
COUNTY & DISTRICT OFFICE OPERATIONS The strength of the Georgia Forestry Commission Forest Protection program is the focused operations of 10 district 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 2007, forest rangers serviced 3,919 requests, installing an estimated 16,232 miles of presuppression firebreaks.
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 FY07, 27,635 Georgians received permits on line. There were 481,003 burning permits issued in Georgia during 2007.
WILDFIRE PREVENTION The Wildfire prevention effort in Georgia is coordinated through 10 Districts offices, 131 County offices and Macon headquarters. Funding for wildfire prevention in Georgia is completed with monies available from the National Fire Plan Grant program. These Grant funds are used to purchase Smokey Bear and Georgia Forestry Commission material with a specific fire prevention message. These materials are utilized in school programs, fairs and festival programs. Some of the events where our fire preventions efforts are presented include; the Georgia Mountain Fair, Moultrie Sunbelt Expo, the Buck-a-rama/Fish-a-rama and Turkey-rama, and Georgia National Fair at Perry. Prevention messages are also developed for fire prevention signs, displays, brochures and news advertisements.
We also targeted the audience of some of Georgia's major sporting events with a full page add in the University of Georgia, and Georgia Institute of Technology football program and ran a banner on their sports program web sites.
The GFC continued its use of National Fire Plan grant money to target the top 32 counties in Georgia having the most wildfires. These counties each have an average of more than 90 wildfires per year. We continued to build an aggressive fire prevention campaign targeting the root cause of wildfires. Each county is able to target the situation and analyze prevention strategies that best address their individual problem areas. The counties purchase fire prevention advertising in the form of billboards, news articles and ads and fire prevention literature for programs aimed at the adult audience.

The grant includes funds to hire a wildfire prevention coordinator to assist the counties and state in meeting their objectives and staying within budget.
This was a unique year where we had the worst recorded fire season in Georgia history and we had targeted some special prevention funds to thank those that helped our agency extinguish the many fires that raged throughout the state.
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 www.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 FY 2007, the fire weather office started to send the fire danger rating information to the pagers, emails and cell phones of our rangers once they became available. This will help the Georgia Forestry Commission rangers to stay abreast of the latest fire danger.
In support of the Sweat Farm Road, KneeKnocker and RoundAbout fires that were started in April 2007, our inhouse meteorologist provided specialized point-forecasts to the fires daily. This helped the Incident Management Team in charge to determine their strategies and tactics.
WILDFIRE ACTIVITY 2007 Fiscal year 2007 was a historic fire year. Over 504,000 acre were burned. This is the largest acreage burned in a single year since our records began in 1957! The previous most active year was fiscal year 1981. In that year, just over 104,000 acres were burned. The 10-year averaged acreage burned before fiscal year 2007 was only about 40,000 acres a year.

About 88% of the acreage burned in 2007 caused by one single fire, the Sweat Farm Road Fire in Ware County. This fire consumed over 564,450 acreage which includes acres burned in Florida. It is the largest fire we have on our record. The fire was started in April 2007 and it burned for 6 weeks. Smoke from this fire affected citizens as far away as Atlanta, Alabama and South Carolina.
In FY 2007, there were just over 9,500 fires. The 10-year average number of fire before this year was about 8,000 fires a year. Escaped debris fires continue to be the number one source of wildfires, accounted for 38% of the total fires. Woods arson or incendiary causes rank second for 19% of the wildfires.
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 714 wildfires in Fiscal Year 2007. Suppression support, advice to forest rangers from aircraft, was provided on 1,089 wildfires. An additional 34,111 permitted burns were checked for safety by Forest Protection aircraft.
TYPE II INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM The GFC Type II team established in 2004 has seen many assignments and has grown with each incident they have been deployed to, and this year was no different. The Type II stayed in state this past year. The Team was deployed to the fires in Waycross, GA starting in April 2007 and for two months worked on the Sweat Farm Road and Georgia Bay complex fires. This was the biggest test for our time to date. The magnitude of this incident surpassed a Type II project and we had the opportunity to work hand in hand with the National Incident Management Organization's (NIMO) on their first ever assignment. Georgia worked in unified command with other Incident Management teams and transitional command of their incident with Type II teams from Texas and North Carolina.
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. The fires this past year gave us a chance to work in some of these agency members.

