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Many people believe that Georgia’s state reptile, the gopher tortoise, is plentiful. While this may be the case in some areas, the gopher tortoise is in decline throughout most of Georgia and the rest of its range in the Southeast. Because of this decline, the gopher tortoise is a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act. However, due to roughly 80 percent of gopher tortoise habitat being privately owned, the fate of this species depends on finding common ground on forest management.
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GEORGIA FORESTRY
TODAYVolume 11, Issue 2
March | April 2015
FORESTRY DEGREE GROWING STUDENTS AT ABAC
4 March | Arpil 2015
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc., 1154 Lower BirminghamRoad, Canton, Georgia 30115. Recipients include participants of the Forest Stewardship Programand the American Tree Farm System.
Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the publisher, A4 Inc., nor dothey accept responsibility for errors of content or omission and, as a matter of policy, neither dothey endorse products or advertisements appearing herein. Part of this magazine may be reproducedwith the written consent of the publisher. Correspondence regarding changes of address should bedirected to A4 Inc. at the address indicated above. Advertising material should be sent to A4 Inc.at the e-mail address: [email protected]. Questions on advertising should be directed to the ad-vertising director at the e-mail address provided above. Editorial material should be sent to A4Inc. or to Alva Hopkins.
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY1154 Lower Birmingham Road, Canton, Georgia 30115
On the Cover: GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAYPrinted in the USA
PUBLISHER:A4 Inc.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFAlva Hopkins
PRODUCTION MANAGERPamela [email protected]
EDITORIAL BOARDWendy BurnettAlva HopkinsStasia KellySandi Martin
Roland Petersen-Frey
“Our enrollment in forestry is
up about 16 percent over last
year,” Dr. William Moore, De-
partment Head of Forest Re-
sources at ABAC, said. “We
have about 106 students now
in both Forestry and Forest
Technology. Ninety per cent of
those students are in the
bachelor’s degree program.”
Find out more on page 8.
5Georgia Forestry Today
FORESTRY TODAYGeorgia
Volume 11, Issue 2 March | April 2015
P.08 Forestry Degree Growing Students
at ABAC
P.10 Managing Forests for Gopher
Tortoises
P.17 Message from the GFC Director
P.18 GFC News
P.19 Champions Among Us:
Georgia’s Notable Trees and
the People Who Find Them
P.22 The Outdoorsman | Preaching in the
Georgia Woods
P.26 State Forestry Association Introduces
Timber Theft Reward Program
P.27 Letter to the Editor:
Save the Planet ~ Burn a Tree
P.28 Georgia Forestry News
March 26Georgia Forestry Foundation Longleaf GolfTournament | Hawkinsville, GAInfo: Information coming soon.
April 2Approximate date for end of Georgia legislative session
June 2-5National Conference of Forest Landowners |Hilton Oceanfront Virginia BeachVirginia Beach, VAInfo: www.forestlandowners.com
June 22-26Georgia Teacher Conservation Workshop |Mansfield, GeorgiaInfo: Information coming soon.
July 31 - August 32015 GFA Annual Conference & Forestry ExpoWestin Jekyll IslandJekyll Island, GeorgiaInfo: Information coming soon.
Forestry CalendarIf you have aforestry event
you’d like to seeon our calendar,please contact
Alva Hopkins atahopkins@a4inc.
com with thesubject line
‘Calendar Event.’
7Georgia Forestry Today
List of advertisers
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College .................................3
American Forest Management ...............................................30
Beach Timber Company Inc...................................................30
Blanton’s ......................................................................................16
Bodenhamer Farms & Nursery...............................................12
Canal Wood LLC......................................................................30
Cantrell Forest Products Inc. ..................................................30
Davis - Garvin ............................................................................24
F4 Tech ........................................................................................14
Farm Credit Associations of Georgia....................................14
Flint Equipment Company.....................................................29
Forest Resource Services Inc. ..................................................30
F&W Forestry Service..............................................................24
Georgia 811 ...............................................................Back Cover
Georgia Forestry Commission ...............................................15
HEI...............................................................................................30
International Forest Company................................................. 6
LandMark Spatial Solutions......................................................4
Lanigan & Associates ...............................................................24
Meeks’ Farms & Nursery ...........................Inside Front Cover
Morbark ......................................................................................30
Outdoor Underwriters.............................................................12
Prudential ......................................................................................9
Plum Creek ...................................................................................5
Rivers Edge Forest Products....................................................30
SuperTree Seedlings.....................................................................7
Weyerhaeuser................................................................................9
Whitfield Farms & Nursery ....................................................11
Yancey Brothers ............................................Inside Back Cover
9Georgia Forestry Today
gone up, and the number of facultymembers has certainly increased in size.”
