Conserving Georgia's wildlife, 2018

2018
FISCAL YEAR SUMMARY
CONSERVING G E O R G I A' S
WILDLIFE

A s part of Georgia DNR's Wildlife Resources Division, our mission at the Wildlife Conservation Section is straightforward and statewide:
Conserve and protect native animals not hunted or fished for, rare native plants and natural habitats through research, management and education.
Why does this work matter? Because it involves more than 95 percent of Georgia's wildlife. Because whether it's bald eagles soaring over coastal rivers or tri-colored bats roosting in mountain caves, wildlife and wildlands are a vital part of our state and our way of life.
Conserving them enriches us: providing clean water, healthy forests and life-shaping experiences. As Georgians, we must make sure this heritage is preserved for future generations.
This report explores our work in 2018 to study, restore and protect wildlife, from a record year for prescribed fire to a nesting surge for southeastern American kestrels, our smallest falcon.
Yet we could not have done this without you. Less than 5 percent of our research and conservation budget comes from state

funding. Instead, we depend largely on fundraisers, grants and donations. At all levels, your support is crucial. And we are thankful for it.
If you want to help more, consider buying or renewing an eagle or hummingbird plate, donating to the Georgia Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund, contributing through the fund's state income tax checkoff, joining our friends group TERN or even volunteering with DNR.
I hope this report informs and encourages you to take part in conserving Georgia's wildlife.
This year, we changed our agency name from Nongame Conservation to Wildlife Conservation. The new name more clearly communicates our focus. But that focus and our mission remain the same.
Hopefully, that will be clear on every page here.
Jon Ambrose Chief, Wildlife Conservation Section

Southeastern American kestrel (Dan Vickers)

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n BIRDS
n Waterbirds............................ 3 n Red-cockaded Woodpeckers....4 n Surveys and Habitat
Restoration........................... 6
Marshbirds Grassland Birds Prothonotary Warblers Mountain Birds Wood Storks Swallow-tailed Kites Golden Eagles Bald Eagles Peregrine Falcons
n AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES
n Sea Turtles.......................... 12 n Sea Turtle Stranding and
Salvage Network................. 13 n Gopher Tortoise
Conservation Initiative........ 13 n Gopher Tortoises and
Eastern Indigo Snakes........ 14 n Bog Turtles......................... 15 n Gopher Frogs....................... 15 n Eastern Hellbenders............ 15 n Flatwoods Salamanders
and Striped Newts............... 16
n MAMMALS
n North Atlantic Right Whales...................... 17
n Marine Mammal Stranding Network.............. 18
n Florida Manatees................ 19 n Small Mammals.................. 19

n FRESHWATER AQUATIC SPECIES
n Aquatic Conservation Initiative..............................22 n Redhorse Suckers.................................................25
n PLANTS AND NATURAL HABITATS
n Rare Plant Surveys................................................27 n Sandhills Conservation..........................................29 n Bog Restoration.....................................................30 n Coastal Habitat and
Plant Conservation................................................31 n Vegetation Monitoring...........................................33 n Prescribed Fire.......................................................33
Seasonal Fire Crews Partners, Training and New Frontiers
n Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance.....................36 n State Lands Projects.............................................37 n Ginseng Management...........................................37 n Biotics Database....................................................38
n INVASIVE SPECIES
n PRIVATE LANDS
n Working with Landowners.....................................41 n Forestry for Wildlife Partnership...........................42 n Community Wildlife Project...................................44
n LAW ENFORCEMENT

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

n Regional Education Centers.............46 n Youth Birding Competition................51 n Camp TALON....................................51

n Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest......51 n Wildlife Viewing Grants......................... 52 n Social Media......................................... 52 n Other Outreach...................................... 53

LAND ACQUISITION AND CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
n Cathead Creek Boat Ramp: Southeastern Bank Tract ...................... 56
n Flat Tub WMA Tracts.............................. 56 n Paulding Forest WMA:
Hubble Timber LLC Tract....................... 56 n Ohoopee Dunes WMA............................ 56 n Altamaha WMA: Possum Point Tract..... 56 n Sansavilla WMA: Phase 3 Tract............. 57 n Sprewell Bluff WMA:
Willoughby Tree Farms Inc. Trust.......... 57 n Sandhills WMA:
U. Wall Plantation Tract......................... 57 n Dawson Forest WMA: Davison Tract...... 57 n Georgia Conservation
Tax Credit Program................................ 57
CONSERVATION PLANNING
n State Wildlife Action Plan Revision....... 58 n Regional Partnerships........................... 58
FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATION
n Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund... 59 n Nongame License Plates....................... 60 n Weekend for Wildlife............................. 61 n Georgia Wildlife Conservation
Fund Checkoff....................................... 61 n Online Donations................................... 61 n The Environmental
Resources Network............................... 61 n Federal and Other Funding.................... 62 n Administration and Personnel............... 63

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American oystercatcher with chick (Tim Keyes/DNR)

CO N S E RVAT I O N

Waterbirds
Georgia's barrier island beaches, salt marshes and coastal freshwater wetlands support 86 species of seabirds, shorebirds and wading birds. These species, collectively known as waterbirds, are the focus of DNR's Waterbird Conservation Initiative. This effort involves:
n Protecting important colonial waterbird nesting habitats.
n Conducting surveys to determine the status and habitat needs of resident, migratory and wintering waterbirds.
n Creating partnerships for long-term conservation of wetland-dependent bird species.
Conservation actions include protecting and managing five sand islands for beach-nesting and migratory birds. While this is especially valuable for seabirds, resident and migratory shorebirds also benefit from protected nesting and resting

areas free from disturbances. One of the areas, a dredge-spoil island near Brunswick, supports one of the largest colonies of nesting seabirds on the South Atlantic Coast.
Highlights and challenges in fiscal year 2018 included the following:
For the third consecutive year, the Wildlife Conservation Section supported a Beach Stewards Program. This volunteer group helps protect a least tern colony on St. Simons Island. During fiscal 2018, the group grew significantly after DNR staff co-led a master birder class and recruited volunteers from the class for the Beach Stewards. Unfortunately, there was little tern nesting activity on St. Simons' East Beach during 2018. Stewards maintained fencing and signs and kept track of Wilson's plovers and terns that nested at the site, engaging the public to inform them about the plight of beach-nesting birds.

Hurricane Irma, which hit the Georgia coast in September 2017, further degraded important nesting areas damaged by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. St. Catherines Island Bar remains underwater at high tide, preventing nesting. Ogeechee Bar continues to shrink, and several high tides washed over it, flooding some seabird and American oystercatcher attempts to nest. Pelican Spit has edged closer to the main beach on Sea Island in recent years, and during a high spring tide in May 2018 it became attached to the beach for most of the daily tide cycle. Although 233 black skimmer and 12 gull-billed tern pairs nested on Pelican Spit, enforcing ordinances that ban dogs and protects the nests and birds has become more challenging because the spit is now connected to the main beach. Wildlife Conservation is working with the DNR Law Enforcement Division and Sea Island staff to limit the impacts.
While two straight years of hurricanes reduced the productivity of Georgia's offshore bars, 2018 proved a record year for American oystercatcher productivity across most of the rest of the coast. Many shell rakes and barrier islands produced chicks in large numbers. For the first time, more than 50 chicks

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were documented, and up to 60 may have fledged before the season's end. For comparison, Georgia's previous best was 43 oystercatchers fledged in 2015. During some seasons, only one chick has been documented fledging on the coast. For 2018, it is possible that the storm surge associated with Hurricane Irma may have removed many raccoon and other mammalian predators from small marsh islands and rakes where oystercatchers typically face high predation rates. There also has been a significant effort to manage predators at four important nesting sites for the species. Trail cameras placed on nests showed little activity by raccoons and minks.
The Brunswick dredge island proved highly productive again in 2018, with 10,652 royal tern, 208 black skimmer, 249 brown pelican, 64 gull-billed tern and approximately 100 sandwich tern nests. The island also produced, for the first time, an oystercatcher chick. High marsh and a shell rake nearby were home to a subcolony of 51 brown pelican nests, although high tides washed some of these chicks into the sound. Several were recovered on St Simons and Jekyll Island.
Wildlife Conservation staff and partners also tracked seabird colonies on Little Tybee Island, Ogeechee Bar, Pelican Spit, St. Simons' East Beach and the Brunswick dredge island, plus several rooftop colonies in St. Marys and Kings Bay. As noted, significant productivity was noted on Pelican Spit and the Brunswick dredge island. These two sites are free from mammalian predators, a factor that often leads to high productivity.
In other updates, Wildlife Conservation:
n Played host on Sapelo Island to the American Oystercatcher Working Group's annual meeting. About 50 biologists and managers from Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico states attended.
n Using funds from a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, hired seasonal staff to monitor and manage beachnesting and wading birds on St. Catherines and Cumberland islands. Electric fences were used to help protect oystercatcher nests from predators on Cumberland, an approach that was highly successful. Four of five pairs fledged chicks, compared to no chicks surviving coyotes and raccoons on Cumberland the year before.

Red-cockaded woodpecker before release at River Creek WMA (Joe Burnam/DNR)

n Also through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant, staff conducted the second year of a band-resight survey for American oystercatchers. Wassaw, Ogeechee and St. Catherines sounds were covered August 2017-April 2018. Using data from the 2017 survey, staff co-authored a paper on oystercatcher response to Hurricane Matthew.
n Continued coordinating spring and fall International Shorebird Surveys. The repeat surveys at key migratory stopover sites provide the best trend data for most shorebird species across the Western Hemisphere.
n Led the Georgia Shorebird Alliance with several coastal partners. Involving state, federal and private groups, this organization is making significant progress in management, monitoring, research and education regarding shorebirds on the Georgia coast.

n Continued with partners a sharp-tailed sparrow banding project that is providing data on the winter distribution of two species Nelson's and saltmarsh sparrows and five subspecies of these little-known birds.
n Led the Georgia Shorebird Alliance with several coastal partners. Involving state, federal and private groups, this organization is making significant progress in management, monitoring, research and education regarding shorebirds on the Georgia coast.
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers
The red-cockaded woodpecker is the only woodpecker in the U.S. that excavates cavities in living pines. The drastic loss of mature pine forests over the past 200 years has been the

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primary cause of this species' decline. Suitable habitat now occurs primarily on some military bases, national forests and other public lands, although red-cockaded woodpeckers still live on many private properties.
In 1999, DNR developed the nation's first statewide red-cockaded woodpecker Habitat Conservation Plan to provide management options for private landowners. The plan includes options for mitigated incidental take and for Safe Harbor. Safe Harbor focuses on landowners in southwest Georgia, where plantations managed for the northern bobwhite also support a significant population of red-cockaded woodpeckers.
Safe Harbor involves a landowner's commitment to manage habitat beneficially for the site's "baseline" number of woodpecker families, or those on the site when the agreement is made. A family group refers to red-cockaded woodpeckers occupying a cluster of cavity trees. These groups can vary from a single bird to a breeding pair and one to three helpers. (Helpers are typically male offspring from previous years that help feed younger siblings.) In exchange for maintaining this baseline number of family groups, the landowner's responsibility does not increase if the woodpecker population increases.

In Georgia, 175,397 acres are enrolled in Safe Harbor management agreements. These agreements cover 105 baseline groups of redcockaded woodpeckers and support 38 surplus groups. (Surplus groups are additions to baseline woodpecker populations.) Most of the properties are in the Red Hills region near Thomasville. The Red Hills region supports the largest population of red-cockaded woodpeckers on private lands. Since the inception of Safe Harbor in 2000, the Red Hills population has stabilized at about 180 groups.
The Wildlife Conservation Section worked with Safe Harbor participants and conservation partners in fiscal year 2018 to monitor woodpecker nesting and populations on cooperating properties. Staff surveyed multiple Safe Harbor properties to find new cavity trees, updated property maps and marked cluster boundaries before timber harvests. New recruitment clusters were installed to boost populations at several southwest Georgia sites. In partnership with Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Fla., staff banded more than 50 nestlings on Safe Harbor properties. Some of the nestlings will be captured and translocated or moved to boost populations on other Safe Harbor properties in the Red Hills region.

DNR biologist Joe Burnam puts red-cockaded wodpecker in nest cavity at night (DNR)

Staff also worked with the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center to restore the redcockaded woodpecker population at Ichauway Plantation in Baker County. These 29,000 acres supported a single male in 1999. In part through the translocation of 71 young birds, Ichauway Plantation now has 38 family groups.
In 2008, DNR acquired 8,400 acres near Bainbridge to create Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area, the first state-owned property with red-cockaded woodpeckers. Silver Lake has extensive stands of mature longleaf pine habitat with intact native groundcover. The red-cockaded woodpecker population at Silver Lake continues to grow, with 36 family groups (32 potential breeding groups and four single-bird groups) documented in fiscal 2018. That's two more groups than the previous year.
DNR banded 41 young at Silver Lake produced by these groups and installed three recruitment clusters, or recipient sites. (A recruitment cluster typically includes four artificial nest cavities.) Using funds from a Georgia Ornithological Society grant, staff conducted habitat restoration in 14 red-cockaded woodpecker clusters at Silver Lake. Through continued prescribed fire, installation of more recruitment clusters and careful forest management, the WMA eventually will sustain about 50 family groups.
Wildlife Conservation also worked with the Wildlife Resources Division's Game and Forest Management staff to begin timber thinning operations within 264 acres of longleaf pine forest at Silver Lake. These natural forest stands contain a high percentage of longleaf and will be strategically thinned to improve habitat conditions for red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, Bachman's sparrows, northern bobwhite quail and other grassland obligate species. Timber marking in 2018 was aimed at replicating the uneven-aged forest structure found in much older longleaf stands, with consideration given to leaving potential cavity trees for red-cockaded woodpeckers.
At Moody Forest Wildlife Management Area near Baxley, Wildlife Conservation worked with The Nature Conservancy to manage red-cockaded woodpeckers. Staff installed a recruitment cluster and refurbished cavity inserts in three others.

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Wildlife Conservation also translocated two woodpecker pairs from Fort Stewart to Moody Forest in fiscal 2018. At least two of the four translocated birds remained on Moody Forest and attempted to nest.
As of spring 2018, the WMA had five family groups (four potential breeding groups and one single-bird "group"). That is two more than the previous year. All of the potential breeding groups attempted nesting, with three fledging a total of five young. Habitat management, including timber thins and prescribed fire, is helping improve and create more woodpecker habitat. Staff plans to install another woodpecker cluster at Moody Forest in the coming year.
In fiscal 2018, DNR reintroduced red-cockaded woodpeckers to River Creek Wildlife Management Area near Thomasville. River Creek, on the periphery of the Red Hills region, was bought in 2005 in part because of its intact longleaf pine habitat and potential for woodpecker reintroduction. Using funds from a Georgia Ornithological Society grant, Wildlife Conservation installed 28 artificial cavity inserts to create seven recruitment clusters across the WMA. In October 2017, staff translocated four pairs of woodpeckers from Apalachicola National Forest in Florida to River Creek. As of spring 2018, there were two active clusters on River Creek. Other transient birds have been seen on the WMA. More translocations are planned for fiscal 2019. The goal is to establish seven breeding pairs on River Creek. Through prescribed fire and forest management, the WMA will eventually sustain up to 10 groups.
With funding help from the Georgia Ornithological Society, Wildlife Conservation also continued to work with the DNR State Parks and Historic Sites Division to plan habitat restoration work at Jarrell Plantation State Historic Site. The two-fold goal is to establish red-cockaded woodpecker groups on the Juliette property and expand the woodpecker population on the adjacent Oconee National Forest. Staff marked timber on 150 acres at Jarrell Plantation to restore open pine woodlands. The thinning will help restore habitat next to occupied red-cockaded woodpecker territories on the Oconee's Hitchiti Experimental Forest, aid in applying prescribed fire and help restore several naturally occurring glades on the site.

Banding southeastern American kestrel chick (Hal Massie/DNR)

Surveys and Habitat Restoration
n Marshbirds
Surveys of secretive marshbirds in fiscal year 2018 focused on the black rail, a species extremely difficult to survey because of its secretive nature and use of wetland habitats that are hard to access. Surveys were done from mid-April through late July by staff from the Center for Conservation Biology, under contract with DNR. This marked the second year of survey work to help in a status assessment of the black rail for possible federal listing as an endangered species. Surveys were conducted at 206 points scattered across shallow, herbaceous wetlands in southeast and south-central Georgia. Each point was surveyed at least three times. No black rails were detected.
Little is known about the population status of the Florida sandhill crane, a resident subspecies that occurs only in peninsular Florida and the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. Over the past seven years, helicopter surveys have been conducted annually in the Okefenokee refuge in March and April to count nesting Florida sandhill cranes. From 2014-2017, a standardized grid of transects were flown for the counts.
Recently, the Wildlife Conservation Section determined this grid was not sufficient to provide

a statistically robust sample that could be used to develop an accurate population estimate. Staff worked with the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Unit at the University of Georgia to revamp the survey. The co-op unit designed a survey that allows DNR to effectively monitor the Florida sandhill crane population in the Okefenokee. Although similar to the previous one, this survey features more miles of transects placed using a statistically adequate design.
Flights on March 13, March 27 and April 5 in 2018 documented, respectively, 15, eight and 10 active nests (those with eggs or an adult sitting on the nest). In addition, six nest starts nests being built were spotted during the March 13 flight and six on the March 27 flight. Differences between the old and new survey designs do not allow for comparison of numbers over the last several years. However, the new design will support the calculation of accurate population estimates going forward.
n Grassland Birds
Surveys started eight years ago for Henslow's sparrows continued in fiscal 2018. This small songbird nests in grasslands of the Midwest and Northeast and winters in grassy areas of pine flatwoods, pitcherplant bogs and powerline corridors in the Southeast's Coastal Plain. Henslow's sparrow numbers have declined precipitously over the last several

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decades because of habitat loss at breeding and wintering grounds. This sparrow is a species of high conservation concern because of its small population size, greatly reduced habitats and other factors. Its secretive nature and small numbers make it difficult to survey and monitor. Little is known about the Henslow's sparrow distribution and populations across most of its range, including in Georgia.
Standardized transects at Paulks Pasture Wildlife Management Area in Glynn County, Townsend Wildlife Management Area near Ludowici and Moody Forest Wildlife Management Area near Baxley were surveyed three times from January through March using the same techniques (flush netting) as the previous seven years. Sixty-four birds that had not been banded before were caught and banded this year, which is near the long-term annual average.
The nest box program for southeastern American kestrels finally posted a positive year after experiencing many years of declines. Nest-box use remained high in most regions in fiscal 2018. In Tifton, five of 32 older boxes were occupied. A collaborative study between the Wildlife Conservation Section and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton also was completed. Two ABAC student senior projects investigated the spacing of nest boxes by adding boxes at different distances from known nests and observing the nesting behavior of kestrel pairs. Students installed 20 boxes, increasing to 50 the total number in the Tifton area.
In the western Fall Line sandhills, kestrels occupied 16 nest boxes that are not on Fort Benning. Excluding Fort Benning's data, which wasn't available for this annual report, overall numbers for the region appeared good. Only one nest was lost to predation. The previous year, more than half the active nests suffered predation.
Wildlife Conservation partnered with a regional power distribution company to add 19 boxes high on the company's transmission line towers in calendar year 2016. These boxes are about 100 feet above the ground, compared to 15-20 feet for boxes on the wooden power poles. In fiscal 2018, kestrels nested in at least 11 of these high boxes, a 57-percent occupancy rate that is far beyond what DNR has observed in many years of checking lower-placed boxes. This dramatically increased the number of active nest boxes in the program and inspires

DNR's Zach Henshaw with prothonotary warbler (Joe Burnam/DNR)

hope that the new approach may rescue Georgia's smallest falcon from extinction in the state.
The prospects of native grass plantings completed in 2016 and benefiting birds and other species at Panola Mountain State Park improved in fiscal 2018. Exotic weeds have been controlled and the native plants have thrived, largely due to wet summer in 2018. About 15 species of forbs have been planted on the Panola Mountain tract to improve habitat for grassland birds and pollinators. Heavy browsing by deer may require management of the herd before further outplantings are done at this site.
Habitat restoration at Panola Mountain, near Stockbridge, has shifted to 90 acres of forest adjoining the restored grassland and a canebrake along the South River. Exotic brush species such as autumn olive and Chinese privet have been controlled using herbicides. Some midstory and undesirable overstory trees have been removed and a mulcher used to create a woodland habitat. Native grasses such as Virginia wild rye will be planted in the uplands in fiscal 2019. Many wildlife species that use the nearby grassland will benefit from this woodland habitat.
Canebrakes also are being restored along the banks of the South River in cooperation with a Panola Mountain friends group. These volunteers provided labor while Wildlife Conservation supplied equipment and herbicides to clear exotic species from the cane. Half of the overall restoration site was burned in spring 2018 with excellent results. The other half of the area will be burned in fiscal 2019.

A bird-banding station at the restoration site continues to document increased use by grassland birds, including nesting American kestrels, Henslow's sparrows and other species considered a high priority for conservation in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan. A July 2018 butterfly survey documented butterfly diversity greater than any other survey area in the state.
Native grass restoration is being completed at several other sites as well. In spring 2017, about 40 more acres were planted on Joe Kurz Wildlife Management Area near Woodbury in coordination with a new dove field and other habitat work on adjoining land. Also, about 30 acres were planted on Chattahoochee Bend State Park near Newnan and another 70 acres on Flat Creek Public Fishing Area in Houston County, all in coordination with DNR Wildlife Resources Division's Fisheries Management and Game Management sections. About 120 acres of old fields invaded by Bradford pear trees were cleared at Sweetwater Creek State Park near Lithia Springs in 2017 and planted with native grasses in 2018. The plantings prospered from regular rains throughout the summer of 2018.
n Prothonotary Warblers
Wildlife Conservation began surveying for prothonotary warblers in fiscal 2018. Striking in looks, this bird is declining in numbers and considered a State Wildlife Action Plan high-priority species. Prothonotary warblers are found in flooded swamps and hardwood bottomlands along rivers and streams. They nest in cavities the only warbler in the Southeast to do so often over water.

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As part of a study exploring the bird's use of nesting habitat in riparian corridors in the region, Wildlife Conservation staff placed 45 nest boxes along the Ochlockonee and Alapaha rivers on Alapaha River and River Creek, the Rolf and Alexandra Kauka wildlife management areas. Alapaha WMA is near Ocilla; River Creek is near Thomasville. Prothonotary warblers' use of the nest boxes was monitored and recorded. Point-count surveys were completed along rivers throughout breeding season to determine the abundance of prothonotaries at the sites.
In 2018, six nests in boxes were documented, and 21 adults and young were banded. In the coming years, Wildlife Conservation will examine abundance at sites with and without boxes and by habitat type and riparian corridor width. Site fidelity from year to year will be evaluated by monitoring birds fitted with leg bands.
n Mountain Birds
On Brawley Mountain in northeast Georgia's Fannin County, habitat restoration has been completed for the only remaining population of golden-winged warblers in the state. Brawley Mountain was burned with the help of the Wildlife Conservation's west-central Georgia fire crew in 2016 and again in spring 2018 to enhance the habitat. However, Georgia's golden-winged warbler population has faltered. Biologists detected a lone male in 2013, no birds in 2014, one male in 2015 and two in 2016. No birds were detected in 2017 or 2018.