PRESCRIBED FIRE Prescribed fire (Rx fire) is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk. It 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. This year there were 1,279,941 acres treated with prescribed fire in Georgia. The Georgia Forestry Commission gave on the ground assistance with 142,551 of these acres, as well as provided technical advice, weather forecast, and assistance in writing plans and preformed prescribed fire workshops for several others across the State.
Often misunderstood by the general public, this ageold 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, 2,447 practitioners have been certified. In addition to the certification classes, the Prescribed Fire Manager has held six other educational workshops, and live demonstrations of prescribed fire for professional land managers and landowners on the importance of prescribed fire and the proper use of it.
The Georgia Prescribed Fire Council, formed in 2001, has been very active in promoting prescribed fire not only in Georgia but across the Nation and beyond. This year the Georgia Council led the way in forming a National Coalition of Prescribed Fire Councils. As of now there are 21 States with Councils as well as British Columbia. Fifteen other States are developing Councils and the work is not over yet
The Georgia Prescribed Fire Council and the Georgia Forestry Commission has been successful in having 118 of Georgia's 159 counties sign a Prescribed Fire Proclamation supporting prescribed fire in their respective counties.
The Georgia Prescribed Fire Council has the full support of the Georgia Forestry Commission and for the fourth 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. The Council holds it's Annual Meeting each fall and this year the meeting was held in Tifton GA, with over 100 folks in attendance. The agenda for this years meeting included subjects on safe burning, writing a successful plan, the future of prescribed fire, and air quality. For information on joining the Georgia Prescribed Fire Council visit www.garxfire.com.
This year a prescribed fire incentive program was presented to the landowners around the Okefenokee Swamp. Using a federal grant the Georgia Forestry Commission developed a plan to apply Rx Fire around the Okefenokee for fuel mitigation. A team of GFC employees was formed to oversee the operation, and burn teams were put together from across the State to conduct the burns. 3,139 acres were successfully burned and fuel loads have been greatly reduced to mitigate damaging wildfire, while at the same time providing a healthier more natural ecosystem in the region.
FABRICATION SHOP The Fabrication Shop outfitted 38 tractors this past fiscal year, each received either a new or reconditioned fire plows. Many of the South Georgia tractors had "V" blades fabricated and mounted. Our standard safety equipment such as windshields, doors, and water tanks for tractor fires were not included.
There were 18 new harrows provided to the districts. The fab shop built a small version of the pull type harrow as well as a lighter lift harrow. They both seem to be performing well.
The shop built and painted a total of 19 RFD fire truck tanks. We supported the field with 111 more emergency repairs as well.
RURAL FIRE DEFENSE & FIREWISE PROGRAM OPERATIONS RFD lease equipment provided for rural fire departments during FY07 totaled 20 units with the most requested type being the new front mounted pumper. In addition, 20 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 10 rural fire departments and to support two regional training sessions.
Through the GFC "Helping Hands" program, 1,906 items of wildland firefighter clothing were provided to fire departments, forest industry cooperators, and other state agencies involved with prescribed and wildland fires.
Three 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 FY07, 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 FY07. 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 2007:
Educational forests (forest and outreach) 18,453 Georgia Forests Forever program 11,768 Presentations, programs, and exhibits 61,002
Georgia Forestry Commission's website, GaTrees. org, had an annual total of 881,090 visiting users and 11,728,839 hits for a monthly average of 73,424 and 977,403, respectively. Visitation increased during the latter three months of the fiscal year due to the large wildfires.
Twenty-one GFC professionals were trained as facilitators for Project Project Learning Tree (PLT), Project WET, and Project WILD thanks to funding provided by Urban and Community Forestry. Project PLT was added as an option to the GFC training menu a first.
URBAN & COMMUNITY FORESTRY The Sustainable Community Forestry program (SCFP) provides communities with resources to increase awareness of the benefits provided by a healthy and sustainable forest. To encourage citizen involvement in building long-term and sustainable community forestry programs, the Financial Assistance Program provided federal cost-share funding for 30 communitybased projects. The 2007 Program Focus followed the objectives for the USDA Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry (U&CF) Program by concentrating on projects that involved management plans/tree inventories, certified arborists, tree ordinances or tree advocacy groups. A total of $415,288 was allocated to grant recipients, who matched this money with $466,790 in cash and $321,288 in in-kind services and contributions. Four grant workshops were held in