ABAC is about to add its fifth fac-ulty member to the forestry instructionteam. That means Moore has some addi-tional accreditation work to accomplish.
“We’re going to apply for further ac-creditation through the Society of Amer-ican Foresters for our bachelor’s degreeprogram,” Moore said. “Our forest tech-nology program has been accredited bythe Society of American Foresters for
years but we had to reach a certain num-ber of faculty members for our four-yeardegree. We’ll submit that in April.”
In all its programs, ABAC prides it-self on hands-on experiences for itsgraduates. In forestry, that is definitelythe case.
“Most of our laboratory work is heldon property that is not too far from cam-pus,” Moore said. “Some of the privatelandowners around here are very gener-ous when it comes to allowing us to use
their property for our labs. We get hugesupport from the community.”
ABAC students also have access tothe 200-acre J.G. Woodroof Farm, the95-acre Forest Lakes Golf Club, and the90-acre Georgia Museum of Agricultureand Historic Village, all operated by thecollege.
Applications are now being acceptedfor the ABAC fall semester which beginson Aug. 12. v
any people believe thatGeorgia’s state rep-tile, the gopher
tortoise, is plentiful. Whilethis may be the case insome areas, the gophertortoise is in declinethroughoutmost of Geor-gia and the restof its range inthe Southeast.Because of this de-cline, the gopher tor-toise is a candidatespecies for listingunder the EndangeredSpecies Act. However,due to roughly 80 percent of gopher tortoisehabitat being privately owned, the fate of this speciesdepends on finding common ground on forest management.
Shedding Light on Burrows
In Georgia, gopher tortoises are most abundant in longleafpine sandhills and xeric oak hammocks. Tortoises need well-drained, sandy soils for digging their burrows, which range upto ten feet deep and 25-35 feet long. Each burrow has oneopening and is usually easy to spot due to the half-moon shapeentrance and the mound of sand at the burrow entrance (calledthe ‘apron’). Depending on the soil type and the habitat qual-
ity, a tortoise may useanywhere from one to
ten burrows, whichcan make estimat-
ing tortoisenumbers dif-ficult anddeceiving.
Alandowner
might have 20 bur-rows on their prop-
erty, but only four tofive tortoises!Due to the number of ani-
mals that use their burrows, the go-pher tortoise is oen referred to as a
‘keystone species.’ e burrows are not onlyimportant to the gopher tortoise, but to
many other animals as well. Burrows main-tain a fairly constant temperature and humidity
year-round, making them the perfect shelter. More than 300invertebrates (such as crickets, flies, and beetles) and upwardsof 60 vertebrates (including the burrowing owl, the federallythreatened eastern indigo snake, and the rare gopher frog)make their homes in gopher tortoise burrows. Without theburrows, these species might be in even further declinethroughout the state. Even the northern bobwhite quail de-pends on the tortoise burrow as critical shelter from predatorsand beneficial fires.
GOPHER TORTOISES
10 March | Arpil 2015
Forests forBy Dr. Jessica McGuire and John Jensen
MPhoto credit: Jessica
McGuire, GADNR
Gopher tortoises lay three to fieen eggsfrom May through June in the burrowapron or in a nearby sunny spot. Incuba-tion in Georgia takes 80-100 days, de-pending on the location. Unfortunately,as with other ground-nesting species,nest predation is very high and few go-pher tortoise nests are successful. Com-mon nest predators include raccoons,armadillos, foxes, skunks, and fire ants.
Tortoises that hatch quickly seekrefuge in a nearby adult burrow, or digtheir own. Young tortoises are extremelyvulnerable; it can take more than sevenyears for their shell to harden.
Managing the Habitat
Gopher tortoises are long-lived, slow-growing reptiles that commonly reachages of 60 years or more. ey are veryloyal to their burrows and rarely move ifhabitat conditions are suitable. Tortoisesleave areas when woody vegetation be-comes too dense and shades out theground. rough our work with thisspecies, we oen find that displaced tor-toises move to grassy roadsides and otheropen areas, such as pastures and powerline right-of-ways.