Other states also have lost populations of this species. The golden-winged warbler is in steep decline throughout most of its historic range. Despite the gloomy outlook, the Brawley Mountain project has yielded promising results on other fronts. The area has been restored to a montane oak woodland featuring high bird diversity. Analysis of the most recent survey data shows that bird numbers have nearly doubled on this site since the project began in 2015. Of greater significance, many are grassland and shrubland birds, species declining significantly throughout their range and especially in the north Georgia mountains.
n Wood Storks
Wood storks were federally listed as endangered in 1984 following dramatic declines in breeding colonies in southern Florida. Wood stork nests were first documented in Georgia in 1965. By the 1980s, the birds were nesting here in increasing numbers.
Georgia now supports more than 20 percent of the U.S. nesting population, which is estimated at about 9,500 breeding pairs. The recovery plan for the wood stork in Georgia includes monitoring reproductive success of nesting colonies, identifying potential threats and working with landowners and site managers to promote colony survival and longevity.
Wildlife Conservation conducts aerial surveys each spring to find and monitor nesting colonies.

Wood stork (Josiah Lavender)

Stork nesting effort the number of pairs that attempt to reproduce fluctuates annually. Calendar year 2014 set the state's nesting record for wood storks, with 2,932 nests in 22 colonies. Water levels then were favorable for nesting and foraging, and the colonies monitored for productivity had high nest success.
In 2018, 1,593 stork nests were documented in 19 colonies across the Coastal Plain. The survey results marked the continuation of a roughly four-year decline in nesting numbers in Georgia. This decline, however, coincides with increased nesting in South Carolina and North Carolina as the species continues to expand its range northward. Overall population estimates for wood storks in the Southeast are also increasing. While nest numbers were down in Georgia, productivity monitoring showed that almost all active colonies fledged many young.
More than 75 percent of wood stork rookeries in the state are on private land. Successful conservation of this species depends on landowners' willingness to ensure the protection of viable freshwater-wetland nesting sites.
n Swallow-tailed Kites
The swallow-tailed kite has suffered a significant range reduction since the 1880s when it bred in 21 states. These elegant raptors are now found in seven Southeastern states, where they nest in bottomland forests along large rivers. Most nests in Georgia are on private land, specifically industrial timberlands. Data from years of late-summer communal roost sites in Florida seem to indicate a gradual increase in population in the southeastern U.S. since the late 1980s.
Wildlife Conservation's efforts include finding and monitoring nests, advising the public about reporting sightings, protecting nests from predators where possible, working with private landowners to ensure habitat viability, supporting habitat management on protected lands where kites nest, and searching for previously radiotagged kites.
An estimated 150-200 pairs of swallow-tailed kites nest in Georgia each year. Most nests are on the lower stretches of the Satilla and Altamaha rivers, but nests are also scattered throughout other south Georgia river drainages that feed into the Atlantic such as the

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Savannah, Ogeechee and St. Marys and almost all rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, including the Suwannee, Alapaha, Aucilla, Flint, Little Ochlockonee and Withlacoochee. While densities are highest in the lower stretches of these rivers, kites nest into the upper Coastal Plain on the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers.
During the 2018 nesting season, fieldwork focused on better defining the limits of the kites' breeding range statewide and continued surveys of the core area in southeast Georgia for monitoring long-term population trends. DNR also emphasized surveying sites considered for possible land acquisition or protection.
Because the Altamaha and Satilla river systems have been heavily surveyed, aerial surveys were conducted on the Savannah, Ogeechee, Oconee and Ocmulgee rivers. Ground and boat surveys were done on the lower Altamaha and Satilla as well. The surveys documented 28 nests: six in the Altamaha drainage, 12 in the Satilla, four on the St Marys, two in the Savannah, one on the Ogeechee and three on the Okefenokee Swamp. Nesting was considered probable at another 12 sites. One of the nests on the Savannah River marked a nearly 20-mile extension upriver of the species' prior confirmed breeding range in that drainage. The Savannah and Ogeechee drainages are underrepresented in nest numbers because the birds there favor hardwoods for nesting, which makes it more difficult for survey staff to spot the nests. The Altamaha saw a surprising drop in nest totals (down from 17 nests in 2017). There is no clear explanation for this decline.
Overall, kite numbers appear stable in Georgia, although little recolonization of the species' historic range has been observed. About twothirds of confirmed and probable kite breeding areas are on private land. The remaining third are on protected lands such as wildlife management areas, national wildlife refuges and military bases.
n Golden Eagles
Wildlife Conservation is part of a regional project exploring migration routes and habitat use of golden eagles in the eastern U.S. Started in 2006 and first aimed at investigating how wind turbines pose a threat to golden eagles, the research by Appalachian Eagles has expanded from Pennsylvania and West Virginia to as far south as

Alabama as scientists learned that golden eagles do not always migrate to and from Canada along Appalachian Mountain ridges. Some fly through the Midwest, according to project leader Dr. Tricia Miller of West Virginia University.
To fill in details about the pathways and the population's distribution, scores of camera stations are used to document golden eagles. Researchers also track eagles fitted with transmitters that post almost real-time updates to cell towers.
In fiscal 2017, grant funding from The Environmental Resources Network (TERN), the friends group of Wildlife Conservation, was used to buy two transmitters. Two other transmitters bought previously with TERN funds had been fitted on golden eagles trapped and released at Devil's Backbone Hunting Club, near Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area in middle Georgia. The first bird was trapped in February 2015, the second in February 2016. One migrated to and from the Gulf of St. Lawrence area in Quebec. The other was tracked to the upper Midwest and Lake Superior. Both returned briefly to Sprewell Bluff in early 2017. The eagle that was captured in 2016 was last located in southern Ontario in March 2018. This has been that bird's consistent pattern. The transmitter placed on the eagle captured in 2015 stopped communicating in western Virginia in March 2018. It's likely the battery failed after providing three years of data.
One of the transmitters bought in 2017 was fitted on a golden eagle captured at John's Mountain in February of that year by Tricia Miller with the help of U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist Ruth Stokes. (Shortly after, another golden eagle was observed at the site but was not caught.) The tracked eagle flew to Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories, where its signal was lost in May 2017.
The remaining transmitter from 2017 was fitted on a golden eagle captured in the Conasauga River District of the Chattahoochee National Forest in February 2018. As of early August 2018, the eagle was near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in April, where the transmitter apparently exceeded the range of the nearest cell towers.
The perception in the ornithological and birding communities is that when golden eagles are seen in Georgia, which is a rare occurrence, they usually appear in the northern one-third of the

state, and primarily in remote, mountainous terrain. However, records show that the species is not restricted to one geographical area and can occur in the Coastal Plain. For example, a sick golden eagle was found near the Okefenokee Swamp in January 2017. This bird died, apparently from lead poisoning after swallowing a fishing sinker. In 2018, reliable reports of golden eagles seen during winter months came from McIntosh County on the coast and Baker County in southwest Georgia.
n Bald Eagles
Once common in Georgia, the bald eagle declined in abundance during the mid-20th century and was not nesting in the state by the early 1970s. Yet populations have rebounded here and elsewhere, helped by a 1972 ban on DDT in the U.S., habitat improvements following enactment of the federal Clean Water and Clean Air acts, recovery of forest resources following extensive logging of old-growth trees during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, protection through the Endangered Species Act, increased public awareness and the restoration of local populations through release programs known as hacking.
Following federal delisting of the species in 2007, primary legal protection for eagles comes under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Nest trees and associated primary and secondary buffer zones are conserved via recommendations of federally established bald eagle management guidelines. Georgia's ongoing conservation efforts have included monitoring all known eagle nests in January and in March, working with landowners and other agencies to protect nest sites, public education programs about eagle conservation and ecology, and rehabilitation of injured eagles.
During the 2017 nesting season, the Wildlife Conservation Section documented a staterecord 218 occupied nesting territories. This was the third consecutive year of 200-plus nest territories recorded in the state. Because of this stable and successful trend, the Wildlife Conservation Section elected to switch to a less intensive and less expensive survey strategy in fiscal 2018. For this nesting season, about half of the state's nests were surveyed. This included nests in the six coastal counties and an area bounded roughly by interstates 16 and 85 and the South Carolina line.

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Young bald eagle at Berry College (Gena Flanigen)

The change mirrored similar reductions in survey efforts in neighboring states and maintained a standardized survey scheme while freeing funds to support other conservation needs. The reduction in survey effort does not compromise Wildlife Conservation's ability to detect and address any decline in bald eagle productivity.
Under the new survey strategy, 107 nests were counted in the two survey areas. These nests fledged an estimated 127 young. Additional data was acquired from a partial survey of known nest territories in north Georgia in conjunction with other surveys, as well as through reports from residents who monitored nests in other areas of the state. Overall, approximately 147 eaglets were fledged from 123 nests monitored. This 79-percent success rate is at the upper end of the range for the long-term average in eagle nest production. The 1.2 young fledged per occupied territory and 1.5 young fledged per successful nest match long-term averages.
Biologists were curious to see how coastal nests, which comprise more than one-third of the state's total, fared in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which

hit Georgia in 2017. Five nest trees appeared to have fallen after Hurricane Matthew the year before. Yet only three to four nests appeared to have been damaged by Irma. The 2018 survey also documented 11 new nests, five of them on the coast. These discoveries included Georgia's first known ground nest of a bald eagle. A boater saw the eagles nesting in the wrack on Cabbage Island, southwest of Little Tybee Island. The nest failed from an unknown cause in late March.
Each year, staff works with landowners to conserve nesting habitats, minimize disturbances near nest trees during the nesting season, help explain federal permitting processes regarding development projects, capture injured eagles and deliver them to veterinary and rehabilitation facilities, and work to return rehabilitated eagles to the wild.
Wildlife Conservation also continued work in fiscal 2018 with partners at the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study avian vacuolar

myelinopathy. Once referred to as AVM, scientists now call the disease simply VM because it has been detected in fish, mammals and other taxa, in addition to birds.
The disease has caused significant mortality in American coots and bald eagles. It was implicated in the deaths of at least seven and perhaps 10 or more eagles at Clarks Hill Lake north of Augusta in winter 2016-2017. Only three bald eagles were known to have died from VM at Clarks Hill in winter 2017-2018.
Although VM-associated mortality in birds has historically been detected at other Georgia lakes, such as Varner and Juliette, Clarks Hill (also called J. Strom Thurmond Reservoir) has been plagued with the disease since at least the late 1990s. The first eagle death linked to the disease at Clarks Hill occurred in 1998. Eagle nesting territories at the lake have declined from a high of eight or nine in the 1990s to as low as two or three. However, five occupied nest territories were recorded in 2017 and six in 2018. The hope is this positive trend continues.

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As of fiscal 2018, satellite telemetry devices have been placed on five eaglets from three nests on the northern part of Clarks Hill. In fall 2015, one of the eagles was shot in Pennsylvania and another shed its transmitter. The two males outfitted with transmitters in April 2016 migrated north in June. One of them flew to the Hudson Bay area; the other spent the summer in Pennsylvania and Ohio. One of the three remaining birds in this study died from VM early in 2017. As for the other two birds, one managed to shed its transmitter near Clarks Hill in March 2018, and as of June 2018 the other eagle was at Hudson Bay in Ontario, Canada.
n Peregrine Falcons
For the fourth consecutive year, in winter 2018 a pair of peregrine falcons nested on a cliff face at Tallulah Gorge State Park, the state's only known peregrine nest in a natural setting. The first nest recorded at this park near Tallulah Falls was in 2015 the only "wild" nest documented in the state in 80 years. That initial nesting effort resulted in two fledglings.

A peregrine pair again nested on the cliff in 2016, below the nest found in 2015 and in a site that was more difficult to observe. One eyas was seen at the site that spring, but it was not clear if it fledged. In 2017, a peregrine falcon pair was seen exhibiting nesting activity on the same cliff face, although in a new location. This time the site was easier to observe from an observation platform on the opposite side of the gorge. The public watched as the parents reared and fledged four young.
In 2018 the falcon pair returned to the nest location used in 2015 and 2017. Four eggs were laid and three were known to hatch during a period of especially cold and rainy weather in mid-April. However, the nest effort failed, likely because of poor weather conditions.
Fiscal 2018 also featured the first extensive search for "wild type" peregrine falcon nests in north Georgia in 23 years. Biologists visited 14 cliff faces and other potentially suitable sites by helicopter in April. The scope of the survey

ranged from Cloudland Canyon and Bell Mountain to Yonah Mountain to Rabun Bald. The survey included sites used for hacking falcons from 1988-1994.
Although at least five sites appeared especially suitable for nesting, no eyries were found and no falcons were observed on the cliffs. A peregrine was seen in a metal drum-like structure at the same communications tower in DeKalb County, where one also had been observed in 2017. As then, biologists saw no conclusive evidence the birds successfully nested at the tower.
Also, for the third consecutive year no nest site was confirmed in Atlanta, although observations made by biologists during a survey in May, as well as reports from birders and employees in high-rise buildings, suggested there could have been at least four falcon territories in the metro area. Falcons again were seen visiting ledges at SunTrust Plaza and the Four Seasons Hotel.

Bell Mountain was among sites checked for peregrine nests (Bob Sargent/DNR)

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Morning nesting loggerhead on Sea Island (Haley Watkins/Sea Island) Caretta Research Project volunteers tag a loggerhead (Joe Pfaller)

Sea Turtles
Loggerhead sea turtles are found in Georgia's coastal waters year-round and nest on all barrier island beaches. In accordance with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan for this species, DNR management efforts focus on surveying and protecting loggerhead nests and managing nesting beach habitat. The Wildlife Conservation Section coordinates the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative, a group of volunteers, researchers and government employees who conduct nest protection and management activities on Georgia beaches. Wildlife Conservation also manages the nesting projects on the state-owned islands of Sapelo and Ossabaw, including hiring and supervising seasonal technicians. Nest management strategies such as relocating nests, installing protective screens and removing predators help ensure high nesting success.
Since comprehensive surveys began in 1989, loggerhead nesting has been highly variable, with an average of 1,357 nests per year. In 2018, more than 1,730 loggerhead nests were documented on Georgia beaches. That total is slightly above average and supports an increasing trend in nesting of approximately 3 percent annually over the last 30 years. Nesting data indicates that the loggerhead sea turtle population in Georgia is making slow but steady progress toward recovery and delisting.

Amphibians and Reptiles
LOGGERHEAD NESTING IN GEORGIA Annual nest totals since comprehensive surveys began in 1989.
3,400 3,200 3,000 2,800 2,600 2,400 2,200 2,000 1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200
0 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18

Other conservation activities conducted by Wildlife Conservation during the fiscal year included traveling to the Texas coast to assist federal agencies with a sea turtle cold-stunning event, reviewing lighting plans for beachfront hotel construction, conducting lighting surveys on

developed nesting beaches and monitoring the effects of harbor dredging projects on sea turtles.
To develop a comprehensive understanding of the number and relatedness of loggerheads nesting on Georgia beaches, DNR and the University of

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Georgia have created a catalog of unique genetic profiles for Georgia's nesting female turtles. Drs. Joe Nairn and Brian Shamblin, working with DNR staff, have identified an average of 555 loggerhead females using the Georgia coast annually from 2008-2018, with a range of 303 to 977 turtles per year. DNR is collaborating with Drs. Clint Moore and Bryan Nuse from the Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UGA to use the genetic data to develop a Bayesian demographic model for loggerheads. This model will be used to determine the status of the turtles and how changes in management will affect population recovery.
Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network
The Wildlife Conservation Section monitors sea turtle mortality through the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. Systematic patrols of barrier island beaches provide information on the number and species of dead turtles that wash up on the Georgia coast. When possible, necropsies of stranded turtles are done to evaluate causes of mortality. Sea turtle strandings are the primary index of threats to sea turtles in the state's coastal waters.

In fiscal year 2018, 98 dead or injured turtles were documented on Georgia beaches. That total is slightly more than half the 29-year average of 185 strandings per year. Recent patterns in strandings strongly correlate with the shrimp trawling effort off Georgia's coast, suggesting that commercial fishing activity is a significant source of mortality. Results from necropsy examinations indicate that boat collisions and commercial fishery mortality are leading sources of mortality, accounting for 32 and 30 percent of strandings, respectively, in fiscal 2018.
The public is encouraged to report stranded sea turtles in Georgia by contacting DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363). Stranding updates are available at www.seaturtle.org/ strand/summary (click "Georgia").
Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative
The Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative is a Georgia-based effort to conserve the gopher tortoise in hopes of making its listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act unnecessary. Members include DNR, the Georgia Forestry Commission; the U.S. Department of Defense, Fish and Wildlife

DNR's Emily Ferrall with juvenile gopher tortoise (Shelby Telfer/DNR)

Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service; The Nature Conservancy; The Conservation Fund; Georgia Conservancy; the Knobloch Family Foundation; the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation; the Bobolink Foundation; Georgia Chamber of Commerce; and The Orianne Society.
Gopher tortoises are found in the Coastal Plain from eastern Louisiana to western South Carolina and southern Florida. The species is federally listed as threatened in Louisiana, Mississippi and western Alabama. Within the rest of its range, the gopher tortoise is classified as a candidate species: It warrants being listed but has not been because of other issues.
Ecologically, the gopher is a keystone species. Georgia's state reptile digs deep, long burrows that are used by more than 300 different animal species. One, the eastern indigo snake, is federally listed as threatened. Others are being considered for federal listing, including the gopher frog, Florida pine snake and eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake.
Gopher Tortoise Initiative partners know they can be proactive and work to avoid listing gopher tortoises, or they can be reactive and face the consequences of increased federal regulation that will affect key parts of the state's economy, including commercial growth, agriculture, forestry and military base activities. To help preclude the need for listing a decision that members know will not rest solely on efforts in Georgia the initiative is working to permanently protect many of the state's gopher tortoise populations. Georgia has at least 122 known viable populations. (A minimum viable population is defined as 250 adult tortoises.)
Permanent protection of populations is being achieved through a combination of fee-simple land acquisitions and conservation easements. When the effort started, Georgia had 36 permanently protected tortoise populations. At the close of fiscal year 2018, the total was 47. The initiative is trying to protect 65 populations. That effort that will require raising an estimated $150 million. The funding is expected to come equally from three sources: state, federal and private donations. As of early fiscal 2019, the Gopher Tortoise Initiative was completing projects that will increase tortoise habitat conserved in the state to about 43,000 acres.

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Gopher Tortoises and Eastern Indigo Snakes
Both the gopher tortoise and the eastern indigo snake, which is federally listed as threatened, are priority species in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan.
During fiscal year 2018, the Wildlife Conservation Section's tortoise survey crew completed line-transect distance surveys on 10 sites. The surveys are used to estimate tortoise density and abundance. Sites included new additions to Ohoopee Dunes and Sandhills wildlife management areas, the newly acquired Hilliard Tract at Chattahoochee Fall Line Wildlife Management Area, three Georgia Power properties and two other private tracts. Yuchi and Moody Forest wildlife management areas were resurveyed. Three sites had populations exceeding 250 adult tortoises, the federally defined total for a minimum viable population. Three others would likely meet that threshold when tortoises on adjacent, unsurveyed tracts are included.
Wildlife Conservation began doing line-transect distance sampling for gopher tortoises in 2007. As of fiscal 2018, surveys have been completed on 10,272 sites statewide, public and private.

Incubating gopher tortoise eggs at Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery (John Jensen/DNR)

Eastern indigo snake (Matthew Moore/DNR)

Eight have been resurveyed, with all but one showing an increase in the tortoise population. These increases are likely due to improved habitat management, and in the case of Yuchi, additions to the population by translocating and head-starting tortoises at the WMA near Waynesboro. Survey results are incorporated into conservation strategies aimed at precluding the need to federally list the tortoise under the Endangered Species Act.
As discussed in the Gopher Tortoise Initiative section, in coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia has set a target of 65 minimal viable populations protected across 13 conservation units in the state. One of these units has no known populations at or above the threshold of 250 tortoises, a situation that requires special efforts to achieve at least one minimal viable population there. DNR has leased, and plans to acquire, 4,400 acres in Webster County. This site, called the Lanahassee Tract, has a resident population of only about 20 tortoises. That means augmentation adding tortoises is needed. In late fiscal 2018, 62 adult tortoises displaced by development were

relocated to Lanahassee. Also, five clutches of eggs found at the donor site were being incubated and head-started at the Fish and Wildlife Service's Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery for release at Lanahassee.
In another study funded and supported by Wildlife Conservation, The Orianne Society continued occupancy monitoring of habitat for imperiled eastern indigo snakes to determine population trends. In southern Georgia, indigos overwinter in xeric sandhill habitats where they den in the burrows of gopher tortoises. The study originally focused on sandhills along the Altamaha River corridor but has expanded the last two years to include sites along the Alapaha and Satilla river corridors.
Orianne, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving rare reptiles and amphibians, surveyed 19 sandhill sites on public and private lands in fiscal 2018. Indigos were detected at 13, or 68 percent. The areas checked included new properties that, when combined with established survey sites, add up to 38 sites that will be sampled on a three-year rotation.

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Bog Turtles
Bog turtle conservation efforts in Georgia faced persistent challenges in fiscal year 2018. With no State Wildlife Grant funding available for seasonal technicians at the start of 2018, the Wildlife Conservation Section turned to conservation partners to help continue surveys and monitoring, avoiding disruptions in longterm data sets.
The federally threatened bog turtle, the world's smallest turtle species, lives in Georgia mountain bogs generally found along slowflowing spring creeks and seepages in low mountain valleys. During spring and summer 2018, Wildlife Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff at the Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery continued surveys monitoring two bog turtle populations discovered in 2014 and 2015, and at a potentially suitable site. The latter was identified through a species distribution model and an extensive review of aerial photography that used Geographic Information Systems software coupled with ground-truthing, or visiting sites.
Surveys included putting out 55 traps for a total of 2,284 trap days. No new populations

were found. But 12 bog turtles were caught and released for a total of 28 captures and releases at the two sites with known populations. One turtle was a 4-year-old juvenile that had not been caught before. The catch showed that reproduction and recruitment had occurred since the population was discovered in 2014, and suggests the population's long-term viability.
Gopher Frogs
State-listed as rare, gopher frogs depend on intact sandhill habitats, where adults survive within the burrows of their namesake host, the gopher tortoise. However, these frogs also require nearby fishless wetlands where they breed and their tadpoles develop. Because of widespread upland and wetland habitat alteration throughout their range, gopher frogs are limited to fewer than 10 sites in Georgia.
In 2007, the Wildlife Conservation Section began a project that involved collecting gopher frog eggs from healthy populations, rearing them to latestage tadpoles or post-metamorphic froglets and releasing them at an unoccupied but high-quality protected site at Williams Bluffs Preserve in Early County. Williams Bluffs is within the species'

historical range. The goal is to establish a selfsustaining breeding population of gopher frogs, a range-wide first for this imperiled amphibian.
Alarmingly, in fiscal year 2018 no evidence of reproduction was found at previously reliable donor sites. Wildlife Conservation had to obtain eggs from South Carolina to support the effort. In all, 543 metamorphs were produced, with 198 going to Williams Bluffs and 345 to the agency's primary donor site. To address recent difficulties with obtaining wild-produced gopher frog eggs, 67 lab-reared gopher frogs were placed in mesocosms at the Amphibian Foundation and Zoo Atlanta. The hope is they will breed in captivity and provide reliable sources of eggs for future efforts.
Eastern Hellbenders
The eastern hellbender, North America's largest salamander, lives in clear, cold streams in the north Georgia mountains. The species is state-protected and a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.
The Wildlife Conservation Section surveys for hellbenders in mountain streams each year. A subset of the streams is sampled every

Eastern hellbender (Emily Ferrall/DNR)

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three years. This cycle is building a long-term dataset through which hellbender numbers can be estimated, populations monitored and habitat conditions checked. Hellbenders caught are assessed, marked with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag for future identification if they don't already have a tag, and released.
In 2018, the surveys were done after the fiscal year had closed. Results will be included in Wildlife Conservation's next annual report.
During the year, Wildlife Conservation wildlife biologist Thomas Floyd attended a Hellbender Expert Elicitation Workshop held by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Williamstown, W.Va. Floyd was one of 12 regional experts from across the species' range invited to provide information to complete drafting the eastern hellbender species status assessment. The assessment is part of the process to decide if the species should be federally listed. That decision could come before calendar year 2019.