Gainesville, Marietta, Macon and Atlanta. In addition, U&CF Grant information was presented in Douglas at a meeting of all statewide Resource Conservation and Development coordinators.
SCFP held a stakeholders meeting with the USDA Forest Service (USFS), The Home Depot Foundation, the Alliance for Community Trees, the Georgia Urban Forest Council and other partners. This meeting resulted in the receipt of a special $75,000 grant from the USFS to conduct a market study on consumer attitudes about trees and tree canopy. A marketing firm in Atlanta, (r)evolution partners was hired to survey urban and rural-urban interface residents to determine what messages best resonate with customers. "Create Your Legacy" was the message which resonated most strongly with consumers overall. "Connection with the Environment" was the second-most motivating concept among non-Atlantans, while "You Can Make a Difference" was the second-most motivating concept among nonCaucasians.
The statewide Arbor Day Ceremony was conducted for the first time in Daffin Park in Savannah in celebration of the park's centennial anniversary. The statewide Arbor Day theme, Weathering the Storms: Successfully Managing the Challenges of the Urban Forest showed how caring for trees helps communities weather natural, financial and growth-related storms. The Mayors of Georgia's new Tree City USA communities and Georgia's Arbor Day Poster Contest winner were recognized. Fifth grade student Sean Ryan of Adrian, Ga., received the State Arbor Day Poster Contest Award. Communities posted 70 Arbor Day events on the Georgia Forestry Commission Arbor Day website pages. These events resulted in at least 38 news articles.
The third Arbor Day Seedling Program for Legislators took place in FY07. GFC partnered with Keep Georgia Beautiful and encouraged tree planting events with the Keep America Beautiful (KAB) affiliates. A packet was mailed to each legislator which included media tools. The

packet asked them to simply identify the KAB affiliate in their district to which the GFC would donate 10 seedlings on their behalf. Thirty nine legislators participated in the program.
Tim Womick presented the Trail of Trees program in the Athens, Gainesville, Alpharetta, Cartersville and Atlanta areas for city and county public schools and during a tree planting at a senior center in DeKalb County. Womick engages students at a level unlike most other speakers. His message has impact due to his unique presentation of mixing rhythm, fast-paced dialogue, and interaction with students. 4,305 students, teachers, volunteers, seniors and others 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.

foresters throughout the state. Overall, SCFP personnel hosted 383 public education events, including 249 programs, 41 exhibits, 14 field days, 37 workshops, and other activities. SCFP foresters continued to provide technical assistance to Georgia communities with tree ordinance development, project management, cultural practices, and partnership development.

SCFP's "Making the Shade" program completed its first year. "Making the Shade" is designed to improve the physical health of students by strategically planting shade trees around elementary school playgrounds. The trees then help minimize the impact of elevated surface temperatures and direct exposure to the sun. Demonstration schools in Athens and Marietta were funded by U&CF grants, and a third school in LaGrange was funded by corporate partner Milliken & Company. Almost 2,000 students will benefit from the installation of 131 trees in these three locations.

The cities of Elberton, Evans, Fort Valley, Jefferson, St. Marys, and Watkinsville received first-time Tree City USA certifications for outstanding accomplishments. One hundred and six communities received recertification, for a total of 112 Tree City USA's in Georgia. Twelve 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 November. In addition, the Five-Year Plan for Georgia's Urban and Community Forest 2007 2011 was completed.