Gopher tortoises rely on a high di-versity of groundcover plants, such asgrasses and legumes, for food. In order toencourage this buffet, sufficient sunlightneeds to reach the ground, and soil dis-turbance should be minimal. Frequent
fires can help maintain open habitat.Note: While all pine species can be man-aged for gopher tortoises, longleaf pinesrise to the top due to their resilience,open crowns, and ability to survive burnsat a younger age.
e good news is that if you havegopher tortoises on your property, it isnot too late to help them thrive.rough projects on state lands, we haveseen tortoises move back into restoredhabitat and away from dangerous road-
11Georgia Forestry Today
Tortoise and Timber Practices
During logging operations, precau-
tions to take include:
• Mark burrows before the log-
ging crews arrive.
• Mark burrows with flagging tape
placed at approximately breast
height. Also paint the tree near-
est to the burrow. Keep in mind
that the tree can still be har-
vested; the marking is to alert
the equipment operator.
• Avoid affecting burrows and
nests by keeping heavy machin-
ery out of a ten-foot radius
around the burrow. Take partic-
ular care to avoid the area just
behind the burrow entrance
(where it is most prone to col-
lapse) and the apron.
• Choose take-out rows carefully
to avoid having to bend around
tortoise burrows.
In addition to protecting tortoises
and their burrows, you can opti-
mize habitat on your property
through the following forest man-
agement practices:
• Conduct prescribed burns on a
two-year rotation, ideally in the
growing season.
• Thin forests to maintain at least
60 percent of the ground in di-
rect sunlight (generally 50-60
feet2 of basal area per acre).
This ratio is similar to manage-
ment recommendations for bob-
white quail.
• Maintain timber stands of vari-
ous age classes.
• Consider chemical control of ex-
otic grasses and mid-story hard-
woods. Such control may be
necessary to promote native
warm season grasses and an
open understory.
Photo credit: Jessica McGuire, GA DNR
sides. And there is help available forrestoration and management of gophertortoise habitat on private lands.
Forest landowners can take advantageof numerous conservation incentives andeven technical assistance. For example,the Natural Resources ConservationService’s Working Lands for Wildlifeprogram is focused on improving gophertortoise habitat. Prescribed burning, lon-gleaf pine establishment, and brush man-
agement are just a few of the beneficialpractices available through the program.e U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Part-ners for Wildlife program also providestechnical and financial assistance to re-store and enhance habitat for migratorybirds, fishes, and threatened and endan-gered species.
Protect Tortoises on Your Property
When harvesting timber, we recommend
that the landowner, forester, and con-tractors work together to avoid damag-ing tortoise burrows. Timber harvestpractices can be modified to protect tor-toises and their burrows by clearly mark-ing the burrow entrances with flagging.While this may sound like a cumber-some task, it isn’t, according to ScottAdams of Adams Forestry Service inCamilla. Adams works with landownersconcerned with protecting tortoises.
12 March | Arpil 2015
Flagged burough near logging equipment. -Photo credit: Jessica McGuire, GA DNR
He said that flagging and avoiding bur-rows takes “very little extra time and isjust something to get used to. It shouldbecome common practice and isn’thard.” Adams did warn that avoidingburrows will likely result in the skidderpulling across rows, scarring a few treesin the process.
Ronnie Baker, who operates a 720Tigercat for Burgundy Farms Inc. inBainbridge, is used to avoiding well-marked tortoise burrows. “It really does-n’t slow me down,” Baker said. “Ithought it was going to be a headache,
but the flagging worked out really well. Iwas able to get all but maybe one or twomarked trees.”
Matt Lambert, site foreman for Bur-gundy, said that working around the bur-rows doesn’t undercut production.e take-home: With only a modestamount of additional effort, timber har-vests can greatly improve habitat withoutnegatively impacting gopher tortoisesand the burrows that provide criticalshelter for them and many other ani-mals. v
13Georgia Forestry Today
For more information, visit
www.georgiawildlife.com/Reports
and view or download the
brochure “Forest Management
Practices that Enhance Habitat for
the Gopher Tortoise.”
Dr. Jessica McGuire is a
wildlife biologist for the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources’
Nongame Section. She can be
reached at jessica.mcguire
@dnr.state.ga.us. John Jensen is a
senior wildlife biologist with the
Nongame Conservation Section.