Flatwoods Salamanders and Striped Newts
In addition to the captive gopher frog breeding effort, the Amphibian Foundation, with support from the Wildlife Conservation Section, maintains captive colonies of adult flatwoods salamanders and striped newts originally collected as larvae from Georgia wetlands. In fiscal year 2018, the striped newts began breeding at the Roswell center, and their larvae were released at Apalachicola National Forest in Florida.

Breeding flatwoods salamanders in captivity has not been done before. However, there are promising signs that the outdoor mesocosms the juvenile salamanders have been placed in at the Amphibian Foundation will provide offspring for future reintroduction efforts.
In the wild, drought conditions at Mayhaw Wildlife Management Area near Colquitt left the two flatwoods salamander breeding ponds there dry during winter. Biologists were concerned that terrestrially laid eggs deposited by females in the fall would desiccate, or dry up. DNR's Wildlife Conservation and Game Management sections, along with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center and volunteers, recovered 47 viable eggs during two days of searching. The eggs were taken to the Jones Center in Newton, which raised 37 of them past metamorphosis and returned the young to Mayhaw, a conservation first for Georgia's imperiled flatwoods salamanders.

DNR's Phil Spivey releases flatwoods salamanders (close-up above) at Mayhaw WMA (Jake Rogers/DNR)

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North Atlantic Right Whales
North Atlantic right whales are a critically endangered species numbering fewer than 450 individuals. The species was nearly driven to extinction by centuries of hunting and has been slow to recover because of reduced genetic diversity, natural variability in food resources and human impacts, including collisions with ships and entanglement in commercial fishing rope. Right whales forage on zooplankton along the coast of New England and Canada during the spring, summer and fall. Each December and January, pregnant females migrate more than 1,000 miles to the coast of Georgia and northeast Florida, the species' only known calving grounds. Females nurse their calves for one to two months, until the calves are strong

enough to migrate north in February and March. A varied number of right whales that are not calving especially juveniles also migrate to the southeastern U.S. each winter.
The North Atlantic right whale population increased by more than 40 percent during the 2000s, suggesting the species was beginning to recover. However, in 2010 calving rates began to drop in response to changes in zooplankton distribution in New England and Canada changes apparently driven by warming ocean temperatures and associated shifts in ocean currents. At the same time, right whales began suffering unprecedented levels of mortality and injury. More than 7 percent of the species has died since 2012, mostly from ship strikes and entanglement. More than 80 percent of surviving whales bear scars from fishing rope entanglements. Even worse, females are dying at faster rates than males. As

few as 100 calving females remain. The species is on the decline and its future is uncertain.
DNR works with scientists and managers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Sea to Shore Alliance and other organizations to conserve right whales in the Southeast. Each December through March, aerial and boat surveys are done to monitor the whale population. Biologists collect genetic samples from calves and take photographs to identify other whales. The data are used to estimate population size, growth rates and other parameters. Wildlife Conservation Section staff document entangled whales and remove fishing rope from them when possible. In 2015, DNR also began working with Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research to develop satellite tags for tracking right whale movement. Little is

Mammals

Assessing and tagging manatee (Terri Calleson/USFWS/permit MA37808A)

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Right Whale Calving

Calves

An adult right whale and a juvenile off Georgia's coast (Sea to Shore Alliance/NOAA permit 20556)

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5
'84 '85 '86 '87 '88 '89 '90 '91 '92 '93 '94 '95 '96 '97 '98 '99 '00 '01 '02 '03 '04 '05 '06 '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 '17 '18

known about how right whales use their calving and foraging habitats, or the migration paths between them.
DNR management and policy activities focus on reducing human-related mortality and protecting right whale habitat. Wildlife Conservation staff serve on the Southeast Implementation Team for Right Whale Recovery and the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team and are active in the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium. Support is also provided by DNR's Coastal Resources and Law Enforcement divisions with education and outreach, policy efforts and enforcement of federal right whale protections. Most funding for DNR's right whale conservation efforts is provided by grants from NOAA.
During the 2018 calving season, survey teams identified only nine adult right whales and three juveniles. (In the 2000s, more than 100 whales were seen in the Southeast during many winters.) The teams saw no right whale calves in the Southeast this season, the first time none have

been seen off Georgia and Florida since surveys began in the 1980s. The previous record low occurred in 2000, when one calf was documented. The only potential silver lining is that in 2001, a then-record 31 calves were seen. Time will tell if right whales can stage another calving rebound. For now, reducing human causes of mortality is key to the species' survival.
Marine Mammal Stranding Network
The Georgia Marine Mammal Stranding Network was created in 1989 to coordinate marine mammal stranding responses in the state. The Wildlife Conservation Section coordinates the Georgia network with funding from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and help from other agencies and private organizations.
Network goals include investigating human impacts on marine mammals, monitoring population health, providing rapid and humane response to live stranded marine mammals, contributing to marine

mammal research and educating the public about marine mammal conservation.
Since 2000, the network has documented an average of 32 stranded dolphins and whales per year. Bottlenose dolphins were the most commonly stranded species, making up 79 percent of strandings, followed by pygmy and dwarf sperm whales (13 percent combined). Other species that have stranded in Georgia historically include Atlantic spotted dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, Atlantic white-sided dolphins, Risso's dolphins, pygmy killer whales, false killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, humpback whales, Bryde's whales, North Atlantic right whales and numerous species of beaked whales.
The network documented 22 strandings in calendar year 2017. These included 19 bottlenose dolphins, two pygmy sperm whales and one short-finned pilot whale. Three strandings were the result of human causes: two dolphin carcasses had rope on their flukes, likely from entanglement in crab pot buoys, and one live

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dolphin was successfully disentangled from baling twine. (It is unclear how the dolphin became entangled.) Ten strandings occurred because of natural causes, including illness (five cases), perinatal complications or stillbirths (four) and one dolphin stranded by the outgoing tide. In the latter case, the dolphin was alive and released into deeper water. Nine strandings occurred for undetermined reasons, either because carcasses were too decomposed to assess the cause of death (five cases) or because no apparent cause was discernable during necropsy.
The public is encouraged to report stranded marine mammals in Georgia by contacting DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363).
Florida Manatees
Florida manatees inhabit tidal rivers, estuaries and near-shore ocean waters throughout coastal Georgia during the warm months of the year. The Florida manatee population numbers at least 6,000, with approximately half of the population found along Florida's Gulf Coast, and the remainder along the Atlantic Coast and the St. Johns River. Each spring and summer an unknown number migrate into Georgia, returning to Florida in fall as water temperatures cool.
Formerly listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, manatees were downlisted in March 2017 to threatened thanks to sustained population growth throughout their U.S. range. The Wildlife Conservation Section cooperates with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other organizations to conserve manatees in Georgia. Management focuses on reducing human-related mortality and protecting habitat. Recovery tasks include documenting causes of mortality and injury, rescuing injured and out-of-habitat manatees, monitoring distribution and habitat use, educating boaters about watercraft impacts and reviewing permits and policies that may affect manatees and their habitat.
Seventy-one manatee mortalities have been documented in Georgia waters since 2000. Twenty-eight percent were from watercraft strikes and 17 percent from cold stress. Less common causes of mortality included drowning in shrimp nets, entrapment and gunshot. Nine

Southeastern bats in a culvert (Emily Ferrall/DNR)

manatee carcasses were found in Georgia during calendar year 2017. Three died from watercraftrelated injuries. The cause of death could not be determined in the other cases. Among the latter, one manatee carcass was spotted by a whale survey aircraft 17 miles offshore. The carcass was being scavenged by white sharks.
Wildlife Conservation conducted the third year of a five-year manatee satellite-tagging project in 2017 in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, Sea to Shore Alliance, Georgia Aquarium and others. The primary objective is studying fine-scale movements of manatees around Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay to assess watercraft collision risks. Other objectives include investigating migratory behavior and identifying travel corridors.
As part of the project, eight manatees were caught near Cumberland Island in June 2017. Each was fitted with high-accuracy, GPS-linked satellite transmitters and released. Four manatees that had been tagged in 2015 and 2016 also remained tagged into 2017. A total of 636 days of tracking data were obtained in calendar year 2017 (73 percent came from four manatees). Data showed that eight manatees traveled into Kings Bay base, resulting in 78 days of cumulative tracking data. One spent more than 10 months cumulatively within the base's boundaries.

Tracked manatees spent most of their time in brackish estuarine waters between the barrier islands and mainland, but seven manatees ventured into the Atlantic Ocean and four swam short distances up freshwater rivers. The longest distance from north to south was logged by a manatee known as TGA028. In three months, this male covered more than 400 miles from Beaufort, S.C., to West Palm Beach, Fla.
Preliminary project results indicate that manatees rely heavily on the Intracoastal Waterway to migrate north and south between estuaries. They also appear to travel along the marsh edge more often than in the middle of river channels, a behavior that could place them at lower risk of watercraft strikes.
Small Mammals
A grant for bat and small mammal conservation originally awarded the Wildlife Conservation Section in 2012 continued to support work on these species in Georgia.
DNR, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the University of Georgia began a project in 2014 designed to learn more about the range of cave-dwelling bats in Georgia, with a focus on federally listed Indiana and northern long-eared

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bats. Since the Department of Transportation, or DOT, is required under the Endangered Species Act to ensure projects do not jeopardize federally listed bats, determining the accurate range and habitat specifics of Myotis bats can help DOT assess project predictability, balance federal funding by congressional district and possibly lower project planning and construction costs.
Through calendar year 2017, a UGA graduate student and technicians captured and tracked the target species across their potential range as defined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (Northern long-eared bats were trapped using mist nets, fitted with temporary radio transmitters and tracked to roost trees, with roost and surrounding habitat characteristics documented at each site.) Simultaneously, Wildlife Conservation biologists and DOT contractors completed project-based surveys in the same area.
Capture efforts from 2007 through 2017 at 535 sites are being used to build distribution models for northern long-eared bats in north Georgia. As of fiscal year 2018, models indicate these bats are most likely to occur in large patches of deciduous forest in the Blue Ridge region. Preliminary results from data on 28 roost trees suggest the bats prefer roosting in larger tracts of forest on west-facing slopes. However, modeling roost habitat over a large area with few occurrences is prone to imprecision. These complications will be addressed before the project is finished.
In fiscal 2018, Wildlife Conservation, the Fish and Wildlife Service and DOT continued surveying for bats in transportation structures. Wildlife Conservation also began testing a bat survey data form for mobile devices. The surveys of occupied bridges and culverts, done through the winter, revealed a surprising number of structures used by bats year-round (approximately 10 percent of those checked). DOT is working with DNR and the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect these populations during maintenance, repair and replacement projects. DNR developed plans with DOT to repair and replace bridges and culverts that have significant bat roosts.
Wildlife Conservation biologists also remained active in the Georgia Bat Working Group and helped plan and hold the fifth annual Georgia Bat Blitz in fiscal 2018. For the event, the Georgia and Alabama bat working groups teamed

up and worked from Lakepoint State Park in Eufaula, Ala. Netting sites were scattered across public lands in southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama. More than 50 people took part in the blitz and many attended the education event on the final night. Because of excessive rains before the blitz, bats were not concentrated in typical flyways and capture rates were low. The species caught in Georgia included big brown bats, Eastern red bats, Seminole bats and evening bats. The sites trapped during the blitz will be trapped by Wildlife Conservation's mist net crew in fiscal year 2019 when water levels should be lower and capture success rates higher. However, the blitz provided an opportunity for participants from Alabama and Georgia to interact and learn new techniques for capturing bats.
The statewide Anabat survey continued in fiscal 2018. Project volunteers drove more than 30 transects across the state collecting bat calls. Most routes (detailed on www.georgiawildlife. com/AnabatProject) were run once or twice, despite rainy weather that caused delays. Wildlife Conservation researchers used software and visual identification to analyze Anabat survey calls collected through 2017. Through analysis, biologists can determine most bat species and

numbers per route. The routes will be run over multiple years to build a long-term set of call data for determining bat population trends across the state.
A citizen-science program started in 2014 monitored summer bat maternity roosts in the state in fiscal 2018. This outreach encourages the public to count bats at bat houses, barns and other roosts twice each summer. The effort mirrors programs in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and allows the public to contribute to long-term monitoring of wildlife populations.
In 2018, Wildlife Conservation also again took part in the North American Bat Monitoring Project, which involves stationary and mobile acoustic sampling in selected grid cells across the continent. Georgia biologists have selected 12 survey sites they will be sampling.
On other fronts, a federal grant initiated in 2017 helped fund white-nose syndrome work in Georgia. As of winter 2018, Wildlife Conservation had confirmed white-nose syndrome, or WNS, in 14 north Georgia counties. Biologists also documented a 93 percent decline in populations at known hibernacula in north Georgia, although the 2018 counts were 1 percent higher than

Southeastern bat (Katrina Morris/DNR)

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2017. The reason for the slight increase is unknown but could point to colder temperatures that concentrated bats in the caves checked or successful reproduction in surviving bats.
Although tri-colored bats have been the most abundant bat during the winter in north Georgia caves, low numbers of Myotis bats have always been observed. For fiscal 2018, however, no Myotis bats except for gray bats, which seem to be resistant to WNS, were seen during the north Georgia winter surveys. Preliminary data from summer mist-netting in the state show declines for tri-colored bats and Myotis bats, compared to previous summer mist-net surveys.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, WNS has killed millions of bats and been documented in 33 states and seven Canadian provinces as of the close of fiscal 2018. Wildlife Conservation will continue to monitor sites in winter to document the disease's spread and related mortality. Monitoring has been expanded to the southern portion of the state. During surveys, staff members swab bats to check for Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes WNS.
About 50 culverts with bats were sampled in winter 2018. Swab samples from this survey season had not been processed in time for this

Pocket gopher (J.T. Pynne)

report and the WNS status of these sites is pending. Biologists also are working with the public and the caving community to promote awareness of white-nose syndrome and support for bat conservation. The agency's annual report on WNS is promoted through the agency's social media pages and the Georgia Wild e-newsletter. The report also is summarized in the online report "Tracking a Killer" updated each year.
In fiscal 2018, the Wildlife Conservation and Game Management sections funded a second season of spotted-skunk camera trapping through UGA's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Using protocols developed by a multistate working group, a technician placed 13 motion-activated cameras at randomly chosen sites from January to April, using sardines and a strong-smelling lure as bait. The area sampled was larger than in 2017: The focus broadened from the Clayton/Tallulah Falls area in Rabun County to a swath of the Blue Ridge, including Brasstown Bald, Cleveland, Helen and Hiawassee. Road kills, live sightings and trapper reports were used to help pick areas. However, no skunks were seen at the camera traps this year.
Supported by a multistate State Wildlife Grant initiated in 2015, a UGA doctoral student continued research focused on the southeastern pocket gopher. The overall goal is to conserve and restore southeastern pine savanna in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. One way to accomplish this is through better understanding, as well as recommending and restoring, conditions to promote southeastern pocket gophers, a critical species in this habitat and one that has suffered significant population declines across its historic range.
In summer 2016 and 2017, the student conducted transect walking surveys on wildlife management areas and other state lands, as well as several military bases and private lands throughout the species' range. Pocket gophers were found on many private quail plantations in the Red Hills region of Thomas County, Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center at Ichauway property, Fort Benning and private sites in Marion, Taylor and Schley counties. The student trapped 25 pocket gophers at the Jones Center, six at Georgia Veterans State Park in Cordele and two on private lands. Tissue samples were also collected for analysis.

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Freshwater Aquatic Species

Electrofishing for rare fishes on the Etowah River (Paula Marcinek/DNR)

Aquatic Conservation Initiative
Georgia is one of the richest states in freshwater aquatic biodiversity, ranking among the top five in the number of native species of crayfishes (70), fishes (265), mussels (127) and aquatic snails (84). However, Georgia also ranks among the top states in imperiled freshwater aquatic species. A recent assessment recognized 152 in Georgia, and more than half have a significant part of their global range within the state's boundaries. Approximately 22 percent of Georgia's freshwater fishes, 28 percent of mollusks and 36 percent of crayfishes are classified as imperiled or critically imperiled in the state. Yet even these numbers understate

the problem because they do not include the 48 species, mostly mollusks, considered extirpated from Georgia.
The Wildlife Conservation Section launched the Aquatic Conservation Initiative in 1998 to determine the status of Georgia's aquatic fauna and develop conservation plans for declining species. This effort is identifying important populations of rare aquatic species through surveys and research, incorporating location and status information into the DNR database, and assisting with conservation planning.
Wildlife Conservation conducts hundreds of aquatic surveys around the state each year, documenting or monitoring important populations of high-priority species. In fiscal

year 2018, efforts focused on robust redhorse, sicklefin redhorse, blackbanded sunfish and other rare fish and mussel species in the Coosa, lower Flint and upper Savannah river systems.
Staff continued to help The Nature Conservancy and Kennesaw State University with annual monitoring of Etowah and Cherokee darters in Raccoon Creek, a tributary to the Etowah River. This project was started to assess the effectiveness of stream channel and riparian restoration in a section of the creek affected by powerline rights of way and to monitor long-term population dynamics of these two federally protected species. During sampling this fiscal year, partners collected 83 Etowah darters and 203 Cherokee darters. These numbers, up from the fiscal 2017 sampling, tied the project's

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Male trispot darter (Dave Neely) Monitoring Raccoon Creek (DNR)

record high of 83 Etowah darters and fell just shy of the record 242 Cherokee darters, both from 2015 sampling. However, monitoring from 2009-2017 has documented large annual fluctuations in catch rates for the species. The fluctuations likely correspond to observed variations in stream-flow levels. This year staff also took part in a symposium held by Kennesaw State University to broaden the research scope of the Raccoon Creek watershed.
Wildlife Conservation completed the final year of surveys for the state-endangered blackbanded sunfish. This work is part of a State Wildlife Grants project in cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Environmental DNA, or eDNA, water samples were collected at 31 sites in 2015. Of

those, only five tested positive for presence of blackbanded sunfish in Georgia. Sampling at those five locations in fiscal 2017 yielded no blackbanded sunfish, so in the most recent year, DNR sampled at four more locations. Despite extensive effort at nine sites using multiple collection techniques (boat shocking, seining and trapping), only two blackbanded sunfish were found.
Wildlife Conservation also contracts with the University of Georgia for long-term monitoring of fishes in the Etowah and Conasauga rivers. These river systems are among the most diverse and imperiled in the southeastern U.S., supporting important populations of rare fishes such as blue shiner, frecklebelly madtom, Etowah darter, trispot darter and Conasauga

logperch. Monitoring has been ongoing since 1998. Information from these studies has been important for conservation planning, species status assessments and documenting relationships between fish populations and environmental stressors.
One current objective is using eDNA technology to detect frecklebelly madtom in areas where the species has not been observed for more than a decade. In fiscal 2018, collaborators at UGA developed detection tools for frecklebelly madtom eDNA and detected the eDNA in areas of known occurrence in the Etowah. Five of 10 sites in the Conasauga also rated positive for the eDNA, but no individuals were observed using traditional survey techniques. More surveys are planned for the Conasauga and Coosawattee. The project will be finished within the next year.
A multiyear collaborative effort assessing the conservation status of the bridled darter, frecklebelly madtom, holiday darter and trispot darter continued into fiscal 2018. All four fishes were petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The project's goals are to ensure the decision of whether to list these species is based on recent data and identify important actions to aid recovery. Work during the year included compiling and summarizing existing distribution data for each species, conducting surveys for bridled and holiday darters, and developing range maps highlighting the status of each population. DNR staff completed snorkeling

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and electrofishing surveys in the upper Etowah, Coosawattee and Conasauga basins. These surveys updated historical records, filled data gaps and documented important populations of holiday darters in headwater streams of the three basins. This year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that bridled and holiday darters did not require federal listing, but proposed listing trispot darter as threatened. Bridled and holiday darters will remain a conservation focus in Georgia.
Mussel sampling continued in lower Flint River tributaries in fiscal 2018, the 11th year of monitoring these populations. Summer stream flows from 2013 to 2017 are believed to have spurred several rare species to successfully reproduce, significantly increasing local populations.
Staff also wrapped up a comprehensive mussel survey of the upper Coosa River basin in Georgia. The project started with tributary streams in 2015 but focused on the main stem rivers as well as tributaries to the upper Etowah and Coosawattee rivers in 2016 and 2017. The upper Coosa basin historically harbored more than 40 freshwater mussel species, including several protected under the Endangered Species Act.
As of fiscal 2018, the project has led to the discovery of several previously unknown populations of rare mussels, including the first records of the federally petitioned Alabama spike from the upper Etowah basin as well as an extremely robust population of the finelined pocketbook. Sampling for this project concluded in fall 2017. The next phase involves developing distributional models to assess the occurrence and researchers' ability to find targeted mussel species when they are present.
Wildlife Conservation teamed with Fish and Wildlife Service staff to complete an extensive survey of the Chattooga River in extreme northeast Georgia. This river harbors a population of brook floater, a species that ranges from Nova Scotia to Georgia. Approximately 97 percent of sites sampled were occupied by the brook floater, and staff extended the known population by approximately 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles, upstream. This population is heavily protected by its location in the Chattooga National Wild and Scenic River, which is within the Chattahoochee and Sumter national forests. The Chattooga likely

Brook floaters on the Chattooga River (Jason Wisniewski/DNR)

has the densest population of the brook floater throughout its range. More than 700 animals were collected among the 40 sites sampled. The species was petitioned for federal listing in 2010 and its status assessment is in review.
Wildlife Conservation staff also presented research results at regional and national symposia. Members contributed, as well, to multistate and national efforts to assess the taxonomy, status and distribution of aquatic species in North America.
Staff further expanded their survey expertise and began sampling for the Ocmulgee marstonia, a diminutive snail petitioned for federal listing and known from only one location. Discovered in 1969, this snail occurs in Bluff Creek, a springfed tributary to the Ocmulgee River in Pulaski County. Although not collected live for years, the Ocmulgee marstonia was petitioned for listing in 2010, and DNR's survey was done as part of a Georgia Department of Transportation project that could have affected the species. Additional survey efforts are planned for fall 2018, a season in which the species is presumably mature and at its maximum size approximately 2 millimeters in length, or less than one-tenth of an inch.
Data from surveys and monitoring, including data submitted through the agency's scientific collecting permit program, are entered into

the NatureServe Biotics database, a national inventory of rare species. Partnerships also are maintained with the Georgia Museum of Natural History and the Stream Survey Team of DNR's Fisheries Management Section, boosting the amount of data available for environmental review and conservation planning.
This extensive dataset is being used in a new partnership with the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The partnership involves updating the status assessment maps for federally petitioned species. Maps are rangewide, allowing researchers to assess species beyond state boundaries. Developed by Wildlife Conservation for the 2015 revision of Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan, the updated maps will help the Fish and Wildlife Service in making listing determinations.
Priority species for the project include two crayfish (Hiawassee headwaters crayfish and Little Tennessee crayfish), two fish (robust redhorse and Carolina pygmy sunfish), four mussels (Tennessee pigtoe, Alabama heelsplitter, Cumberland moccasinshell and southern elktoe), and two plants (purple disk honeycomb head and Ocmulgee skullcap). Mapping instructional materials and technical support also will be available to agencies for use in conservation efforts. Details and sample maps can be viewed at https://georgiabiodiversity. a2hosted.com/StatusMaps.