SCFP created a series of three "Challenges in the RuralUrban Interface" workshops which were well attended by municipal employees, certified arborists, and consulting

The Forest Products Utilization, Marketing and Development (Forest Marketing) program provided technical and marketing assistance to the existing forest products community and provided leadership to expand the value of Georgia's forests by pursuing forestry economic development projects, providing the foundation for a forest bioenergy industry, and developing the carbon sequestration registry for Georgia. These new services, combined with the traditional assistance program, ensures that Georgia's forest industry remains a leading 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 economic development activities relate to quality of life issues as well as creating and sustaining jobs. Environmental concerns of climate change and carbon emissions are both addressed through encouragement to participate in Georgia's Carbon Sequestration Registry. These combined efforts are vital to the state's overall effort to maintain a strong economy, healthy forests, and a sustainable environment.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTRY RELATED PROJECTS Forest Marketing staff foresters provided assistance to a total of thirty-six potential projects. Five of these projects involved companies wishing to establish facilities to produce traditional wood products. Twenty-six projects involved companies that desired to develop facilities to produce either energy or energy products from forest biomass. Examples of this include biomass-to-electricity generating facilities and wood pellet production facilities. The remaining five projects were conducted to assist local economic development groups with assessing the potential for forest industry development in their area.

Range Fuels was one project of note that the marketing staff was instrumental in establishing. Range Fuels has committed to constructing the first commercialscale cellulosic ethanol production facility in the United States. The facility will be producing ethanol from forest biomass in late 2008 in Soperton, Georgia.
Twenty-five resource reports regarding timber availability were provided to firms by the Marketing staff as part of their feasibility analyses. An additional three other reports were provided for additional information.
As part of the economic development program, eight 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: 2006". According to the report, forestry has a $27.7 billion annual impact on Georgia's economy and provides direct employment to over 67,700 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. This directory continues to be in heavy demand. Requests for the 2006 published directory continued as well, with requests originating throughout the United States and foreign countries. Surveys were conducted in 2007 to support the update of this directory and to assess timber drain levels throughout the state. The marketing staff contacted and received information from 140 primary wood processors during these surveys.

The GFC marketing staff responded to 401 individual requests for technical and marketing assistance. Formal presentations were provided to seventy-two groups during meetings, workshops, or conferences with a total audience of 3,519 persons. The topics of these presentations included: forest biomass energy (37 presentations), the potential of carbon sequestration in Georgia forests (18 presentations) and other general timber utilization topics (17 presentations). A total of 5,249 literature items were distributed.
The staff developed a variety of marketing tools for new and existing forest products. Two new exhibits were developed for use at trade shows and meetings. The marketing staff established and manned exhibits at six trade shows or meetings including the International Woodworkers Fair in Atlanta, the Timber Expo in Atlanta, the Georgia Bioenergy Conference in Tifton, and others.
The staff was successful in the production of a minimum of ten mass media products through media outlets. This activity included the following as a minimum: six newspaper and magazine articles, and four interviews for television or radio.

in the Georgia Bioenergy Working Team's One Stop Shops, which provide a first step for potential bioenergy projects beginning in Georgia.
The GFC also added a Carbon Sequestration Registry Manager during 2007. The manager was successful in developing the registry for Georgia, as outlined in SB 356 passed by the Georgia legislature in 2004. The registry went online at www.gacarbon.org during July 2007. The GFC expects the Registry to be continually developed to accommodate Georgia forest landowners and the developing market for carbon credits.
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 Forest Products Association, a member of the Energy and the Environment Committee, a member of the Georgia Economic Developers Association, and actively coordinating with the U. S. Forest Service in interpreting forest inventory and analysis data for reports.
Chart 1: The Economic Impact of Forestry to Georgia: 2001 - 2006

Billion Dollars Employment

The GFC partnered with the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority in establishing "The Bioenergy Corridor", an effort to market and recruit investors and bioenergy production companies thereby fostering bioenergy commercialization in Georgia.. This initiative also included developing working relationships between these agencies, non-profit groups, academic institutions, and private enterprise.
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. The GFC added a Biomass Program Manager to work with the Forest Energy Director to assist with development of this new industry. The bioenergy related activities are quantified above within the Technical Assistance and Marketing section. The GFC provided support regarding biomass energy by many activities with particular emphasis being the production of resource reports to industries, which provide information on the inventory of Georgia's forest biomass and its level of sustainability. In addition, the marketing staff participated

35.0 30.0 25.0 20.0 15.0 10.0
5.0 0.0
2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

Output

Income

Employment

250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 2006