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Redhorse Suckers
The Wildlife Conservation Section is keeping a close watch on six of Georgia's 24 species of sucker fish. The river redhorse is state-threatened and the robust and sicklefin redhorses are state-endangered. While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 2016 that federal listing of the sicklefin redhorse was not warranted, the robust redhorse is a federal species of concern and facing a status review and listing determination. All three species occupy large rivers, share similar life history patterns, such as performing longdistance annual spawning migrations, and are threatened by similar stressors.
Sicklefin redhorse was not recognized as a distinct species by the scientific community until 1991, and a formal description has yet to be published. The fish has a limited range of occurrence in the upper Tennessee River basin. In Georgia, it is found only in the Hiwassee River system in Towns County. Throughout the year the sicklefin redhorse uses a variety of habitats in large creeks and rivers, from overwintering in pools and runs near Hiwassee Reservoir in North Carolina to spawning in the rocky upper reaches of the Brasstown watershed.
In 2016, DNR and partners entered a Candidate Conservation Agreement centered on conserving the species. These agreements between stakeholders and the Fish and Wildlife Service pave the way for expanded monitoring and conservation of imperiled species. The sicklefin redhorse agreement was cited as a factor in the Fish and Wildlife Service's decision later that year that the species does not need federal listing.
In fiscal year 2018, Wildlife Conservation continued working with partners to conduct fyke net sampling for the species in Brasstown Creek and the Nottely River in Georgia and the Valley River in North Carolina. Fyke nets use side nets to funnel migrating fish into a central chamber, much like a weir. Waterways were sampled during the spring spawning migration. Captured fish were weighed, measured, marked with a uniquely numbered tag and released in their direction of travel. Tagged fish are monitored via Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) detection, using a handheld wand or a stationary array (i.e., an antenna buried in the stream and connected to a battery-powered tag reader on the bank).

DNR biologist Paula Marcinek with Ocmulgee River robust redhorse (Peter Dimmick/DNR)

The handheld wand allows researchers to identify fish collected by fyke net. The array records when tagged fish pass over the antenna.
Fyke net sampling in spring 2018 yielded 72 adult sicklefin redhorse, including seven recaptures from earlier years. Stationary arrays, set up at two places on Brasstown Creek and two on Valley River, registered 612 detections of 141 different sicklefin redhorse, including 107 tagged in previous years.
The robust redhorse's story begins much earlier than the sicklefin redhorse's. The robust redhorse was first described in 1869 from a single specimen and historically occurred in large Atlantic Slope rivers from the Altamaha River in Georgia to the Pee Dee River in North and South Carolina. Weighing upward of 20 pounds and living nearly 30 years, the robust redhorse is the largest and longest-lived sucker in the Southeast. It has specialized pharyngeal molars that allow it to crunch native mussels

and Asiatic clams. Though not preferred, robust redhorse also feed on other aquatic invertebrates, such as insect larvae and snails. Adults overwinter in the lower sections of rivers and migrate upstream to spawn in shoal and gravel bar habitat, always preferring the deepest available flowing habitat.
Despite its size and large spawning aggregations, this cryptic and hard-to-capture species was presumed extinct for more than 100 years: Its preferred spawning habitat had been inundated or blocked by dams and its name misapplied to a related sucker. Yet when DNR biologists conducting fish surveys in the Oconee River collected several robust redhorse in 1991, state, federal and industry officials recognized the ecological importance of the rediscovery and the potential impact on hydropower operations, especially if the species was federally listed.
The Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee, a group of stakeholders that includes state and

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federal agencies, public utilities and others, has directed research and recovery work since the early 1990s. Those efforts, ranging from Georgia to North Carolina, have included the nation's first Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for an aquatic species initiated to reintroduce robust redhorse into Georgia's Ocmulgee River and projects varying from rearing and stocking of fish to monitoring survival and recruitment of stocked and wild fish, enhancing spawning habitat, tracking fish by telemetry and studying population dynamics. Genetic analyses revealed that the species is comprised of three distinct groups, or evolutionary significant units (named by river basins as the Altamaha, Savannah and YadkinPee Dee units). These analyses are helping guide research.
Despite the extensive work, an apparent decline in the species resulted in a petition for Endangered Species Act listing, with a review expected in 2020. A competitive State Wildlife Grant awarded to Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina in 2016 is powering a three-year project to identify and implement management actions needed to ensure the species' survival across its range. Objectives include determining if known populations are self-sustaining, improving adaptive management for populations and implementing management actions to bolster conservation. Others involved with DNR and the states include Georgia Power, Georgia Southern University, UGA's Georgia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and agency and industry partners.
DNR has increased monitoring in Georgia, adding more habitat surveys, visual surveys during spawning season and electrofishing surveys. The agency's robust redhorse team is also working to improve management of range-wide data, prepare status reports and raise public awareness.
Surveys in calendar 2017 yielded no robust redhorse in the Ocmulgee, Oconee and Ogeechee rivers. The maximum number of fish observed spawning in the Broad and Savannah rivers were 14 and 204, respectively. Surveys in the Savannah indicated a range in sizes of adults, fueling hopes this population might be selfsustaining. Habitat surveys across all basins updated the list of possible spawning sites.

In fiscal 2018, partners prioritized sampling using information collected during 2017 surveys. They also applied knowledge gleaned from the 2012-2014 capture of juveniles in the lower Savannah, more than 130 miles downstream from the nearest known spawning site, to the Altamaha evolutionary significant unit. Beginning at the farthest downstream potential habitat near the salt wedge and targeting winter months when robust redhorse were most likely to be in the area, Wildlife Conservation staff spent several days surveying the lower Altamaha in Glynn County. Staff from Georgia Power and DNR's Fisheries Management Section, who were sampling for striped bass, pitched in to help work the wide river. However, no robust redhorse were caught, only striped bass.
In the spring, consistent rains and high flows washed out plans to check potential spawning habitat found during 2017 surveys on the Ocmulgee, Oconee and Broad. Instead, staff and partners focused on known spawning grounds. Still, heavy rains that resulted in poor water clarity precluded visual monitoring at most sites, and conditions allowed for only 10 days of surveys during the spawning window.
Visual surveys in the Broad did provide more evidence this stocked population is persisting, although perhaps not successfully reproducing or recruiting. At one site on the river, more than 15 robust redhorse were seen spawning. All were large adults, their sizes indicating they could have been stocked years earlier. During the winter, increased survey efforts at Clarks Hill Lake, an overwintering habitat for the Broad River population, found no robust redhorse.
Sidelined by wet weather, staff modified electrofishing equipment to sample hard-toreach areas, such as the shoals downstream of Juliette Dam on the Ocmulgee River. While this is a historic spawning area, robust redhorse have not been seen at the site in three years. Staff took advantage of a break in rain that yielded low flows from Lake Jackson to sample the shoals. Four adult robust redhorse three females and a male were caught and PITtagged. If they are caught again, these fish can be identified using a handheld wand. Genetic analyses of fin tissue samples from each can help verify recaptures and map the lineage of the species' evolutionary significant units.

Also during the spring spawning season, partners began a long-term population study of the Savannah unit. Funded by the competitive State Wildlife Grant and Georgia Power, the study involved collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, UGA's School of Veterinary Medicine and Georgia Southern. Partners and volunteers used a fyke net and seining to collect 18 adult robust redhorse from the spawning site. Only one was a female (other females were likely waiting in the deeper run while the males stood guard over the shallower spawning area targeted for sampling).
All 18 were PIT-tagged. Additional transmitters were surgically implanted in the female and the 10 healthiest males. Sporting a 10-year battery life, these transmitters emit a sonic ping that researchers hope will be detected by receiver arrays already used to track sturgeon and striped bass. On the Savannah, that array system stretches from the estuary to Augusta Shoals, the entire known range of the robust redhorse's Savannah evolutionary significant unit. Another tagging effort is planned for the 2019 spawning season. The study should not only deepen understanding of the species' life history and population dynamics, but also provide insight into the efficacy of a pending fish passage at New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam.
Other work in 2018 included raising public awareness and improving data management. After learning about several robust redhorse poaching incidents on the Savannah River, Wildlife Conservation installed "do not harvest" signs at public access points and collaborated with DNR game wardens to educate offenders. Staff worked with the Bowfishing Association of America to list robust redhorse as "do not harvest" on the organization's state records webpage. Staff also created and implemented a draft version of a range-wide database that, once completed, will help the Robust Redhorse Conservation Committee make research and management decisions.
Robust redhorse conservation will be a focus in fiscal 2019. Monitoring the Altamaha unit will include searching for new spawning sites in the Ocmulgee, visiting historic spawning sites in the Oconee, sampling for overwintering fish in the lower Altamaha and doing habitat and visual surveys on the Broad. In the Savannah, the visual monitoring and tagging study will continue.

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Plants and Natural Habitats

Rare Plant Surveys
Surveys are done throughout Georgia to identify and inventory locations of rare plants and provide guidance on appropriate management activities. This work is done by state botanists, sometimes with consultants, private landowners, photographers and members of botanical organizations.
During fiscal year 2018, a federal grant to survey high-quality hardwood ravines in central Georgia was completed. New sites for relict trillium, fringed campion and Ocmulgee skullcap were discovered on private and public lands. A new species of sessile-flowered trillium was described from hardwood slopes on Oaky Woods and Ocmulgee wildlife management areas in middle Georgia. The trillium was named Ocmulgee trillium and is known from only four sites. Another survey project for Ocmulgee skullcap started in fall 2017 has clarified that skullcap's taxonomy, updated the status of all known occurrences and recognized threats to the

species. These data will help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determine whether the species qualifies for federal listing.
Wildlife Conservation Section staff also conducted a third year of monitoring the status of largeflowered skullcap at five sites in northwest Georgia. The large-flowered skullcap is locally frequent and likely will be delisted when a few more sites are protected. Conservation management agreements are being developed to permanently protect select sites in the state.
Georgia aster remains a high-priority species for surveys and monitoring since it is part of a Candidate Conservation Plan. This showy, deeppurple aster has been reported from nearly 130 sites across 35 Georgia counties. Partners in the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance have set up permanent monitoring plots and work together each fall to collect data. Wildlife Conservation has established five plots on state lands. Managed through thinning the canopy and applying prescribed fire, the sites have seen significant increases in the number of flowering stems.

Surveys of new state land acquisitions and older properties found several significant plants of conservation concern. A new site for Georgia plume was discovered on Alligator Creek Wildlife Management Area near Lumber City. Also, a new occurrence for swamp post oak-Durand oak flatwoods was found on Horse Creek Wildlife Management Area near Jacksonville. At McDuffie Public Fishing Area near Dearing, botanists documented a relict sandhill longleaf-pine woodland with sandhill chaffhead, a rare member of the aster family that, in this case, is near the western extent of its range. Surveys of other public and private sites also yielded rare-species discoveries. These included southeastern bold goldenrod on a private blackland, or Black Belt, prairie in Houston County and American water pennywort, the first time this species had been documented in Georgia, on a spray cliff in the Blue Ridge mountains in Towns County.
Relocation and safeguarding of rare plants also continued. Safeguarding involves propagation by cuttings, seed or plants to ensure Georgia

Canby's dropwort wetland treated with prescribed fire (Lisa Kruse/DNR)

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material is available to enhance natural populations or establish new ones. Examples during fiscal 2018 included planting more plugs of tawny cottongrass in a bog on Sandhills West Wildlife Management Area near Butler, managing a powerline right of way featuring royal catchfly and salvaging Georgia asters and pink ladyslippers from highway construction sites. Wildlife Conservation helped Atlanta Botanical Garden staff outplant young Torreya saplings, a tree federally listed as endangered.
Often, public-private partnerships are critical to plant conservation, because most land in Georgia is privately owned. A significant example involves cypress savanna wetlands and their federally endangered inhabitant, Canby's dropwort. Of the 21 known occurrences of Canby's dropwort in Georgia, 18 are on private agricultural lands. Recovering and delisting this species, a lacy member of the carrot family, is a priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and DNR. Wildlife

Conservation staff have been implementing projects with the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service to protect and restore Canby's dropwort populations. Results include permanent protection for three dropwort populations on private property.
Restoration work in fiscal 2018 done through these partnerships included prescribed fire, thinning timber, controlling invasive species and removing hardwood shrubs on two private sites and at Big Dukes Pond Wildlife Management Area near Millen. The effects of wetland restoration on the ecosystems are being tracked through vegetation and water-quality monitoring at restored and reference sites.
Another important area for plant conservation is utility and highway rights of ways where remnant rare habitats persist in the opened areas. Communication with partners such as

Georgia Power and the Georgia Department of Transportation is critical to protecting these sites. Maintenance that is not well-planned or coordinated regarding the plants and habitats can have negative impacts. DNR and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have renewed their emphasis on improving data collection and communications regarding such sites. For example, in fiscal 2018 DNR updated records on the state's one known location of trailing meadow-rue, a delicate spring ephemeral that grows in a mature forest along Interstate 75 in northwest Georgia. Wildlife Conservation then worked with DOT to make sure the habitat was clearly marked and buffered in advance of a rights-of-way widening project.
Coastal Plain pitcherplant bogs also remained a special conservation concern. In fiscal 2018, botanists began a federally funded project to update DNR records of high-diversity bogs on private property, work that will enable the agency

Georgia aster (Linda May/DNR)

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Sweet pitcherplants thrive at Gordonia-Alatamaha State Park following prescribed fire (Lisa Kruse/DNR)

to prioritize conservation actions. That effort also led to checks of previously undocumented bogs. Additional rare plants were documented on private tracts in Brooks and Evans counties. These species included snowy orchid, small-flowered grass-pink and scale-leaf purple foxglove.
Well-managed pitcherplant bogs and nearby intact wiregrass uplands are especially rich in species of milkweed. In collaboration with the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, staff helped collect the seed of several milkweeds from these areas. Making propagated native milkweeds available in the nursery trade will promote the use of native plants for pollinator gardens and as host plants for monarch butterflies and many other insects.
Sandhills Conservation
Three competitive State Wildlife Grants in Georgia and other states have benefited sandhill and upland longleaf pine habitats that support gopher tortoises and other priority species. Efforts supported by the third grant continued in fiscal year 2018.

DNR received the first grant, for $1 million, in 2009 to work with Alabama, Florida and South Carolina on restoring high-priority sandhills. DNR and state wildlife agencies in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were awarded a $981,000 State Wildlife Grant in 2011 for additional habitat restoration on the targeted habitats. This work was called phase 2 of the original project. In fall 2015, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana began phase 3, using a competitive $500,000 grant awarded earlier that year.
In phase 1, which was completed at the end of fiscal 2013, all states exceeded their project goals and nearly tripled the original goal for overall acreage treated (95,000 acres treated vs. the 38,600 acres proposed). In phase 2, finished in fiscal 2015, restoration goals were again exceeded, with 76,666 acres treated versus the goal of 51,575. This work is expected to yield significant habitat benefits largely through improvements in herbaceous understory coverage for priority species such as the

gopher tortoise and northern bobwhite. Goals for phase 3, a three-year focus, include restoring or enhancing more than 33,000 acres of sandhill or upland longleaf habitat across the six states in the gopher tortoise's range.
Georgia has used phase 3 funds to:
n Hire a seasonal fire crew for two seasons in southeast Georgia.
n Plant longleaf pine seedlings at Townsend Wildlife Management Area near Ludowici, Alligator Creek Wildlife Management Area in Wheeler County and a private tract adjacent to Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area in Emanuel County.
n Contract with The Nature Conservancy for additional prescribed burning on priority lands in southeast Georgia.
DNR project leaders will easily exceed their phase 3 goals for prescribed burning and longleaf planting. Post-treatment monitoring of restoration sites is planned for fall 2018.

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Bog Restoration
Mountain bogs are one of the most critically endangered habitats in the Southern Appalachians. The bogs are usually small, from a half-acre to 5 acres, and associated with seeps, springs and small creeks. These early successional habitats support a variety of unique and imperiled flora and fauna, including the federally threatened bog turtle and swamp pink, possibly the state's rarest reptile and plant species, respectively. Other rare and stateprotected mountain bog plants include montane purple pitcherplant (petitioned for federal listing), broadleaf white meadowsweet, Carolina bog laurel, Canada burnet, Cuthbert's turtlehead and marsh bellflower.
For 24 years, the Wildlife Conservation Section has worked to restore mountain bogs independently and as a member of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, or GPCA. In fiscal year 2018, work continued to control woody competition, invasive plant species and feral hog damage, while also engineering smallscale hydrologic repairs and modifications at priority sites. The U.S. Forest Service helped

with extensive clearing using a Hot Shot fire crew contracted by The Nature Conservancy, plus interns from the Forest Service and Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Wildlife Conservation and the GPCA held workdays at six mountain bogs. A total of 50 volunteers were involved, although there were fewer workdays than in previous years because GPCA diverted resources to monitoring and stewardship of Georgia aster and smooth coneflower sites. The focus at mountain bogs this year, as well as in fiscal 2017, was installing "hog tent" exclosures to protect outplanting sites from feral hogs.
A grant from The Environmental Resources Network, friends group of Wildlife Conservation, will help the agency and Atlanta Botanical Garden pay for hog exclusion and eradication equipment and supplies. Complemented with U.S. Forest Service funding, the money will be used to buy, install and run two remotecontrolled hog corral traps, three trail cameras to monitor hogs at other mountain bogs, and building materials for 100 exclosures to protect outplantings.

Wildlife Conservation continued its participation in the Bog Learning Network, a consortium of scientists and land managers working to advance the restoration and management of Southern Appalachian bogs. Wildlife Conservation botanist Dr. J. Mincy Moffett Jr. and herpetologist Thomas Floyd serve on the network's steering committee, along with Carrie Radcliffe from Atlanta Botanical Garden. Assessing progress and developing Bog Learning Network goals and strategies were a major part of committee activities this year. The network also continued its Work and Learn Fun Field Day Series, in which professionals, volunteers and students learn about mountain bog botany, ecology and impacts from invasive plant species. The volunteers then provided hours of labor in tough, mucky conditions at a bog in Rabun County.
Bog restoration is not limited to the mountains. Georgia's Coastal Plain herbaceous bogs are small but rare jewels, another highest-priority habitat for rare plant conservation. These bogs face threats such as hydrologic disturbance, fire suppression and land development. Many species of southeastern Coastal Plain pitcherplant and orchid species found in these

Work day at a southeast Georgia bog (Lisa Kruse/DNR)

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bogs are safeguarded by GPCA partners, with corresponding habitat restoration projects.
One long-term focus is conserving the state's only known site for the Coastal Plain purple pitcherplant, in a bog complex in southeast Georgia. The complex is also home to four other protected plant species, a diverse suite that features unusual bog plants and even gopher tortoises. Work at the site has demonstrated the effectiveness of partnerships and consistent landowner outreach. Since 2006, ATV use has been reduced, prescribed fire applied and rare plant populations increased, all with the blessing of landowners and in concert with the Interagency Burn Team, GPCA, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Georgia Botanical Society and the Georgia Native Plant Society.
In 2018, work continued with Oconee River Land Trust toward permanent protection of one of the bog tracts. New prescribed fire agreements were reached with three other landowners. Also, a volunteer workday drew more than 25 people and cleared shrubs from the bog habitats.

Coastal Habitat and Plant Conservation
The Wildlife Conservation Section's focus on plant and habitat conservation and restoration along the Georgia coast ranged far and wide in fiscal year 2018. Staff led land protection efforts, including applying for land acquisition grants through the National Coastal Wetland Conservation Grant Program. These U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants have proved critical for conserving habitat on the Georgia coast in recent years. Applications were completed in 2018 for grants involving the acquisition of Cabin Bluff in Camden County and the Hasel Tract on St. Simons Island.
Wildlife Conservation biologists also worked in an advisory role to give input on management and research on high-priority coastal lands. As part of the Little St. Simons Island Ecological Advisory Council, staff helped make decisions concerning management and potential research projects on Little St. Simons. Staff also served

on the Cannon's Point Preserve Conservation Task Force and provided technical support to Cannon's Point, The Nature Conservancy and St. Simons Land Trust staff. This participation included reviewing potential research projects and evaluating threats to Cannon's Point conservation values.
Wildlife Conservation led efforts to complete a baseline easement documentation report for the Alapaha River Ranch property in Atkinson County. This easement contains high-quality sandhill, bottomland and isolated wetland communities that provide prime habitat for priority species, including the gopher tortoise and eastern indigo snake. Field surveys and documentation of conditions were used to develop the document.
Staff continued surveys for federally endangered hairy rattleweed. This plant is known from only two counties in southeast Georgia. Only one population on The Nature Conservancy's Lewis Tract easement is protected. Fiscal 2018 also featured the agency's renewed efforts to protect a second population of hairy rattleweed. Over the last two years, range-wide surveys have helped biologists understand the status of this species and how to prioritize its conservation.
Staff worked with the State Botanical Garden of Georgia to grow hartwrightia plants from seed. Hartwrightia is petitioned for federal listing. Seeds were collected in 2015 and 2016 from one of the largest remaining populations at an unprotected site in Charlton County and grown by Botanical Garden staff. The plants were outplanted in a pitcherplant bog at Laura S. Walker State Park in Ware County in late 2017. As of summer 2018, they were thriving. Wildlife Conservation and park staff are managing the bog and plan to outplant more hartwrightia.
In summer 2017, Wildlife Conservation began fine-scale habitat mapping of wildlife management areas in the lower Altamaha River corridor. This inventory and mapping effort will help complete a management plan for the WMAs. Fine-scale habitat maps for Sansavilla, Penholoway Swamp, Griffin Ridge, Townsend, Clayhole Swamp, Altama Plantation and Altamaha WMAs were created. Extensive field surveys and GIS digitizing were done to complete the maps. These inventories turned up more than 100 new rare-plant occurrences and many

Hartwrightia (Alan Cressler)

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Monarch caterpillar on sandhills milkweed (Amy Schuler) Butterfly milkweed at Altama Plantation WMA (Eamonn Leonard/DNR)

rare habitats. The work is critical to developing the lower Altamaha corridor management plan and will inform restoration efforts for years to come. In related work, Wildlife Conservation staff conducted surveys and mapped habitats at Alligator Creek Wildlife Management Area, providing information that will help shape the management plan for this property near Lumber City, as well as the Rist Tract, a potential conservation property on the lower Altamaha.
Wildlife Conservation finalized a project working with Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay to update habitat maps and survey known rare-plant and invasive species occurrences on the base in St. Marys. In winter 2017-18, staff established vegetation monitoring transects in fire-maintained habitats and areas that may be affected by rising sea levels.

The agency collaborated with the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and Atlanta Botanical Garden on a project to conserve and promote native milkweeds in southeast Georgia. The focus is host plants for monarch butterflies. Staff created a mapping application and trained volunteers to help collect data. Several new populations of milkweed species were discovered and seeds collected for propagation. Finding local seed sources is vital to promote planting of native milkweeds in the coastal region. This project is aimed at bolstering the availability of native milkweeds for plant enthusiasts and for increasing populations on conservation lands.
Staff participated in a University of Ottawa study exploring regional stable isotope signatures in host plants for monarch butterflies. Samples of butterfly milkweed from Penholoway WMA

and sandhills milkweed from Altama Plantation WMA were sent to the university. Adult monarchs that arrive in Canada in late spring and summer will be sampled to decipher the plant species they fed on as caterpillars. This research will help identify the relative importance of regional habitat to migrating monarchs.
Wildlife conservation staff also held a workshop with Monarch Joint Venture's Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program at Altama Plantation. This project is monitoring monarchs and evaluating habitat to guide conservation. The nationwide habitat monitoring program is linked with a network of citizens, biologists, resource managers, students, landowners and other conservationists. The importance of monarch habitat in Georgia is unknown: This project could help fill that data gap.

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Vegetation Monitoring
Because of its importance in informing sound conservation and management, monitoring is essential to implementing Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan. To meet plan goals, the Wildlife Conservation Section has incorporated habitat and vegetation monitoring in several ongoing projects. Monitoring is key to tracking changes in habitat and measuring biological diversity and habitat suitability for rare wildlife species. Quantifying changes that result from the agency's rare-species and habitatrestoration efforts will help gauge the success of conservation actions.
Wildlife Conservation's work in this realm in fiscal year 2018 included monitoring restoration efforts, sea-level rise in coastal marsh habitats and management with an emphasis on gopher tortoise habitat at Altama Plantation Wildlife Management Area in Glynn County. Ongoing habitat monitoring also tracks a mix of rareplant restoration projects. Examples include the restoration of Black Belt prairies at Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area near Perry, open oak

savanna at Dawson Forest Wildlife Management Area near Dawsonville, cypress savanna at Big Dukes Pond Wildlife Management Area near Millen and pitcherplant bogs at Doerun Pitcherplant Bog Wildlife Management Area near Doerun.
Staff also worked with St. Simons Land Trust to complete this year's vegetation monitoring for a maritime forest restoration project on Cannon's Point Preserve. The research, a collaboration between the St. Simons preserve and researchers from Purdue University and New Mexico State University, is documenting the effects of weed control and deer exclusion on live oak plantings in research plots. The goal: develop plans for restoring live oak maritime forests along the coast.
Wildlife Conservation continued a vegetation monitoring project in fire-maintained uplands at Altama Plantation. The focus is determining the effects of management methods on longleaf pine restoration sites at the WMA. Those methods include prescribed fire, tree thinning and planting longleaf. Gopher tortoises are a focus of restoration at Altama Plantation. Monitoring will help determine if management is improving habitats they and other priority species need.

Prescribed Fire
Prescribed fire is one of the most effective tools for conserving and restoring fire-adapted habitats and helping numerous species of conservation concern. While DNR uses other land-management techniques to improve natural habitats on state lands such as removing invasive species, planting native species and thinning timber prescribed fire is the most vital. It is a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health and reduce the risk of wildfire.
The acreage of prescribed burns on lands managed by DNR has surged from 40,786 acres in 2009 to 61,937 acres in fiscal year 2018. Wildlife Conservation Section has played a significant role in that increase.
Fiscal year 2018 proved a good year for fire, about as good as fiscal 2017 was bad, when approximately 39,500 acres were burned on DNRmanaged lands. The year began wet and finished moderately dry. On the heels of the previous dry year, crews lagging far behind their acreage goals welcomed the wet beginning and began burning units with heavy or "duffy" fuel loads. By

DNR-MANAGED ACRES BURNED 2009 - 2018
2018 proved a good year for prescribed fire, wet at the start and moderately dry at the end.* *Totals by fiscal year

40,786 41,533 52,889 42,739 54,120 57,555 56,773 60,636 39,477 61,937
Prescribed fire restoring Sansavilla WMA (Garrett Anderson/DNR)

70,000 60,000 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

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February 2018, some crews had completed their annual goals for these types of burns and turned in additional burn plans, targeting acres that had been planned for 2017 but had not been burned. As these goals were reached, the weather became drier, perfect for burning grasslands, sandhills and hardwoods. The net result: Much of the ground lost for fire in fiscal 2017 was regained in 2018, with some crews setting burn records for acreages.
As a member of the Interagency Burn Team, Wildlife Conservation worked with the Georgia Forestry Commission, The Longleaf Alliance, The Nature Conservancy, The Orianne Society, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Staff also teamed with other Wildlife Resources Division sections and DNR's State Parks and Historic Sites Division, as well as volunteers trained to National Wildfire Coordinating Group standards. This collaboration proved essential in getting those acres burned. In return, Interagency Burn Team partners played a key role in Wildlife Conservation fire management.

n Seasonal Fire Crews
Since 2009, seasonal fire crews have carried out the bulk of the Wildlife Conservation Section's prescribed fires. Always on call and working statewide, members have helped improve efficiency each year, although the number of acres burned fluctuates annually according to the weather.
For the fifth year, Wildlife Conservation had two seasonal fire crews, one housed in southeastern Georgia at Moody Forest Wildlife Management Area near Baxley and the other in west-central Georgia at Sandhills West Wildlife Management Area near Butler. These crews typically work independently of each other: The west-central crew focuses on the Fall Line sandhills and Pine Mountain regions; the southeast crew on properties across the Coastal Plain.
The southeast Georgia crew was funded by a multistate sandhills grant focused on highpriority sandhills and gopher tortoise habitat (also see: Sandhills Conservation). This is one

DNR crew after Tallulah Gorge prescribed burn (Hal Massie/DNR)

of many State Wildlife Grants that support conservation priorities in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan. Funding from the Georgia Ornithological Society, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a State Wildlife Grant for habitat restoration supported the west-central Georgia crew.
The west-central crew had a record year, burning just shy of 15,000 acres. Significant burns included helicopter-ignited operations on Chattahoochee Fall Line, West Point, Big Lazer and Sprewell Bluff wildlife management areas and Tallulah Gorge State Park in Tallulah Falls. Smaller burns proved more difficult and included several days of burning at Sweetwater Creek State Park. Burns totaling about 100 acres at the Lithia Springs park were bracketed by busy roads and industrial parks. The first two restoration fires on Black Belt prairies at Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area near Perry a small area loaded with rare plants and challenging to burn took place in fiscal 2018. About 750 acres of recently acquired land at Sprewell Bluff and Sandhills wildlife management areas and 450 acres of the new Camp Lawhorn Voluntary Program Access, which included old-growth longleaf pine, also were burned.
In other work, crew members cleared exotic species from about 80 acres of woodlands, removed sand pine from 200 acres newly added to Sandhills WMA, collected and cleaned the seed of groundcover plants (the seed will be used to restore groundcover), maintained three campgrounds at Sprewell Bluff, mapped roads on new acquisitions and held a chainsaw class.
The southeast Georgia crew continued working closely with seasonal fire crews from The Nature Conservancy and The Orianne Society. They also helped DNR's Game Management Section on many burns along the coast. The fiscal 2018 crew was the most experienced to date. Three members were able to hone their fire-line leadership skills and advance in their task books. The crew leader attended Crew Boss Academy and completed his engine boss and firing boss task books. Two other members joined Wildlife Conservation from what is being called the DNR "farm team" The Nature Conservancy's seasonal fire crew at Moody Forest. Both finished their FFT1 squad boss task books. The crew also helped mentor the State

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Seasonal fire crew leader Marylou Moore lights line at Sandhills WMA (Hal Massie/DNR)

Parks and Historic Sites Division's AmeriCorps crew and The Nature Conservancy's southeast Georgia fire crew.
One highlight for Wildlife Conservation's southeast crew was reintroducing fire in parts of Altama Plantation that had not been burned for decades. The WMA is adjacent to Interstate 95 in Glynn County, and burn operations require east winds for two to three consecutive days for smoke management during and after a prescribed fire (it can take several days for smoldering debris to be consumed). These conditions occurred an uncommon number of times in fiscal 2018, allowing burns on more units closer to I-95 than ever. Units burned for the first time in 2017's dormant season were burned again in 2018's growing season, resulting in excellent fire effects, especially where the hardwood component was unnaturally high.
The annual goal for Altama Plantation is burning 703 acres a year, or roughly a third of the burnable acres. Fiscal 2017 ended with a 549acre deficit at Altama. But the agency surpassed the annual goal for 2018 by burning 1,063 acres

which covered the previous year's deficit and provided a 206-acre surplus going into fiscal 2019. That "pad" offers site managers some flexibility to burn smaller, more challenging units in the coming year.
Dramatic habitat improvements are expected at Altama, and it is anticipated these units will burn more effectively under normal conditions in the future. Burn operations are transforming the landscape on a WMA rated high in conservation value and public visibility.
Other high-priority sites treated with prescribed fire by Wildlife Conservation included Wildlife Resources Division-managed lands such as Alapaha River, Big Lazar Creek, Chickasawhatchee, Clayhole Swamp, Dawson Forest, Doerun Pitcherplant Bog, Sandhills East and West, Joe Kurz, Mayhaw, Moody Forest, Ohoopee Dunes, Penholoway Swamp, Sapelo Island, Sansavilla, Silver Lake and Townsend wildlife management areas. Some sites, such as Alapaha River WMA, did not receive as much fire in 2018 because timber stands were being improved through thinning, another important management method.

n Partners, Training and New Frontiers
As noted, the agency worked with the Interagency Burn Team on several burns. This included tracts owned or managed by The Nature Conservancy and Orianne Society, as well as tracts on Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge and the Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests. Rare species habitat on private lands also benefitted from this partnership.
Wildlife Conservation is heavily involved, as well, with the DNR State Parks and Historic Sites' burn program. This past season, Wildlife Conservation staff helped with burns totaling 1,962 acres and involving six parks. Natural habitats were improved across the state, from longleaf forest at Seminole State Park near Bainbridge and xeric longleaf pine/ turkey oak sandhills at George L. Smith State Park in the Coastal Plain to grasslands at Panola Mountain State Park in the Piedmont and rare table mountain pine communities at Tallulah Gorge in the mountains. Also, thanks to the southeast Georgia fire crew's depth of experience, multiple units at Reed Bingham State Park near Adel were burned

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Tallulah Gorge prescribed fire at night (Philip Juras)

in one day. These burns helped many species identified as high priorities for conservation in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan.
As sites transition from restoration to maintenance, Wildlife Conservation and the Wildlife Resources Division have been able to conduct more growing-season burns. These ecological burns have a profound impact on species, restoring the natural balance in fire-adapted ecosystems by reducing hardwood competition and increasing native grasses and forbs. DNR has placed greater emphasis on growing-season burns. Totals increased from 151 acres in 2003 to 28,141 acres burned after March 1 in fiscal 2018 (in previous years, the dormant season cutoff was April 1.) The Nature Conservancy has played a significant role in this effort.
Wildlife Conservation staff in southwest Georgia took part in 3,200 acres of controlled burns on region wildlife management areas, including 783 acres of growing-season burns. This work directly benefited 27 red-cockaded woodpecker groups on Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area near Bainbridge and five groups at River Creek, the Rolf and Alexandra Kauka Wildlife Management Area near Thomasville. Growing-season burns at Silver Lake targeted longleaf pine stands with extensive native groundcover. Wiregrass and other native grass seed will be harvested in these stands in late 2018. (Growing-season burns prime areas for grass-seed harvest that fall.)

The success of the Longleaf Alliance in winning grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Longleaf Stewardship Fund continued. The alliance, which helps coordinate partnerships to restore and manage longleaf pine forests, realized more than $1 million in funding through fiscal 2018. The grants have supported fire management positions at Wildlife Conservation, including its seasonal fire crew and a new technician to help manage Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area. This WMA near Swainsboro tripled in size in fiscal 2018, creating more management opportunities.
The Interagency Burn Team saw success in its training partnerships, efforts in which Wildlife Conservation often takes a lead role. Fiscal 2018 was a banner year for fire training. Partners held three Basic Wildland Firefighter academies and trained 60 people, including five seasonal fire crews from three agencies.
Wildland chainsaw safety training and ATV safety training also were offered. Wildlife Conservation teamed with the Interagency Burn Team to hold RT130 Annual Fire Refreshers at seven events, training 219 wildland firefighters. State Parks and Historic Sites had a key role, too, playing host for most of these trainings at no charge. Refresher training is tailored each year to cover current issues in fire that are relevant to DNR and other Burn Team members.

Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance
The Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, or GPCA, is an innovative network of 49 public gardens, government agencies, academic institutions, utility companies and environmental organizations committed to preserving Georgia's endangered flora. Formed in 1995 with the Wildlife Conservation Section as a charter member, the GPCA initiates and coordinates efforts to protect natural habitats and endangered species through biodiversity management, public education and rare plant propagation and outplanting (i.e., safeguarding).
The GPCA updated its mission statement in fiscal year 2018 to formally acknowledge its role and importance to Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan. The group has been instrumental in developing and implementing the plant conservation portion of the plan since 2005. Member organizations are engaged in recovery projects for 101 imperiled plant species. Of these, 99 are in safeguarding programs at botanical gardens, arboreta and seed banks. Forty-nine have been reintroduced successfully into the wild. GPCA has 11 safeguarding partner institutions that hold and manage ex-situ collections for recovery and study.
GPCA contributions to plant conservation have totaled an estimated $2.3 million in direct and indirect support since the alliance's start. More than $1.75 million came from non-DNR members supporting priority species and habitats identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan. A large part of the contributions came from GPCA trained volunteers called botanical guardians.
In 2018, GPCA continued to expand its influence within the wildlife conservation community and export the GPCA model to regional and national audiences. Alliances were established in Kentucky and Mississippi, increasing to seven the number of alliances in the southeastern U.S. modeled after GPCA. An alliance has also been formed in Pennsylvania.
Presentations on the structure, accomplishments and inspirational role of the alliance were delivered to the Southeastern Grasslands Initiative Summit at Austin Peay State University and the American Public Gardens Association's National Plant Conservation Symposium at the

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New England Wildflower Society. At the national meeting of the Center for Plant Conservation, held at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, botanical luminary and Missouri Botanical Garden President Emeritus Peter Raven praised GPCA's successful reintroduction work involving the smooth coneflower. "This is exactly the work we should all be doing," Raven said.
Several initiatives of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia supported by the GPCA and DNR saw new developments or progress this year. The Georgia Milkweed Initiative produced the popular Milkweeds for Georgia brochure. detailing the ecologically ethical approach to milkweed production for benefiting monarch butterflies. The Connect to Protect program, which focuses on building small pollinator gardens in public and urban settings to inform people and connect fragmented landscapes, installed a dozen more gardens, raising the total statewide to 34.
GPCA expanded its membership this year, adding Elachee Nature Science Center in Gainesville, Gordon State College in Barnesville, White Oak Pastures in Bluffton and Woodlands Garden in Decatur.

State Lands Projects
Grasslands and their associated wildlife species are one of the most endangered habitats in Georgia. Many wildlife management areas have historic grasslands that have been degraded or once had grasslands but they have been eliminated. Native grass restoration usually involves direct seeding with seed drills or planting grass plugs. Both methods are costly and timeconsuming. The Wildlife Conservation Section is trying to establish techniques to restore native grasslands on large acreages by broadcasting seed in ways that replicate natural seed dispersal.
In fall 2017, native grass seed was collected in high-quality native groundcover sites at Silver Lake Wildlife Management Area near Bainbridge and broadcast over 60 acres of old-field planted pines at River Creek, the Rolf and Alexandra Kauka Wildlife Management Area near Thomasville. This effort to establish grasses within these stands is being evaluated.
Also in fiscal year 2018, a 350-acre longleaf pine restoration project on Townsend Wildlife

Connect to Protect planter at Oconee County Elementary (Shannon Montgomery/UGA)

Management Area near Ludowici was completed. The project began in 2016 with herbicide treatment targeting dense hardwoods that resprouted after loblolly and sand pines had been harvested on the site. Longleaf seedlings in containers were hand-planted during the winter. The site is part of an ancient dune system that runs north of and parallel to the Altamaha River, nestled between the river floodplain on the southern edge and flatwoods to the north. The area is a high-priority site for gopher tortoise conservation. Wildlife Conservation also is hopeful that through habitat restoration and reintroduction of prescribed fire, the site can again be a winter refugium for nearby eastern indigo snake populations.
Ginseng Management
The export of American ginseng is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement administered in America by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In Georgia, ginseng exports are authorized by that agency in concert with the Georgia Ginseng Protection Act of 1979.
To have a legal ginseng trade, the Fish and Wildlife Service requires Georgia to maintain a ginseng management program that ensures compliance with federal and state regulations. The objective is to prevent this perennial forest herb from becoming endangered because of trade. Demand for ginseng is high in natural medicinal markets and in Asian medicine.
The Wildlife Conservation Section administers the Georgia Ginseng Management Program, which monitors the harvest and sale of ginseng. Staff work with ginseng dealers, growers, the DNR Wildlife Resources Division's Game Management Section and DNR's Law Enforcement Division to make ginseng regulation, and meeting those regulations, transparent and simple.
In calendar 2017, the dealer-reported wild ginseng harvest in Georgia increased 29 percent from 2016, with dealers reporting a harvest totaling 132.5 pounds dry weight. This is lower than the 10-year average harvest of about 300 pounds dry weight. On average, dealers paid $542 a pound for Georgia-harvested ginseng, $40 more than in 2016.

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Monarch butterfly (Alan Cressler)

In 2017, Georgia's ginseng program had benefited from a $65,000 grant from the Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Plant Conservation, a North Carolina nonprofit. The grant recognized DNR Law Enforcement efforts regarding ginseng regulations. In summer 2018, Wildlife Conservation used these funds to begin a conservation status survey of wild ginseng in Georgia, the first such assessment in the state since the 1990s. Populations of wild ginseng face many pressures, including legal harvest, poaching, consumption by deer and habitat degradation. Knowing how these populations are doing will help determine the sustainability of Georgia's ginseng trade. Early results indicate that ginseng may be in decline in the state.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is leading an effort to increase communication among state and

Ginseng (Alan Cressler) Suwanee alligator snapper documented in Big Turtle Year (Dirk J. Stevenson)

tribal ginseng programs. In fiscal year 2018, DNR increased its engagement with this community. Georgia ginseng program manager Lisa Kruse took part in working groups that are making recommendations for biological monitoring and outreach priorities regarding wild ginseng.
The cultivated ginseng trade is not significant in Georgia overall, but cultivated ginseng is encouraged in the state as one strategy to relieve pressure on wild populations. Most of the ginseng harvested in the U.S. is exported to China, although local interest in Georgia ginseng for personal use has increased. Georgia is at the southern edge of the plant's distribution, and the trade is much smaller here than in nearby states such as North Carolina and Kentucky. Ginseng exports in those states total millions of dollars a year.

Biotics Database
The Wildlife Conservation Section manages the NatureServe Biotics database, the state's most comprehensive database of occurrences of rare species and natural communities. Data in Biotics are used for many purposes, including environmental site reviews, conservation planning, scientific research, habitat restoration and management plan development. The database has more than 17,000 occurrence records for rare species in the state and provides web access to details on occurrences of special-concern species and significant natural communities.
During fiscal year 2018, Wildlife Conservation added 528 elemental occurrence records and edited 1,376 existing ones. Significant efforts were made to update information on species proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Many species are under federal review, and updating database records allows for a more accurate species-review process.
Funded in part by an agreement with the Georgia Department of Transportation, staff also responded to 629 formal requests for sitespecific data. Lists of rare and protected plants, animals and natural communities are available to the public at www.georgiabiodiversity.org. The page links to accounts featuring species identification, natural history, survey recommendations and Georgia status ranks. Species locations are available to the public by county, watershed and quarter quad.

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Fringed campion (Alan CreSssCleAri)ntern Sean Kelly with flathead catfish on Satilla (Eamonn Leonard/DNR)

Invasive Species

Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan emphasizes increasing efforts to detect, monitor and control invasive species to conserve native wildlife and their habitats. Invasive species are nonnative animals and plants that are introduced, intentionally or accidentally, into areas outside their natural ranges and cause environmental or economic harm. Invasives have negative impacts on native wildlife and represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity. Controlling and treating these species can yield positive, cascading effects for native wildlife and for the benefits people derive from ecosystems.
After the Georgia Invasive Species Strategy was completed in 2009, the Wildlife Conservation Section sought State Wildlife Grants to implement invasive species assessment and management programs, with a focus on the coastal region. The current project is aimed at enhancing methods for assessing and controlling invasive non-native species on public and other conservation lands. Objectives also include providing land managers

better technical and information resources to help control invasives, along with promoting the appropriate use of native plant species by public and private land managers.
In coastal Georgia, during fiscal year 2018 Wildlife Conservation staff:
n Continued a multiyear project to eradicate common reed from the Altamaha River delta. Work has been expanded to Camden County and near DNR's Coastal Regional Headquarters in Brunswick.
n Helped lead the Coastal Georgia Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area. Formed in 2012, this alliance of federal, state, nonprofit and private groups is focused on managing invasive species in the 11-county coastal area. The steering committee has representatives from Wildlife Conservation, DNR Fisheries Management Section, DNR's Coastal Resources and State Parks and Historic Sites divisions,

The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Parks Service, Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Georgia Power, Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Ports Authority, Little St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island Authority, Georgia Forestry Commission and the University of Georgia's Cooperative and Marine extensions.
n Hired two Student Conservation Association interns and bought herbicide and other supplies, using National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funding awarded to the Invasive Species Management Area. This marked the fifth year that interns have been used for the organization's work. Supervised by Wildlife Conservation, the interns spent 15 weeks helping partners in the 11 coastal counties target sand pine, salt cedar, apple snails, common reed, Chinese tallow, tree of Heaven, big-leaf lantana, wisteria, flathead catfish, Chinese privet and Japanese climbing fern.

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Habitat restoration benefiting Radford's mint (Alan Cressler)

n With National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funding, continued an invasive species management cost-share program for private landowners. The 50-percent reimbursement helps landowners control salt cedar, sand pine, common reed, Chinese tallow and water hyacinth.
n Worked with Coastal Resources to map salt cedar in the mouth of the Altamaha delta via drone technology that will make monitoring treatment sites for invasives more feasible. Flights will be done annually to track success and determine if other management is needed.
n Teamed with Kingsland and Pooler residents on awareness, assessment and removal of apple snails.
n Continued a multiyear effort to restore habitat for one of the world's two known populations of Radford's mint. Volunteers helped plant donated longleaf pines where invasive sand pines had been clear-cut. The goal: safeguard the mint species while converting sand pine stands to longleaf.
n Partnered with Coastal WildScapes, a nonprofit group that promotes gardening with natives, to increase volunteer opportunities to collect native seed and identify and remove invasives. Staff also joined with Jekyll Island

Authority to grow native plants from seeds collected by volunteers and offer the plants during two public plant sales.
n Created a native plant pollinator garden in a restored 1930s-era formal garden at Altama Plantation Wildlife Management Area near Brunswick. The plants were either grown and donated by Coastal WildScapes or bought with a $500 award from the nonprofit. Wildlife Conservation led the restoration. The garden is treasured by many locals and helps promote native plants and Altama Plantation's ecological value.
n As in past years, worked with the Cannon's Point Conservation Task Force to manage invasive species according to the preserve's management plan.
n Communicated with the First Coast Invasive Working Group in northeast Florida to stay abreast of novel invasive species in the north Florida and south Georgia coastal region.
n Helped Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay survey for invasives and provided management recommendations. Engagement with the base is a crucial first line of defense against invasive species that might be expanding north from Florida.

Biologist Eamonn Leonard served as vice chairman of the Savannah Pest Risk Committee, which addresses pest occurrences at the Savannah and Brunswick ports. Members include the Georgia Ports Authority, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, DNR, Georgia Forestry Commission and state Department of Agriculture. The potential for introducing invasive species through trade activities at U.S. ports is significant.
In middle Georgia:
n Fire crews cleared about 95 acres of invasive autumn olive and Chinese privet at Panola Mountain State Park near Stockbridge. This site is part of a larger effort to restore grassland and woodland bird habitats in the park (also see: Grassland Birds). The crews also removed Paulownia, Chinaberry and tree of Heaven from about 500 acres planned for longleaf pine restoration at Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area near Thomaston.
n Wildlife Conservation eradicated Japanese climbing fern from many spots at Sprewell Bluff. Middle Georgia is on the leading edge of this species' spread. New infestations show up each year. The start of most at Sprewell Bluff apparently involved logging equipment or vehicles. If caught early, the fern is easily controlled. Once populations are established, eradication ranges from difficult to almost impossible. In fiscal 2018, Wildlife Conservation began a research project exploring chemical types, rates and timing to control climbing fern.
n At Sandhills Wildlife Management Area near Butler, staff finished their fifth year of using herbicides to control showy rattlebox. The WMA has two tracts. Crews have eradicated showy rattlebox from Sandhills West and are working on Sandhills East.
n Wildlife Conservation is also trying to control or eradicate beefsteak plant on about 80 acres at Panola and about 10 at Sprewell Bluff.
During fiscal 2018, staff gave talks to groups varying from garden clubs and Audubon chapters to forestry experts and nonprofits such as Coastal WildScapes about identifying invasive species, emerging threats, native plant alternatives, resilient native plants and connections between invasives and birds.

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Private Lands

Purple honeycomb flowering at Canoochee Bogs (Lisa Kruse/DNR)

Working with Landowners
With more than 90 percent of Georgia lands in private ownership, conservation on private land is crucial to wildlife and natural communities in the state. The Wildlife Conservation Section worked with landowners throughout Georgia in fiscal year 2018 (also see: Conservation Acquisitions and Easements).
Staff answered landowner questions and visited sites to give management advice. Landowners were advised of cost-share and grant opportunities and guided through procedures for using programs such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Environmental Quality Incentives, Conservation Stewardship, National Water Quality Initiative, Wetlands Reserve Easements and Working Lands for Wildlife programs, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Partners for Wildlife.
Wildlife Conservation also:

n Worked with the American Tree Farm's Georgia program to raise awareness of Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan among Tree Farm inspectors in the state.
n Provided threatened and endangered species training to loggers and others at quarterly Master Timber Harvester events. The training covers how timber harvesting affects wildlife habitat. Staff also served on the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee and its Private Landowner Outreach Subcommittee. Other education activities included training sessions at Southeastern Wood Producers workshops and individually with companies.
n Took part in the Mountain Longleaf Local Implementation Team's strategic planning. The team is one of 17 across the longleaf's historical range in nine states working through America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative to increase longleaf from 3.4 million to 8 million acres.

n Participated in Natural Resources Conservation Service State Technical Committee meetings to identify wildlife priorities relevant to Farm Bill programs for private landowners. Staff cooperated, as well, with the Private Lands Program of DNR Wildlife Resources Division's Game Management Section and the Natural Resources Conservation Service in coordinating four temporary biologist positions stationed at Natural Resources Conservation Service field offices in Blakely, Douglas, Swainsboro and McDonough. These biologists work with landowners to implement federal agency programs aimed at restoring and managing longleaf pine systems. Those efforts include the Working Lands for Wildlife initiative targeting gopher tortoises and other conservation needs for priority species and habitats.
Along with Game Management and State Parks and Historic Sites personnel, staff visited DNR-held conservation easements to ensure compliance and strengthen relationships with landowners.

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2017 Forestry for Wildlife Partners

Forestry for Wildlife Partnership
The Wildlife Conservation Section has a strong role in the DNR Wildlife Resources Division's Forestry for Wildlife Partnership. This voluntary program encourages conservation of wildlife habitat on corporate forestlands in Georgia and provides public access to privately owned wildlife management areas for hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking and camping.
The Forestry for Wildlife Partners for calendar year 2017 were CatchMark Timber Trust, Georgia Power and Weyerhaeuser.
These corporations participating in Forestry for Wildlife are among the largest landowners in Georgia, directly affecting wildlife habitat on about 1 million acres. Coordinated by Game Management and Wildlife Conservation Section biologists, this public-private partnership provides opportunities to enhance wildlife conservation on these lands and benefits companies with recognition for their conservation achievements. Companies are evaluated on conservation planning, education and outreach, management, sensitive sites and rarespecies concerns, recreation and partnerships.
Conservation targets include red-cockaded woodpecker habitat, bald eagle and swallowtailed kite nests, isolated wetlands critical to

protected reptiles and amphibians, and remnant Coosa Valley prairies, home to endangered plants. The partnerships also provide the public with opportunities to enjoy the outdoors through wildlife viewing, hunting and fishing. Partners are committed to Sustainable Forestry Initiative goals, ensuring their forest managers and loggers complete the Master Timber Harvester workshop and continue their education to maintain certification or designation.
Here are some highlights of Forestry for Wildlife Partners' conservation efforts.
Weyerhaeuser is an original member of the program. The company is committed to Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards and integrates conservation into its forests. Conserving gopher tortoises is a key initiative. Weyerhaeuser focuses management for this iconic species on preferred soils with viable populations and helps Wildlife Conservation survey tortoises. Through these surveys, Weyerhaeuser is learning more about tortoise populations on its lands. The company also is working with DNR, the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, the University of Georgia, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to better understand how tortoises respond to the shifting mosaic of suitable habitat on working forestlands. The work in Georgia is part of a larger effort to research tortoise ecology across the company's managed lands in the Southeast.

Weyerhaeuser is also managing several unique ecological areas in northwest Georgia, including the Coosa Valley Prairie property (permanently protected under a conservation easement held by The Nature Conservancy); a cave that is home to a bachelor colony of gray bats, federally listed as endangered; and rock outcrops that shelter the cliff-dwelling green salamander.
In the Piedmont, Weyerhaeuser has teamed with the University of Georgia and Auburn University to explore the effects of forest thinning, prescribed fire and herbicides on plant communities. Although this work, funded by DNR, is centered on conserving northern bobwhites, findings will help inform managers about the ability of these stands to maintain "open pine" conditions important to numerous species. Weyerhaeuser also cooperates in annual bait station surveys for black bears in central Georgia.
In the lower Coastal Plain, efforts continue with Wildlife Conservation on projects, including managing Henslow's sparrow habitat and wood stork rookeries, conserving isolated wetlands, and protecting swallow-tailed kite nesting areas. In southwest Georgia, the company works with DNR to survey federally endangered hairy rattleweed, an endemic plant known worldwide from only two Georgia counties.

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Georgia Power, the third-largest private landowner in Georgia, carefully manages its undeveloped land for multiple benefits, such as public recreation, timber production and conservation of rare species. Prescribed fire is applied to more than 6,000 acres each year. More than 20,000 acres are open for public recreation as DNR wildlife management areas (Blanton Creek, Rum Creek and Oconee WMAs).
The company is restoring longleaf pine habitat in support of landscape conservation goals and participates in DNR's Safe Harbor program for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers (also see: Red-cockaded Woodpeckers). Georgia Power manages gopher tortoise habitat at plants Hatch and Vogtle and is a participant in the statewide Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative and the multistate Candidate Conservation Agreement for the eastern population of gopher tortoises, a candidate for federal listing. Tortoises and their burrows are protected during timber harvest on company lands, as are several bald eagle nests.
Georgia Power is developing a Habitat Conservation Plan for gray, Indiana and northern long-eared bats, all federally protected species. As mitigation for potential construction impacts on forested habitat, favorable forest management practices including maintaining travel corridors, foraging openings and roost trees are being implemented at four properties within the ranges of these species. Forest management practices are also used on properties in the Altamaha River basin to enhance water quality and benefit mussels of conservation concern as part of a Candidate Conservation Agreement.
Georgia Power lands and transmission rights of way provide habitat for several species of rare plants, including nine federally listed as threatened or endangered. A Chattahoochee River tract has designated critical habitat for Georgia rockcress. Drummond Swamp at Plant Bowen in Euharlee provides habitat for the world's only known population of Georgia alder. Georgia Power participates with other partners in a Candidate Conservation Agreement for Georgia aster, a wildflower that had been a candidate for federal listing and that grows well in transmission rights of way.
Conservation and wildlife habitat improvements by CatchMark Timber Trust in fiscal 2018 included:

Barking treefrog (Linda May/DNR)

n Supporting a conservation easement on newly acquired Townsend property. This includes coordinating with DNR to make the 4,000 acres available for recreation and research as part of Townsend Wildlife Management Area near Ludowici, and continuing protection of natural areas covered by the easement.
n Working with Wildlife Conservation to provide access to properties in Long, Brantley and McIntosh counties for annual surveys for swallow-tailed kite nests. CatchMark records nest sites in its GIS database.
n Cooperating with Georgia Land Trust the maintenance of a conservation easement in Long County. The easement protects high-priority habitats identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan and maintains open spaces beside Fort Stewart as part of the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program.
n Working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect habitat for endangered fringed campion on company lands in Talbot County.
n Practicing silvicultural treatments that promote the conservation of gopher

tortoises and their habitat. In February 2018, CatchMark foresters took part in a training exercise with DNR on gopher tortoise habitat management in Telfair County.
n Leasing more than 1,900 acres to DNR for Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area near Cochran, and leasing all other available lands to the public for hunting and recreation. CatchMark also periodically sponsors hunting opportunities with groups such as Outdoor without Limits, which supports outdoor sports recreation for people with physical or mental disabilities.
n Allowing universities access to company lands for research, such as Virginia Tech's pine growth study. CatchMark is a member of UGA's Plantation Research Management Cooperative.
CatchMark also conducts a robust thinning program for pine plantations to improve wildlife habitat and forest health and diversify the landscape; monitors and treats invasive species; and maintains and offers for use portable bridges that loggers can use to minimize impacts when crossing streams.

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Community Wildlife Project
The Community Wildlife Project, an award-winning initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Section and the Garden Club of Georgia, enhances native animal and plant populations and their habitats in urban, suburban and rural communities throughout the state. Goals include:
n Fostering wildlife conservation stewardship and education in Georgia communities.
n Promoting respect and appreciation of wildlife in combination with community beautification.
n Improving the quality of life for Georgians living in these communities.

More than 750 communities, cities and counties have been awarded full certification, with more than 600 in different stages of completing certification standards. Since 2005, the Backyard Wildlife Certification survey has added about 3,700 certified backyards, 600 of which were certified with two or more adjoining neighboring yards for Neighborhood Backyard Certification.
In August 2017, the Gardening with Georgia Native Plants category was introduced at the biannual Community Wildlife Project workshop. This category encourages the use of plants native to Georgia. As of the end of fiscal year 2018, 72 sites have been certified.
A Nesting/Roosting Box Certification that promotes adding nest and roost boxes to

certified backyards grew to 68 yards in fiscal year 2018. The program mirrors the Hummingbird Haven Certification, which started in 2013 and attracted hummingbirds to 433 yards as of 2018.
Each quarter, a Garden Club district can win an award for the most participation per category, overall participation and "full" certifications (a yard meeting all requirements in each category).
The Community Wildlife Project also helps Wildlife Conservation build constituency through the 9,000-member Garden Club of Georgia through habitat programs at local, state and region levels.

Spring azure butterfly (Linda May/DNR)

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During fiscal year 2018, the DNR Law Enforcement Division enforced laws and regulations and conducted investigations involving rare and other native species not legally hunted, fished for or trapped. That work included teaming with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to enforce federal measures such as checking commercial trawlers for compliance with turtle excluder device regulations and raising awareness of marine mammals and laws protecting them.
The division's Region 7, based in Brunswick, logged 985 at-sea hours, including 405 on boat patrols, 173 for dockside inspections and another 82 by aircraft. Game wardens recorded 192 hours on TED inspections, plus 64 hours patrolling offshore.

n Offshore and near-shore patrols for compliance with the Atlantic Whale Take Reduction Plan.
TED and other federal violations documented by wardens were turned over to NOAA for handling in local courts.
The Aviation Unit flew 278 hours supporting wardens and the division's core mission of protecting natural resources. This included support for Wildlife Resources Division surveys of bald eagles, southeastern American kestrels, sandhill cranes, waterfowl, sea turtles and dolphins, plus a tagging project for manatees. The unit also flew 46 hours for prescribed burns on WMAs January-March 2018.

Vessel patrol hours focused on:
n Shrimp trawler checks for TED compliance.
n Intercepts of recreational and commercial fishing vessels returning to Georgia seaports from fishing trips in federal waters.
n Offshore patrols to Special Management Zones and Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary.
n Concentrations of fishing vessels wherever they occurred in the Exclusive Economic Zone adjacent to the state.
Law

Other Law Enforcement Division work involving wildlife other than game this fiscal year included:
n After Ranger 1st Class Jason Miller received a tip about someone in southeast Georgia who had a dead bald eagle, he, Sgt. Brian Hobbins and a Bulloch County Sheriff's Office investigator interviewed two suspects. The investigation revealed the two people also possessed an illegally taken duck and two illegally harvested deer. DNR seized the immature eagle and duck and donated them to an educational facility and filed multiple charges against the suspects. One paid $2,000 in fines and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. The other was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 30 days in jail.

Enforcement

n In June 2018, Cpl. Casey Jones and Cadet William Smith arrested and charged a Murray County man with multiple charges including digging ginseng out of season and digging undersized ginseng plants. Of 70 ginseng roots seized, 54 were undersized.
n Following up on a complaint about turtle trapping, Cpls. Clint Martin and Jesse Harrison joined with the division's investigative unit to seize 27 illegal turtle traps on Lake Blackshear and issue a total of 58 citations to two suspects.
n Rangers in Region 7 worked with the Georgia Forestry Commission and other state agencies to protect public lands and natural resources, including citing people for illegally picking palmetto berries popular in the homeopathic medicine market on WMAs.
n Ranger 1st Class David Fisher rescued an escaped African Sulcata tortoise in August 2017. Fisher spotted the nonnative tortoise trying to cross a road in Bibb County. He caught it and took it to the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences, which held it until the animal's owners picked it up.
Law Enforcement's annual reports are available at www.gadnrle.org/reports. Report poaching and the violation of protected species laws and regulations by calling the Ranger Hotline at (800) 241-4113 (or *DNR for AT&T mobility customers), emailing rangerhotline@dnr.ga.gov or contacting a local game warden (search by county at www.gadnrle. org/find-ranger).

Sgt. Jim Atchley patrolling Chickasawhatchee (WMA/DNR)

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EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Regional Education Centers
The DNR Wildlife Resources Division is charged with promoting the conservation and wise use of Georgia's natural resources. This educational mission involves cultivating an appreciation and understanding of wildlife resources, fostering wise stewardship and promoting safe and ethical natural resource-based recreation.
Throughout its history, the Wildlife Resources Division has educated Georgia youth and families to increase awareness, engagement and

stewardship regarding the state's wildlife and other natural resources. These education efforts began in 1940 when Charlie Elliott, the first director of what is now DNR, started the Junior Ranger Program. More than 25,000 children took part the first year, conducting nature surveys, planting wildlife food crops and helping "senior rangers" in short, learning and practicing conservation.
Elliott's vision of a conservation education program is reflected through Wildlife Resources' seven regional education centers and continuation of the Junior Ranger Program in the DNR State Parks and Historic Sites Division. Wildlife Resources operates the centers with local school systems, Regional Educational Service agencies and other state and federal agencies to deliver wildlife-focused education.

The centers are Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center near Mansfield, the Go Fish Education Center in Perry, Smithgall Woods near Helen, McDuffie Environmental Education Center in Dearing, Arrowhead Environmental Education Center near Armuchee, Grand Bay Wetland Education Center near Valdosta and Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve. Visitors learn about natural and cultural resources through hands-on experiences. More than 118,000 students, adults and families visited the centers in fiscal year 2018.

DNR's Linda May shows Mill Creek Nature Center volunteers an eastern screech owl (Mike Wilson)

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n Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center
At Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, day programming continued to grow in fiscal 2018. More than 20,000 people of all ages attended programs at the 6,400-acre site. From learning about birds, reptiles and amphibians to enjoying a family campfire with s'mores, the events attracted Georgians statewide. The center's annual Keeping Georgia Wild Day (previously called JAKES Day) drew about 1,150 visitors. Day field trips also surged in popularity, totaling 2,400 students.
Teacher workshops at Charlie Elliott are part of Project WILD (Wildlife in Learning Design), an interdisciplinary curriculum for pre-K through 12th-grade students that uses nature as the backdrop for the lessons. The center continued to experience success with Project WILD, training 300 teachers in 2018. Twenty-one educators took part in the Teacher Conservation Workshop, a partnership with Georgia Forestry Commission and Project Learning Tree. This weeklong event held each June uses the forest as a window to environmental education. Foresters, wildlife biologists, educators and industry professionals lead the activities. The workshop is interdisciplinary and centered on the environmental, economic and social benefits of Georgia's forestry and wildlife communities. Educators visited Weyerhaeuser and International Paper sites, Gully Branch tree farm, Interfor Mill and the Georgia Forestry Commission's Flint River Nursery.
Project WILD also held its annual Outdoor Wildlife Leadership School at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center. During OWLS I, 14 K-12 educators explored the Piedmont and Upper Coastal Plain ecoregions with Wildlife Conservation Section biologists. Participants hiked Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area near Swainsboro to investigate sandhill ecosystems, mist-netted bats, explored longleaf pine ecosystems and the role of fire in managing them, went birding, canoed Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge near Macon and tested their abilities to identify frogs by their calls.
Charlie Elliott's nine Hunt and Learn programs, held primarily at the center but also at Chattahoochee Fall Line Wildlife Management Area near Geneva, introduced 69 parent-and-child pairs to the dynamics of a hunt, game animal biology and hunting as a means of conservation.

ACE campers canoeing (Kim Morris-Zarneke/DNR)

These programs are a bridge to youth learning firearm safety and hunting ethics. In partnership with the Wildlife Resources Division's Fisheries Management Section, the center also piloted a Fish and Learn program for nine parent-child pairs. Participants not only learned basic fishing techniques, they were introduced to types of rods and reels, fished in three ponds at Marben Public Fishing Area and investigated fish biology. The center's seven summer camps rated a success as well, averaging 17 participants each and immersing more than 110 children ages 7-16 in a week of outdoor activities. Targeted camps such as Adventures in Conservation Education continued to draw crowds. Throughout the year, Charlie Elliott played host to 291 area schoolchildren through The Outdoor Discovery School.
Arrowhead Environmental Education Center
Go Fish Education Center
Grand Bay Wetland Education Center

The center's Outreach Program stayed busy, traveling to every corner of the state. Staff helped with the 2018 Weekend for Wildlife on Sea Island, Sportsman's Day at the State Capitol, the Claxton Rattlesnake and Wildlife Festival, The Nature Conservancy's Earth Day celebration and events at county tax offices promoting DNR license plates. Outreach staff visited schools, ranging from kindergartens to universities, and provided presentations varying from civic groups to homeschoolers. Presentations focused on Georgia's physiographic regions, vertebrates, endangered species, birds of prey and reptiles. The Outreach Program also helped with the center's camps and day-use, residential and visitor programming.
Smithgall Woods Regional Education Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center McDuffie Environmental Education Center
Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

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Raising environmental awareness at Arrowhead (Vivian Davis/DNR)

n Smithgall Woods Regional Education Center
Set on 6,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Smithgall Woods Regional Education Center offers an assortment of environmental education programs for students of all ages. Programming is coordinated and conducted by a certified teacher and wildlife interpretive specialist in association with professionals from the DNR State Parks and Historic Sites and Wildlife Resources divisions, and with Georgia State Parks-certified volunteers. Teachers also can choose to lead activities themselves. Financial support for programming is provided through the Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Trout Unlimited chapters and donations.
Smithgall Woods' catalog of nearly 50 programs is adaptable to reach students from pre-K through college. Most programs correlate to state curriculum standards and focus on resources unique to the north Georgia mountains. This approach familiarizes students with local issues and demonstrates biological principles at work in their region. Most students served are from counties in Wildlife Resources' Game Management Region II. Programming is divided into two categories: on-site and outreach.
During the 2017-2018 school year, Smithgall Woods reached 18,530 people through 692 programs. This marked a 31 percent increase in overall programming from the previous year. More on-site

and outreach programs were given. Although the 4 percent increase for on-site programs was positive, the 35 percent surge in outreach programs was surprising. The latter is also a trend Smithgall Woods would like to continue.
On-site programs in fiscal year 2018 included lessons in ecology, forestry, wildlife, aquatic habitats, archery and orienteering. While largely school-related, programming is not restricted to students. Smithgall Woods offers many programs to the public, allowing all ages to take part in environmental-themed events. The center is seeing a trend toward outreach compared to onsite programming. Contributing to the shift is more schools moving away from field trips: They can reach more students for less money with outreach programming versus field trips.
As a result, although outreach comprised 53 percent of Smithgall Woods' programs, it accounted for 87 percent of students involved in the center's educational programming. These 45- to 60-minute lessons extend programming into the winter months and serve schools experiencing budget cuts or logistical limitations. Outreach programming provided approximately 16,204 students most of them middle-schoolers opportunities to learn about animal adaptations, arachnids, birds of prey, conservation practices, genetics, Native American history and snakes and other reptiles.

The Georgia Council of Trout Unlimited again provided scholarship funding to support free outreach programming for seven counties in area school districts. Counties that use this opportunity tend to take advantage of it to the fullest. One goal for fiscal 2019 is to increase the number of counties reached through this funding. Digital and paper flyers with details will be delivered to every school in each county at the beginning of the school year. Through increased publicity, social media and word of mouth, Smithgall Woods hopes to continue to spread wildlife educational programs throughout northeast Georgia.
n Arrowhead Environmental Education Center
Kindergartners gather around a plant to observe its seeds and imagine how these cockleburs, cattail fluffs, sycamore balls or tiny blackberry seeds are transported by a dog's fur or wind, water or the bellies of birds. The leader, explaining that the sun's warmth and spring rains awaken the germ of the seed, begins a chant: "Oooooh, ahhhhh! This feels good! I think I'll put down a root and put up a shoot!"
Long after the students have left Arrowhead Environmental Education Center, this lesson on seed-dispersal schemes and others led by the center's naturalists will be remembered, whether it's a grinning child donning goggles and swim fins

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as "adaptations" that befit beavers or students seeing a live alligator as part of the tale "Why Baby `Gator Is Yellow and Black."
During the 2017-18 school year, students studied Arrowhead's collection of live Georgia snakes, turtles, frogs and fish, plus other live and mounted wildlife. They walked through beaver ruins, along streams and through woods to observe the life cycles, habitats and food chains they study at school. Arrowhead teachers also visited schools, bringing animals, stories and lessons as part of the center's outreach program.
Through songs, chants and stories -- and sometimes armed with butterfly and stream nets, hand lenses and binoculars, and measuring tapes and notepads -- youth and adults learned about the natural world. Others learned about the biodiversity of northwest Georgia's lush ridges, valleys and streams at special events, displays and programs.
Partnering with DNR and Floyd County Schools, Arrowhead teachers planned and taught lessons, developed and staffed displays, and created and presented programs for pre-K through 12th-grade students in fiscal 2018. Displays and programs were provided for public events, including DNR's Outdoor Adventure Day, the Coosa Basin Environmental Quiz Bowl, Trout Unlimited's Trout Expo, Ducks Unlimited's Greenwing day and outdoor parent-teacher organization programs. Arrowhead's role involved storytelling, live animals, educational scavenger hunts and hands-on experiences with nature.
Staff led nature-trail lessons at schools. Classrooms and individual students helped feed Arrowhead animals through the center's AdoptAn-Animal program. For the 16th year, Arrowhead students helped in DNR's project to restore lake sturgeon in the Coosa River basin, an event followed by lessons at the schools. Staff visited classes at Berry College and Shorter University to teach future Georgia teachers about wildlife and how to use the environment as a context for learning. Arrowhead teamed with the Coosa River Basin Initiative again to co-sponsor and hold the Coosa Basin Environmental Quiz Bowl at the center and to help Young Naturalist Clubs in the area learn about the region's ecology.
Whether displaying a corn snake or box turtle and discussing adaptations during in-school programs

See and learn on Sapelo Island (DNR)

or observing green treefrog tadpoles along Arrowhead trails to learn about life cycles, the center's naturalists tailored lessons to Georgia's educational standards and to Arrowhead's mission, using natural systems as a context to help students in Floyd County schools learn.
n Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve
Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve offered a range of environmental educational programming during the 2017-2018 year. K- through 12th-grade and college-level programs were held on-site and at area schools and universities. In all, 53 programs were provided this fiscal year, reaching 1,945 students from 12 Georgia counties and two states. The reserve offered on-site programs three days a week, with a limit of 36 people per program due to ferry and on-island transportation limitations.
Sapelo Island Reserve sees seasonal ebbs and flows in K-12 participation. However, data show a significant increase in student participation during the past six years. (Comprehensive participation totals are not available before 2012, but the best available data from 2010 and 2011 indicates respective enrollments of 576 and 312.) The 20172018 program year was interrupted by Hurricane Irma and winter storm Grayson. Irma flooded educational buildings, and both storms temporarily knocked out the power. Combined, the events affected programing for more than a month.
During this fiscal year, Sapelo Island Reserve also held 11 programs for 404 road scholars from

the national Elderhostel program. In addition, educational opportunities were provided for 271 participants from special-interest groups, including churches, birding groups and other organizations. Another 1,794 participants took part in the reserve's public tour program. Included were tours of the island's south and north ends, plus the reserve's Christmas tour program done in partnership with DNR's State Parks and Historic Sites Division.
The Sapelo education program conducted or partnered with other institutions to train 65 teachers through five teacher workshops. These workshops focused on coastal ecosystems and issues, as well as science, technology, engineering and math. Sapelo Island Reserve's education coordinator also provided training or outreach for Burton 4-H Center naturalists, Camp Jekyll, coastal decisionmakers for the Institute for Georgia Environmental Leadership, DNR's 2017 leadership class, Weekend for Wildlife guests visiting Sapelo and the Army Corps of Engineers Barrier Island class.
The education coordinator presented five lectures for 274 participants as well. Topics varied from Georgia's estuaries and fisheries to coastal fauna. The coordinator also supervised about 150 volunteers who contributed a total of 2,876 hours to service projects on and around Sapelo.
Sapelo Island Reserve staff and volunteers had an educational booth at the annual CoastFest, which drew an estimated 7,500 visitors, and DNR's annual Beach Week, which drew about 3,500. The reserve's mainland Visitor Center reported 10,619 walk-in guests who were not associated with any state program.

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n McDuffie Environmental Education Center
McDuffie Environmental Education Center continues to provide a wide range of activities designed to immerse students, parents and teachers into the natural world, enhancing development of a lifelong awareness of nature and conservation. Activities available for pre-K through seventh-grade are aligned with Georgia educational standards and delivered by three certified teachers.
Staffed entirely by part-time employees, the McDuffie Education Center is open by appointment only. Focusing on the attributes of small-group instruction, the center reached 4,714 students and teachers in on-site visits during the 2017-2018 school year.
This year, the center also entered into a unique partnership with classes at a local school. Students helped with preparing craft kits and maintaining and organizing educational materials. The materials were used by many elementary students from the Central Savannah River Area throughout the year. The help from students freed time for McDuffie Education Center staff to work on other aspects of educational programming. At the end of the school year, the volunteers were rewarded with a special day at the center, complete with fishing, archery, hiking and a picnic. The school's administration, teachers and students have asked to continue the partnership in the 2018-2019 school year.
In April, Citizens of Georgia Power chose McDuffie Education Center as the site of their spring volunteer project. Thirty-two volunteers donated 196 hours to help get the center's campus in pristine condition for spring. Work included water-sealing picnic tables, replacing rail fencing, planting annuals in the butterfly garden, cleaning display cases and other maintenance.
Also during fiscal year 2018, the final McDuffie staff member, along with the center's archery volunteer, became certified as National Archery in the Schools Program instructors. Archery has joined geocaching as one of the center's most popular activities for grades five, six and seven. McDuffie Education Center partnered with DNR's Game Management Section to continue to hold two Archery in the Schools Program teacher workshops per year.

n Go Fish Education Center
The Go Fish Education Center provides quality on-site environmental education programs focused on aquatic resource education and conservation. Over the past several years, the center's primary focus has been school field trips. However, Go Fish also offers fish dissections; science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes; homeschool lessons; a toddler program; fishing camps; and various community events.
During the 2017-2018 school year, the Go Fish Center again partnered with a local elementary school to help with the school's STEM certification. Students were split into grades, with first grade collecting and potting more than 1,000 aquatic plants and fourth-graders building fish attractors. The fish attractors were used in two reservoirs, at nearby Flat Creek Public Fishing Area in Houston County and Lake Tobesofkee in Macon. The aquatic plants will be planted in public reservoirs across middle Georgia to enhance fish habitat.
Staff also continued a popular homeschool program. Registration was moved to www. SignUpGenius.com, a change that helped streamline Go Fish's toddler program in fiscal year 2017. To offset increased operating costs, admission and field-trip prices were increased, with per-child rates bumping from $3 to $5 for admission and $5 to $7 for field trips. The change in admission fees which also affected adults, seniors and military veterans is the first since the center opened in 2010.
In 2018, Go Fish also held its first summer fishing camps. Open to ages 7-15, these successful camps covered topics that included fishing safety, hook removal (from fish and people), handling and measuring fish and boating safety. Staff will continue this program in fiscal 2019.
The center's second Scuba Santa also proved another success. This event included a singalong, an indoor snowball fight, a lure-making demonstration and, of course, Santa and Rudolf in scuba. More than 100 people attended. Plans are to expand the event's size this year.
The State Fish Art contest was again held at Go Fish this year. The center received 297 entries from across Georgia. One landed a national award in artwork, and another received a national honorable mention in the essay category.

During fiscal 2018, the center played host to more than 8,000 education program participants. The education program received more than $1,000 in educational supplies and financial donations. For fiscal 2019, the center will continue providing quality educational programs. Goals include increasing participation numbers and revenue, exploring programming opportunities, creating and implementing an online field-trip survey, starting a community program and developing an afterschool fishing program.
n Grand Bay Wetland Education Center
Grand Bay Wetland Education Center maintained a full schedule during the 2017-2018 school year. Approximately 9,500 students and 3,000 adults attended day classes at the center, a partnership between DNR and the Coastal Plains Regional Educational Services Agency. Primary and secondary education students participated in programs that focused on native wildlife and resources in the area. (An earth sciences program for sixth-graders in public schools is being developed.) All activities met Georgia Performance Standards.
With the support of superintendents, principals, teachers and parents in 12 school districts, Grand Bay quickly filled its schedule for the school year. Visiting primary students were engaged with hands-on exercises in and out of the classroom. The children observed and learned about wildlife species, from apex carnivores such as American alligators to unusual plants such as the hooded pitcherplant, and how these animals or plants affect the environment. Visits typically ended with a hike on the boardwalk and climbing Grand Bay's observation tower.
Secondary education students performed exercises involving water quality and wildlife identification and collection. The students are provided lab equipment and supplies for performing scientific methodology. Experiments include a turbidity test, pH readings, dissolved oxygen and nitrate levels, and nomenclature usage and identification. Collecting and identifying nonendangered specimens is always a bonus for these students, who spend most of their day at Grand Bay on the boardwalk doing field tests and making observations.
While the busy schedule and limited staff do not allow for outreach programs during the school

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Youth Birding Competition team on St. Simons beach (Rick Lavender/DNR)

year, Grand Bay had a full summer in 2017 and 2018. Included were summer camps, including a new one for area day care centers. Valdosta State University took part in day camps and attended lessons at the facility as well.
For fiscal year 2018, about 1,000 children and other students attended lessons during summer camps and school outreach programs concerning mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish found in south Georgia, as well as local plant communities and current environmental issues.
Youth Birding Competition
The Wildlife Conservation Section held the 13th annual Youth Birding Competition on April 27-28, 2018. The overall winning team identified 161 species seen or heard during the 24-hour birdathon. About 80 youths signed up, underscoring the popularity of the annual event promoting birding and conservation. Eight teams new to the competition took part in 2018.
During the Youth Birding Competition, teams of pre-K through 12th-grade birders representing schools, Scout troops, science clubs and other groups compete with teams of similar-aged youth to identify as many bird species as they can in the state. As part of the 2018 event, the young birders raised more than $2,100 for conservation projects, pushing the cumulative fundraising for the Youth Birding Competition to more than $22,000. Among the highlights, the two Pi-ed-billed Grebes teams from the Paideia School in Atlanta raised $1,293 for Trees Atlanta.
In another highlight, this year's T-shirt Art Contest fielded 123 drawings and paintings of native Georgia birds. A great-horned owl by Alston Li, an 11-year-old from Duluth, was the grand prize winner, and Li's artwork was printed on the competition's T-shirts.
The Youth Birding Competition is aimed at cultivating an interest in birds and conservation. Sponsors include The Environmental Resources Network (TERN), friends group of Wildlife Conservation; the Georgia Ornithological Society; and the Atlanta Audubon Society. Volunteers also are critical to holding the competition banquet, awards ceremony and T-shirt art contest..

Camp TALON
The Wildlife Conservation Section held the 9th annual Camp TALON (Teen Adventures Learning Ornithology and Nature) on June 2-7, 2018. The camp's foremost goal is to teach teens how to identify birds. Yet that only nicks the surface of the ecology-rich syllabus. Among other subjects, students learned about habitats and their management, threatened and endangered species, bird survey methods, coastal plants, island geology, how avian research is performed, the lives of invertebrates that live on beaches, and outdoor career opportunities.
Using cabins on St. Simons Island as a base, participants traveled by bus or boat to each day's two or three birdwatching and outdoor classroom destinations. Sites included Sapelo, Little St. Simons, Andrews and Jekyll islands, as well as Harris Neck and Okefenokee national wildlife refuges, Fort Stewart and Altamaha Wildlife Management Area near Darien.
Leaders included a dozen mostly volunteer teachers from state, federal and nonprofit agencies, as well as retired university faculty. The 15 students counted 120 species of birds. They also learned how tides work, how birds fly and sing, how shorebirds find food on beaches, how invasive species compete with natives and how biologists are working to recover sensitive species such as wood storks and least terns.

In addition to support from volunteers and professional biologists, the camp's success is made possible by grants from the Georgia Ornithological Society, The Environmental Resources Network (TERN), the Georgia Natural Resources Foundation and Atlanta Audubon Society. The 2019 Camp TALON, the 10th anniversary, is set for June 1-6.
Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest
Kindergarten through fifth-grade students submitted about 1,400 posters for the 2018 Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest. This annual program has encouraged students to explore the wonders of Georgia's native plant and animal species through art for 28 years.
Students from 31 public schools, private schools and homeschool groups participated in 2018, taking to heart the event's theme "Nature at Night." Artwork was judged based on aspects such as theme, originality, quality and impact.
The posters of state-level contest winners were displayed at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens and posted on the Wildlife Resources Division's Flickr site. In addition, the parents and teachers of state winners were offered free wildlife license plates.
The contest is organized and sponsored by DNR, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network (TERN), friends group of Wildlife Conservation.

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Wildlife Viewing Grants
From 1999-2008, the DNR Wildlife Resources Division awarded grants for projects that provided public opportunities to see and learn about native animals and plants. Recession-era spending cuts canceled the popular program in 2009. But a decade later, the Wildlife Conservation Section resurrected it, again engaging conservation partners to help meet a wildlife viewing fascination in Georgia that involved 2.4 million people and $1.8 billion in spending in 2011, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey.
The restart combined a $4,500 Georgia Natural Resources Foundation grant with $10,500 in Nongame Wildlife Conservation funds. Renamed Wildlife Viewing Grants, the program announced in November 2017 emphasized projects that reflected Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan, raising awareness of the plan's priority species, habitats and conservation actions.
Twenty-six organizations applied, proposing a mix of projects that varied from building viewing platforms to developing outreach to draw people into wildlife viewing. A committee scored and recommended six projects for the $15,000 in funding. They were:

n Athens-Clarke County: $2,823 for greenway bat boxes and signage in a larger bat awareness effort.
n Golden Triangle Resource Conservation and Development Council: $2,750 for kiosks highlighting rare species along a Spring Creek boardwalk in Colquitt.
n Okefenokee Swamp Park: $2,163 to build a wildlife viewing platform at the Waycross park.
n Coastal Georgia Audubon: $1,773 to design and add interpretive signs at key Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites along Georgia's coast.
n Amphibian Foundation: $2,628 for signs regarding rare salamander propagation at an Atlanta park.
n One Hundred Miles: $2,865 for outreach encouraging responsible wildlife viewing on St. Simons Island beaches.
As of the end of fiscal 2018, five grant recipients had begun work and at least three were in the process of rolling out their projects. Photos and final project reports were due by calendar 2019.
Because of the program's promise, wide interest in the grants and the importance of wildlife

DNR's Trina Morris leads walk for Athens-Clarke Bat Connection (Athens-Clarke County)

viewing in Georgia, Wildlife Conservation plans to offer the grants again in fiscal 2019. All funding for this second round will come from the Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund.
Social Media
The reach of the DNR Wildlife Resources Division's social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr and a blog continues to expand, raising awareness of conservation efforts and engaging constituents. The Facebook page recorded 124,520 likes through June 2018, the end of the fiscal year. Twitter had 9,006 followers, Instagram about 8,100 and the YouTube channel, 649,100 views. The division's blog, which includes conservation topics, logged 343,852 views in fiscal year 2018.
Of the Wildlife Resources Division's three most popular Facebook posts this year, items involving rare and other animal and plant species not legally hunted or fished placed second and third (first involved a state-record blue catfish). Nos. 2 and 3 included a photo-rich post on native snakes, which reached nearly 1 million people, and an alligator snapping turtle caught and released by a Lake Blackshear angler that reached 508,554 and spurred 71,800 engagements (clicks or other actions).
On Instagram, the snapper post spurred another 484 likes and 16 comments. But that ranked second to a black rat snake found outside the division's offices in Social Circle (603 likes, 14 comments).
During fiscal 2018, Public Affairs and Wildlife Conservation staff staged a second #7Days4SeaTurtles social media campaign, building on the initial effort the year before. The campaign used images, video and text on all Wildlife Resources Division platforms, including blog posts from technicians, to raise awareness of sea turtle conservation and celebrate the continuing recovery of loggerheads in Georgia. The campaign drew significant attention online and among conservation partners. Related media outreach led to coverage in the Savannah Morning News and The Brunswick News, both outlets in key markets.
DNR's Georgia Wild e-newsletter, which focuses on the Wildlife Conservation Section's work, also added readers in fiscal 2018. The number of subscribers increased 2 percent, or 2,053, to

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94,453. In summer 2018, Georgia Wild placed second in the external newsletter category at the annual Association for Conservation Information conference. The 11-year-old newsletter placed third in the national competition in 2017, first in 2016 and third in 2014.
Social media efforts and the e-newsletter not only broaden the reach of Wildlife Conservation communications, they enhance interactivity and customer service.
Other Outreach
Beyond youth contests and social media, the Wildlife Conservation Section promotes awareness of wildlife and conservation in many ways speaking to civic, technical and special-interest groups, informing lawmakers on rare species, showing journalists research in the field and working with other conservation organizations, to name a few.
In fiscal year 2018, the agency staffed events varying from CoastFest in Brunswick and Endangered Species Day at Atlanta Botanical Garden to the Georgia Association of Tax

Officials' spring conference in Athens, The Nature Conservancy's Moonlight through the Pines fundraiser and the 51st annual Rattlesnake and Wildlife Festival in Claxton. Employees provided wildlife-related interviews to media including The New York Times, Walton Living Magazine, Fox News, south Georgia's WALB-TV, WABE-FM in Atlanta, The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Athens Banner-Herald, Saporta Report and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Topics varied from beavers in Buckhead to rescued rattlesnakes used for wildlife education.
Outreach is mentioned throughout this report. Yet other examples include:
n In partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Sea to Shore Alliance and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Wildlife Conservation senior wildlife biologist Clay George shot and produced a video of large great whites and other sharks scavenging a humpback whale carcass about 30 miles off Cumberland Island. The video drew thousands of views.

n Staff also helped produce videos ranging from in-the-field clips such as this one from Nathan Klaus on harvesting seed from restored grasslands at Panola Mountain State Park to more involved efforts with videographer Heidi Ferguson that discussed the benefits of bat houses and featured a T-rex inspired plug for DNR wildlife license plates. Program Manager and ichthyologist Dr. Brett Albanese even taped a near-classic rap about wildlife tags.
n Klaus, a Wildlife Conservation senior wildlife biologist, served as the keynote speaker at the Georgia Botanical Society's 2018 Spring Pilgrimage in Thomaston. Klaus discussed the ecological history of nearby Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area. He also joined the agency's Lisa Kruse, Hal Massie and Tom Patrick in leading field trips.
n Program Manager Dr. Bob Sargent gave presentations to professional organizations and other groups about bald eagles. Sargent was interviewed by Georgia Public Broadcasting, Fox News and other media about conserving eagles.

DNR's Clay George videos white shark feeding on whale carcass (DNR)

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Fox24 Macon interviews Program Manager Bob Sargent (Linda May/DNR)

n Environmental Outreach Coordinator Linda May and Environmental Review Coordinator Anna Yellin organized and awarded a $1,000 grant to K-Discovery Science Lab teacher Karen Garland of Acworth's Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy. The grant from The Environmental Resources Network (TERN) recognizes Georgia's exceptional third- through fifth-grade teachers in life sciences.
n A DNR coloring book created by May and artist Ami Flowers Staples was shared by the state Education Department with all third-grade teachers in Georgia. "Exploring Georgia's Wildlife" is a teaching aid that also explains the role wildlife license plates play in conserving wildlife.
n Botanist Dr. Mincy Moffett Jr. taught a botanical/ecological field seminar at Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area for a seniorlevel biology class from Middle Georgia State University in Macon.
n News releases by Public Affairs' Rick Lavender promoted projects varying from changes to Wildlife Conservation's eagle nest surveys to the return of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers to a south Georgia wildlife management area and the public-private partnership protecting rare wetlands and imperiled Canby's dropwort
n Staff members wrote popular articles and published research. Private lands conservation

DNR's Jason Lee and Nature Conservancy's Christi Lambert, part of FWS Altamaha series (USFWS)

coordinator Steve Raper was quoted in a Blue Ridge Outdoors article about land trusts and state agencies collaborating for land conservation and proposed legislation affecting conservation easements. Senior wildlife biologist John Jensen and four others wrote a rangewide assessment of striped newts published in Herpetological Conservation and Biology.
n Wildlife Resources Division blog posts by Wildlife Conservation staff included field technician Melissa Keneely writing about surveying for rare darters, Rick Lavender following a Big Turtle Year search for Suwannee alligator snappers and social media coordinator Aubrey Pawlikowski providing insights into eastern hellbenders.
n Staff also were featured in posts produced by partner organizations, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's multimedia series on protecting the Altamaha River, Manomet's story map Whimbrels on the Wing, Fish and Wildlife Service blog posts on red-cockaded woodpeckers and the Gopher Tortoise Conservation Initiative.
n Sargent and Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center staff held the second annual Youth Christmas Bird Count, fielding 25 young birders and their parents Dec. 16, 2017. The event introduces ages 8-16 to Audubon Society's popular Christmas Bird Count without that event's long and often cold day in the field. Participants receive a brief presentation about identifying birds and are then divided into teams led by expert birders for a threehour adventure on Charlie Elliott's trails. Lunch

follows and the young birders lead a species countdown, receive prizes such as field guides and enjoy a raptor show.
n Biologist Tim Keyes started a six-week Master Birder class with partners including One Hundred Miles, Coastal Georgia Audubon Society and Coastal WildScapes. The class had 30 participants and a waitlist twice that size. Topics included field identification by sight and sound, anatomy and physiology, migration and navigation, and backyard bird habitat.
n May conducted wildlife programs at several summer camps, including Camp Kudzu (for children with diabetes), ACE (Adventures in Conservation Education) Camp at Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center and Junior Ranger camps at Hard Labor Creek State Park near Rutledge. She also gave presentations at nature centers and to civic groups, including the Georgia Wildlife Federation's Mill Creek Nature Center, Southern Wings Bird Club, Milton Library, Brookdale Chambrel Roswell senior living center and the Dunwoody Garden Club.
n May represented Wildlife Conservation at career fairs, too, including Kennesaw State University, Morgan County High School and the University of Georgia's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. She also led a Bird Nesting Basics course at the annual Environmental Education Alliance conference. With help from DNR woodworking volunteers, participants built and took home their bluebird nest boxes.

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L A N D ACQ U I S I T I O N A N D CO N S E RVAT I O N E AS E M E N TS
Dawson Forest WMA Davison Tract Paulding Forest WMA Hubble Timber LLC Tract
Sprewell Bluff WMA Willoughby Tree Farms Trust
Sandhills WMA U. Wall Plantation Tract
Flat Tub WMA Davenport Tract, Hulett Tract, Wright Tract, Rentz, Davenport and Toumbleston Tract
Ohoopee Dunes WMA Tickanetley, Karrh I, Karrh II, Gambrell Tracts
Sansavilla WMA Phase 3 Tract
Altamaha WMA Possum Point Tract
Cathead Creek Boat Ramp

Altamaha River floodplain at Sansavilla WMA (Alan Cressler)

Through its Real Estate Office, DNR acquired fee ownership of 20,078 acres for public recreation and conservation in fiscal year 2018. These acquisitions expanded eight wildlife management areas and added a public boat ramp in coastal Georgia. The tracts were targeted in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan to increase public recreation and expand conservation efforts across DNR-managed lands.
Ohoopee Dunes Wildlife Management Area doubled in size with the addition of four properties, the Karrh I, Karrh II, Tickanetley and Gambrell tracts. This WMA near Swainsboro is a rich ecological area with longleaf pine and groundcover, unique sand dunes, river frontage and gopher tortoise habitat.

The phase 3 acquisition at Sansavilla Wildlife Management Area protects lands along the Altamaha River, as well as gopher tortoise habitat. Although DNR had leased the site for years, acquisition assured this WMA near Brunswick will remain available to the public for recreation. Phase 3 marked the last stage of the Sansavilla project, an effort that has permanently protected 19,514 acres in Wayne and Glynn counties.
Additions this fiscal year to Paulding Forest, Sprewell Bluff, Dawson Forest and Flat Tub eliminated inholdings to improve management and increase public recreation opportunities at the WMAs. At Sandhills Wildlife Management Area near Butler, the U. Wall Plantation Tract faced

the threat of conversion. Now the property is permanently protected. This acquisition features gopher tortoise habitat and old-growth longleaf pine, plus other species considered high priorities for conservation in the State Wildlife Action Plan.
The Possum Point Tract in McIntosh County was surrounded on three sides by Altamaha Wildlife Management Area. Buying Possum Point not only erased an inholding at the WMA near Darien, it increased recreation opportunities, improved WMA management options and permanently protected wetland habitat in the Altamaha River floodplain.
Also in McIntosh, the Southeastern Bank Tract provided land for a public boat ramp for more boating and fishing access in coastal Georgia.

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The proximity of the planned Cathead Creek Boat Ramp to Darien provides welcomed opportunities for the community and promises to be a popular site when the ramp is opened.
Here are more details about each acquisition.
n Cathead Creek Boat Ramp: Southeastern Bank Tract
The nearly 2.4-acre Southeastern Bank Tract in McIntosh closed on July 7, 2017. The site of what will be Cathead Creek Boat Ramp was bought for $350,000 with DNR Bond 141 funds.
n Flat Tub WMA
The properties added to Flat Tub near Douglas were acquired with funding from the Knobloch Family Foundation, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration grant, DNR Bond 141 and the National Wild Turkey Federation. The following sales all were in Jeff Davis County and closed on July 14, 2017.

Davenport Tract: Covering 84 acres, this tract cost $193,500.
Hulett Tract: These 84 acres were bought for $180,815.
Rentz, Davenport and Toumbleston Tract: The Rentz, Davenport and Toumbleston Tract included 253 acres for $431,779.
Wright Tract: The 84-acre Wright Tract was bought for $160,284.
n Paulding Forest WMA: Hubble Timber LLC Tract
Paulding Forest grew by 43 acres with the $104,833 purchase of the Humble Timber LLC Tract in Paulding County. The sale closed on July 10, 2017. Funds from DNR Bond 141 and a U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program grant were used.
n Ohoopee Dunes WMA
Tickanetley Tract: These 250 acres in Emanuel County were purchased for $339,539 as an addition to the WMA. The funds came

from DNR Bond 141 and the Knobloch Family Foundation. The sale closed on July 18, 2017.
Karrh I Tract: Also in Emanuel and closed on July 18, 2017, the 349 acres cost $610,850. Funds from DNR Bond 141 and the Knobloch Family Foundation were used.
Karrh II Tract: $355,609 in DNR Bond 141 and Knobloch Family Foundation funds were used to acquire these 305 acres in Emanuel on Jan. 28, 2018.
Gambrell Tract: The sale of this 5,332acre addition to Ohoopee Dunes closed Sept. 14, 2017, for $9,224,535. Funding was provided by the Bobolink Foundation, DNR Bond 141, the Knobloch Family Foundation and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program grant.
n Altamaha WMA: Possum Point Tract
Possum Point, 376 acres in McIntosh County, closed on Aug. 17, 2017, as an

Hatchling black racer (Matt Moore)

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addition to Altamaha River WMA. The initial purchase price of $639,724 from The Nature Conservancy was halved to $319,862 for DNR because of a restrictive easement held by the U.S. Navy. Funds came from the Navy and DNR Bond 141.
n Sansavilla WMA: Phase 3 Tract
The last stage of the Sansavilla project increased the WMA's size by 12,002 acres on Sept. 28, 2017. Purchase of the land in Wayne and Glynn counties involved a partnership between The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Navy. The Navy acquired an easement from The Nature Conservancy that reduced DNR's purchase price to $18,577,750.
The money came from a U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program grant, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coastal Wetlands and North American Wetlands Conservation Act grants and funds from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, the Navy and DNR bonds 120 and 141.

n Sprewell Bluff WMA: Willoughby Tree Farms Inc. Trust
The 130 acres comprising the Willoughby Tree Farms Tract in Upson County were added to Sprewell Bluff on Dec. 19, 2017. The $230,717 in funding came from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration grant, DNR Bond 141, the Knobloch Family Foundation and the Georgia Ornithological Society.
n Sandhills WMA: U. Wall Plantation Tract
The $1,362,928 sale of these 641 acres in Taylor County closed Jan. 30, 2018, as an addition to Sandhills. Funding came from the Knobloch Family Foundation, DNR Bond 141, Georgia Ornithological Society and a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration grant.
n Dawson Forest WMA: Davison Tract
The Davison Tract, 139 acres in Dawson County, was added to Dawson Forest on June 28, 2018. A grant from The Conservation Fund focused on imperiled bat species and funding DNR Bond 141 were used for the $300,000 acquisition.

Georgia Conservation Tax Credit Program
The Wildlife Conservation Section administers the Georgia Conservation Tax Credit Program in conjunction with the State Properties Commission. This program provides a tax credit for taxpayers who place conservation easements on their land or make fee-simple donations to qualified organizations.
Of the 19 applications in 10 counties received in fiscal year 2018, seven were approved by the State Properties Commission and received the tax credit. Four of the 19 applications received pre-certification for the program and most have submitted final applications. In addition to the seven certified applications received in fiscal 2018, 11 applications received before the fiscal year were certified.
These 18 certifications protected a total of 12,422 acres using conservation easements donated to qualified organizations.
Staff managing the program are funded in part through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority.

Celebrating acquisition of Sansavilla Phase 3 Tract (Rick Lavender/DNR)

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CO N S E RVAT I O N P L A N N I N G

State Wildlife Action Plan Revision
As coordinator of the State Wildlife Action Plan in Georgia, the Wildlife Conservation Section completed and submitted revision of the plan for review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in September 2015. The revised plan, created with the help of DNR's conservation partners and updated with the most current information, was approved in September 2016.
The Wildlife Action Plan (www.georgiawildlife. com/wildlifeactionplan) outlines critical areas of need, with a focus on keeping native species from declining to the point of requiring federal protection as threatened or endangered species. Developing, revising and implementing the plan are required to receive State Wildlife Grants.
Officially called the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy, this plan a 10-year roadmap for conservation is the primary guiding document for much of Wildlife Conservation's work. In fiscal year 2018, DNR staff continued work with partners to implement the plan and with the Fish and Wildlife Service on a regional team reviewing revisions of other State Wildlife Action Plans, including one for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Regional Partnerships
Since 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received three mega-petitions to list nearly 500 species under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service's Southeast Region is responsible for roughly 60 percent of the workload to evaluate these species. More than 100 of the species are found in Georgia, amplifying the need for up-to-date status information to help inform the service's 90-day findings and 12-month findings to determine whether a listing is warranted.
Tackling emerging issues such as megapetitions to list species under the Endangered Species Act requires innovative approaches. One is the creation of regional conservation partnerships, such as the Southeast At-risk Species Initiative to achieve success that could not be accomplished by individual states. Often referred to as SEARS, the initiative was implemented by the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service. The goal is for states to work together to preclude the need to federally list species. A similar effort has been undertaken in the northeastern U.S.

Bat with white-nose syndrome (DNR)

This collaborative approach has been successful. Since 2011, the Fish and Wildlife Service and states in the eastern U.S. have conserved 170 at-risk animals and plants. About 65 species did not warrant federal protection thanks to ongoing conservation actions, updated survey data and new information on threats to the species' survival. Organizations and individuals withdrew petitions to list another 105 species after further scientific analysis (i.e., additional surveys documenting more populations), concluding that listing under the Endangered Species Act is was not justified. Sixteen species were upgraded from endangered to threatened, delisted due to successful recovery programs or listed as threatened rather than endangered.
State agencies and the Fish and Wildlife Service have prioritized numerous and wide-ranging atrisk species for collaborative conservation efforts. One example is the gopher tortoise, a candidate for listing across its eastern range in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. The service is coordinating with states to provide federal Section 6 funding for surveys and to develop proactive conservation agreements.
This focus involves the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy, an initiative of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and other state, federal and private conservation organizations. The strategy's primary product is the Southeast Conservation Blueprint. The blueprint stitches together smaller, subregional conservation plans into one unifying map that identifies important areas for protection and restoration.
Dramatic landscape-scale changes such as urbanization, competition for water resources, extreme weather events, sea-level rise and climate change pose unprecedented challenges for sustaining natural and cultural resources in the Southeast. Through the Southeastern Conservation Adaptation Strategy, partners are working together to design and develop a connected network of lands and waters that can support thriving wildlife populations and improved quality of life for people throughout the region. Partners completed draft version 3.0 of the Southeast Conservation Blueprint in October 2018.

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FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATION

Donations, earned interest & other income 19% ($415,118)

Income tax checkoff 6% ($129,813)

Professional services (contracts, fees) 11% ($262,740)

REVENUE
TOTAL: $2,134,349

Weekend for Wildlife* 24% ($510,020)

License plates
51% ($1,079,398)

Does not include federal and other grants, or $477,565 in state appropriations for the Wildlife Conservation Section.
*Includes 2017 Weekend for Wildlife revenue from the Georgia Natural Resources Foundation. 2018 event revenue disbursed in fiscal 2019.

EXPENDITURES
TOTAL: $2,429,634

Operations 19%
($471,510)

Personnel 70%
($1,695,384)

Expenditures paid through the Nongame Fund.

NONGAME WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FUND
Listed in millions per year

12 M

11 M

10 M

INCOME

EXPENSES

BALANCE

9 M

8 M

7 M

6 M

5 M

4 M

3 M

2 M

1 M

FY '09 FY '10 FY '11 FY '12 FY '13 FY '14 FY '15 FY '16 FY '17 FY '18

Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund

For the third consecutive year, the Wildlife Conservation Section received state appropriations $477,565 in fiscal 2018. However, with those appropriations making up less than 5 percent of the section's research and conservation budget, fundraising remained a priority.
Wildlife Conservation depends largely on three fundraisers: sales and renewals of the eagle and hummingbird wildlife license plates, the annual Weekend for Wildlife and the Wildlife Conservation Fund state income tax checkoff. Contributions go to what is officially the Nongame Wildlife Conservation and Wildlife Habitat Acquisitions Fund, often referred to as the Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund. Created in 1989, the fund is dedicated by state law to support nongame wildlife conservation, wildlife habitat acquisition and related educational and promotional projects.
The Environmental Resources Network, better known as TERN, also provides significant financial support to the Wildlife Conservation Section.

The Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund received $2.13 million in revenue in fiscal 2018. That included $1,079,398 in license plate sales and renewals, $510,020 from the 2017 Weekend for Wildlife, $129,813 via the state income tax checkoff and $415,118 in donations, earned interest and other income. The total does not include federal and other grants.
Expenses paid through the fund in fiscal 2018 totaled nearly $2.43 million. Seventy percent, or $1,695,384, went to personnel expenditures, 19 percent ($471,510) to operations, and 11 percent ($262,740) to professional services, a category that includes contracts and fees. Spending over the last 10 years averaged $2.68 million annually. 2018 expenditures were down 5 percent compared to fiscal 2017.
The 2018 fund balance of $4.83 million marked the lowest in 10 years. The high during that period was $7.86 million in fiscal 2009. The balance has gradually declined since fiscal 2012.

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Nongame License Plates
The bald eagle and ruby-throated hummingbird tags are the Wildlife Conservation Section's largest fundraiser, a standard of support for more than two decades. Sales and renewals provide as much as two-thirds of Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund revenues each year. In fiscal 2018, license plates accounted for 51 percent of revenue, down from 64, 66 and 55 percent, respectively, from 2017 to 2015, but up from 41 percent in 2014. Although the percentages have fluctuated, until 2018 tag revenue had gradually increased the previous three years.
The continuing significance of the plates for conservation is largely due to state lawmakers' decision in 2014 to lower the cost of buying and renewing DNR wildlife plates to only $25 more than a standard state tag and dedicate up to 80 percent of those fees to programs the plates benefit. Since July 1, 2014, $19 for each eagle and hummingbird tag bought and $20 for each renewed has gone to conserve wildlife and natural habitats. After bottoming out at $841,160 in 2014, tag revenues have topped $1 million a year.

Sales and renewals had spiraled downward after 2010 legislation upped the price for most specialty plates, reduced the share going to sponsor groups to $10 a tag, and added an annual renewal fee. While those changes initially increased revenue peaking at $1.88 million in 2011 for eagle and hummingbird tags the higher price, less money for conservation and additional fee soon undercut sales and renewals.
The challenge now is twofold: continue to slow the decline in renewals while bolstering the increase in plate sales through effective marketing. Key to both areas is the redesigned eagle and U.S. flag plate released in August 2016. A smaller, less vibrant version of this iconic combo sold from 2004-2013 and still ranks as Georgia's most popular specialty plate.
Sales of the new eagle plate have helped ease the impact of declines in renewals of hummingbird and older eagle tags. There were 73,705 eagle and hummer plates on the road in Georgia at the close of fiscal 2018, down only 2.5 percent from 2017. (For comparison, that total is 78 percent fewer than in 2010, when there were 347,401 tags benefiting the Wildlife Conservation Fund in

circulation.) The rate of decline slowed slightly from 2017 to 2018, with 2,027 fewer tags in circulation in 2017 compared to 1,908 in 2018.
(Note: Tag revenue as distributed by the state Department of Revenue can include revenue collected outside the state's July-June fiscal year. Yet DNR tracks total plates issued and renewed by fiscal year. The differences can affect year-to-year comparisons. Also, 25 percent of net revenue from Jekyll Island's Georgia Sea Turtle Center plate goes to DNR for conserving nongame wildlife and is reported as tag revenue.)
In fiscal 2018, Wildlife Conservation and the Wildlife Resources Division's Pubic Affairs office created a design to replace the hummingbird tag. The plan is to debut the new plate in spring 2019. Public Affairs' Heidi Ferguson also worked with Georgia Correctional Industries and the state Department of Revenue to provide an inventory of wildlife plates in more county tag offices, and continued outreach efforts to tax commissioners and the staff at tag offices. Patriotic radio ads on Atlanta-based WUBL-FM (94.9 "The Bull") encouraged listeners in the metro area to buy the updated eagle-and-flag plate.

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30th annual Weekend for Wildlife fundraiser (Linda May/DNR)

Weekend for Wildlife
Weekend for Wildlife is one of the country's most successful fundraisers for conserving rare and other native wildlife. The event has grossed more than $13 million since 2001. Started in 1989 and held each winter since at the prestigious Cloister at Sea Island, Weekend for Wildlife draws 200-400 guests for a weekend of outdoor trips, auctions and dining.
The 2017 event raised more than $1 million and, excluding expenses and fees, directed giving for programs and money raised by TERN, returned $510,020 to the Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund. This amount, estimated higher in the previous fiscal year report, was disbursed to the Wildlife Conservation Section in fiscal 2018.
The 2018 Weekend for Wildlife, the event's 30th anniversary, also raised more than $1 million. Revenue to the Wildlife Conservation Fund from that fundraiser was disbursed by The Georgia Natural Resources Foundation in fiscal 2018.
Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund Checkoff
Created in 1989, the state income tax checkoff offers Georgians a convenient way to donate to the Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund. Since the

late 1990s, the checkoff's net contributions have averaged $256,000 and made up about 9 percent of Wildlife Conservation Fund revenues. This revenue is collected by calendar year.
For the past three years, contributions to what is commonly called the Give Wildlife a Chance checkoff have hit new lows, with 2017's $113,606 undershooting 2016's then-record low of $131,248. However, contributions rallied in 2018 to $129,813, a 14 percent increase over the previous year. Checkoff revenue hit an all-time high of $510,910 in 1991.
The Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund checkoff is line 30 on the long state income tax form (Form 500) and line 10 of the short form (Form 500-EZ).

Online Donations
In March 2018, the Wildlife Resources Division's Michael Spencer, supervisor of the License and Boat Registration Unit, worked with division Public Affairs staff to create options for donating to the Georgia Wildlife Conservation Fund through www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com , the agency's license and permit portal.
The additions allowed users to make a set donation or round up license purchases or renewals with the extra going to conservation. Spencer also created a click-through promotion titled "Keep Georgia Wild," which bundles a $10 donation with a $5 one-day hunting/fishing license. (Licenses return to wildlife work in Georgia the fee plus about $45 in federal excise taxes paid by hunters and anglers on the purchases of guns, fishing rods and other gear.)
By the June 30 close of fiscal year 2018, $36,332 had been donated online to the Wildlife Conservation Fund. The round-up option raised the most, with 9,900 users giving a total of $33,742. Also, 149 gave $10 each ($1,490 total), 65 gave $5 each ($325), 13 donated $25 ($325), seven contributed $50 ($350) and one person gave $100.
Donors new to the website select "Licenses and Permits," then create a customer account. They are then only a click away from turning their appreciation for gopher tortoises, Georgia aster and other native species into financial support for conserving them.
The Environmental Resources Network
The Environmental Resources Network, or TERN, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to support Wildlife Conservation Section activities. TERN, online at www.tern. homestead.com and on Facebook, raises most of its funds through membership dues and through auction, raffle and sale items at Weekend for Wildlife.
In fiscal 2018, TERN funded 15 project proposals submitted by Wildlife Conservation staff and totaling $72,000. Those projects included:

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Acworth educator Karen Garland receives Conservation Teacher of Year grant

Summer Camp ACE (Adventures in Conservation Education) $5,500
Outdoor Wildlife Leadership School $6,500
Youth Birding Competition $6,220
Integrating Youth Birding Competition participants into the Breeding Bird Survey $600
Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest $2,500
TERN Outstanding Conservation Teacher Award $1,250
Visiting the Butterfly Skyway $5,960
Camp TALON $1,000
Taxonomic status of a new genus of freshwater fish in Georgia $4,990
Mammal camera-trapping citizen-science project $7,800
Feral hog exclusion and eradication protecting mountain bogs $4,140
Monitoring remnant and introduced gopher frog populations in Georgia $7,950
Bat garden project $3,500
Developing a statewide monitoring program for diamondback terrapins $6,530
Bat house building workshop $7,560
In addition, new TERN president Joey Slaughter offered support from Georgia Power to fund a project, and board member Patty Deveau and her husband Todd offered to fund another project, bringing the grand total to 17 projects funded

at $77,280. TERN provided financial support, as well, to several other projects and related conferences throughout the year. TERN has paid or obligated a remarkable $1,372,000 to the Wildlife Conservation program since these grants were first provided in 1992.
Officers for the group include President Slaughter, Vice President Jerry Donovan, Secretary Kim Kilgore, Treasurer Jerry Booker, Executive Director Terry W. Johnson and Executive Secretary Wanda Granitz.
Federal and Other Funding
The Wildlife Conservation Section received more than $9.76 million in federal and other grants during fiscal year 2018 to support projects that benefit nongame wildlife species and their habitats. Including spending involving grants, bonds and other funds, section expenditures totaled $20.32 million during the year.
The grants included $3 million for land acquisition. Sources varied from the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund and the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program all administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense.

Use of these targeted grants, usually matched with funds from the Wildlife Conservation Fund, included acquiring habitat for conservation and research, surveys, and occurrence data collection focused on at-risk species.
In fiscal 2018, the federal apportionment of State Wildlife Grants for Georgia was $1,342,958. The amount marked a $19,581 increase over fiscal 2017, but $702,995 less than in fiscal 2010, the program's funding high-point. A suite of federal conservation programs, including State Wildlife Grants, have been cut since 2010. The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program has bipartisan support in Congress. Its funding, however, is not sufficient for states to meet the conservation needs outlined in their State Wildlife Action Plans.
State and Tribal Wildlife Grants is the only federal program designed to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered through voluntary, proactive conservation. The DNR Wildlife Resources Division uses the funding to research and monitor species of greatest conservation need, restore habitat, acquire land, and accomplish other work identified in Georgia's State Wildlife Action Plan . This plan, a comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy created in 2005 and revised in 2015 with partner agencies, organizations, stakeholders and the public, is required to receive State Wildlife Grants.
Conservation work spurred by the Wildlife Action Plan contributes to local and state economies by supporting the nation's some 86 million wildlife viewers 16 years old and older, part of an outdoors recreation economy that generates nearly $76 billion a year nationwide in related expenditures, according to a 2016 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey. In Georgia, State Wildlife Grants are critical to helping conserve wildlife and natural places for current and future generations. Wildlife viewing included 2.4 million Georgians and Georgia visitors who spent, all told, an estimated $1.8 billion in the state in 2011, according to an earlier Fish and Wildlife Service survey that provided state estimates.
Considering the conservation needs identified in states' Wildlife Action Plans and the insufficiency of State Wildlife Grants to meet those needs, the push to secure dedicated funding to prevent more than 12,000 species from becoming endangered coalesced into the Alliance for America's Fish and Wildlife in fiscal 2017. The alliance grew

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out of the partnership developed by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America's Diverse Fish and Wildlife Resources. Organized by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, this 26-member panel comprised of national leaders representing outdoor recreation retail and manufacturing, energy and automotive industries, private landowners, educational institutions, conservation organizations, sportsmen's groups, and state fish and wildlife agencies worked to identify a new funding mechanism to support state fish and wildlife conservation to ensure the sustainability of wildlife.
In 2017, the Recovering America's Wildlife Act was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. At the end of fiscal 2018, House Resolution 4647 had more than 100 cosponsors, including three from Georgia Earl "Buddy" Carter (R-Pooler), Hank Johnson (D-Decatur) and Austin Scott (R-Tifton). The Senate bill was S. 3223. The bipartisan legislation proposes a 21st century funding model to conserve wildlife, aiming to prevent more than 12,000 species from becoming endangered. The bills would redirect $1.3 billion annually in revenues from energy development on federal lands and waters to an existing subaccount to facilitate states' ability to conserve at-risk species in a voluntary, non-regulatory manner, and all without introducing any new taxes. The

funding would go to the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program, established in 2000 under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. Pittman-Robertson, officially the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, has provided states critical funding for wildlife management and conservation funding since its passage in 1937.
DNR's Wildlife Resources Division has helped shape the effort to identify dedicated funding for states to conserve nongame. That effort included former directors Dan Forster and David Waller taking part in the Blue Ribbon Panel's first meeting.
Learn more about the Alliance for America's Fish and Wildlife and Recovering America's Wildlife Act at www.ournatureusa.com.
Administration and Personnel
In a May 2018 Endangered Species Day announcement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognized Wildlife Conservation Section botanist Lisa Kruse as a 2017 Recovery Champion for the Southeast Region. The agency cited Kruse for leadership in working to restore and conserve endangered Canby's dropwort, including at a wetlands complex called Neyami savanna in south Georgia's Lee County. "Her dedication and

passion to recover Canby's dropwort has resulted in significant conservation gains and she continues to bring us closer to our recovery goal of 19 protected populations," the service said in a news release.
The following Wildlife Conservation employees were chosen by administration as Wildlife Resources Division champions, selections announced quarterly and recognizing exemplary work: Kruse, Amber Barrow, Lisa Boone, Jesse Burnett, Sue Cahill, Shirley Hall, Ashley Harrington, John Jensen, Greg Krakow, Eamonn Leonard, Tom Patrick, Steve Raper and Jacob Thompson.
Jenifer Wisniewski, Wildlife Resources marketing and communications manager, received the Association for Conservation Information's Spirit of ACI award at the group's annual conference in summer 2018. The award honors members who show extraordinary commitment and effort on behalf of the national organization of natural resources communicators. Wisniewski also is the association's new president.
At the 2018 conference, the Wildlife Resources Division website revamped by Public Affairs webmaster Amanda Hrubesh placed second in the annual contest, as did the Wildlife Conservation e-newsletter Georgia Wild edited by communications specialist Rick Lavender.

DNR botanist Lisa Kruse at Neyami pond (Rebecca Byrd/DNR)

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GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES WILDLIFE RESOURCES DIVISION
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SECTION
2067 U.S. Highway 278 SE, Social Circle, GA 30025 (770) 557-3213
OFFICES ALSO AT:
116 Rum Creek Drive, Forsyth, GA 31029 (478) 994-1438 2065 U.S. Highway 278 SE, Social Circle, GA 30025 (770) 557-3213 One Conservation Way, Suite 310, Brunswick, GA 31520 (912) 264-7218
543 Elliott Trail, Mansfield, GA 30055 (770) 784-3059
Mark Williams n Commissioner, DNR Rusty Garrison n Director, Wildlife Resources Division Dr. Jon Ambrose n Chief, Wildlife Conservation Section Matt Elliott n Assistant Chief, Wildlife Conservation Section Dr. Brett Albanese, Jason Lee, Kim Morris-Zarneke, Bob Sargent n Wildlife Conservation Program Managers
Steve Friedman n Chief, DNR Real Estate Office Linda May n Wildlife Conservation Environmental Outreach Coordinator
Rick Lavender n Report Editor Contributors: Wildlife Conservation Section staff, DNR Real Estate Office, DNR Law Enforcement Division
FOLLOW US /WildlifeResourcesDivisionGADNR
/GeorgiaWild /georgiawildlife /georgiawildlife.wordpress.com, a Wildlife Resources blog /GeorgiaWildlife /photos/wildliferesourcesdivision
Also sign up for the Wildlife Conservation Section's free e-newsletter, Georgia Wild. Subscribe under the Education tab at www.georgiawildlife.com.
Cover image (front, back): Prescribed fire moving through switch cane at Chattahoochee Fall Line WMA (Philip Juras/www.philipjuras.com) Report design: OM Graphic Design