Forestry for Wildlife Partners
Honored - In February, Gov. Nathan
Deal recognized three corporate for-
est landowners for their stewardship
and land management practices ben-
efiting Georgia’s wildlife. CatchMark
Timber Trust, Plum Creek, and Geor-
gia Power were honored by Deal as
2014 partners in the Forestry for
Wildlife Partnership, a program ad-
ministered by Georgia DNR’s Wildlife
Resources Division.
Forestry for Wildlife Partnership
is a voluntary program that promotes
sustainable forest and wildlife con-
servation in corporate forestry prac-
tices. The 2014 partners had a
positive impact for wildlife on more
than one million acres.
“As Forestry for Wildlife partners,
CatchMark Timber Trust, Plum Creek,
and Georgia Power have gone be-
yond industry standards to manage
the forest lands they own for the
benefit of Georgia’s wildlife,” Deal
said.
Learn more at www.georgiaw-
ildlife.com/FWP.
e Forestry for Wildlife Partners group
Flagged burrow. -Photo credit: Jessica McGuire, GA DNR
15Georgia Forestry Today
16 March | Arpil 2015
hat do a historybook, a bath-room scale, asp e e d om e terand theWeather Chan-
nel have in common? They’re all tools thathelp us assess our situations, by studying thepast, scrutinizing the present, and evaluatingwhat’s up ahead.
Each of us (according to that great re-search tool, the Internet) makes some35,000 conscious decisions every day. It’slikely many of yours relate to the forestry in-dustry, so what are the tools you use tomake wise choices?
I’m a big fan of experience and the ad-vice of others in assessing situations andtrends. I’m also really big on the signpostswe’re fortunate to receive regularly in Geor-gia that help us understand the health of ourindustry. Researchers and number crunch-ers supply us with many reports that can beused to quantify the health of Georgia’sforestry business.
One of the annual documents we lookforward to analyzing is Georgia Tech’s In-novation Institute Economic Impact ofForestry Report. Each year it provides im-portant barometers of activity that help usmake smart decisions for the future.
Here are some highlights of the 2013report:
• The forestry industry in 2013 em-ployed 50,110 workers in all indus-try sectors combined.
• Annual compensation (wages +salaries) was more than $3.1 billion.
• Total revenue generated was morethan $16.9 billion.
• Total economic activity supportedby Georgia forestry industry was$28.9 billion.
• Georgia’s forestry industry generated$745.9 million in revenues for thestate budget.
From 2012 to 2013, the forestry industry’soutput registered an annual growth rate offour percent, which, along with the growthrate for employment, wages, and salaries, isa little slower pace than the previous year,but continues movement in a positive direc-tion. The industry’s increased activity re-sulted in higher net revenues for the stategovernment, and forestry ranks second (be-hind food processing) in the state’s top threewages and salaries category.
Another valuable report that can helpus evaluate conditions is the 2014 SouthernGroup of State Foresters’ Economic Impor-tance of Forestry in the Southern Region.
This report, produced by Southern Re-gional Extension Forestry, calculatesforestry’s economic impact in the 13-stateSouthern region. The latest numbers showthat in 2011, forestry and the forest prod-ucts industry generated $230.6 billion, orover two percent of the U.S. South’s regionaleconomic output. Forest-related economicactivity generated almost $5 billion in in-come in 2011, with 1,075,764 jobs. That’stwo percent of all jobs in the South. (Linksto both reports are at GaTrees.org.)
Yes, that’s a lot of numbers, and theytend to make some folks’ eyes glaze over. Re-member, though, that each statistic, eachtick of a tenth measurement and shade on agraph bar represents people; co-workers andcolleagues who are capable of achievinggreat results. The reports are there to beused as gauges, to help us reflect and plan,even ‘think outside the box’ and dream a lit-tle, so we all can be satisfied with the workwe deliver.
Georgia’s forestry industry remainshealthy, sustainable, and growing. By utiliz-ing all the tools we have at our service, wecan keep it that way for a long, long time.
Robert FarrisGFC Commissioner e
17Georgia Forestry Today
Georgia Forestry Commission
Message from the DirectorDear GFT Reader,
Robert Farris
W
18 March | Arpil 2015
Cost-share funds are now available for the purchase of portable steel
and wood bridges that can enhance stream crossing BMPs. The GeorgiaEnvironmental Protection Division’s (GA EPD) Clean Water Act grant is a 60 per-cent-40 percent federal/in-kind grant, to be used for the construction of the bridgesthat will be housed, owned, and loaned out by partner companies. To be eligible, apartner company must be a wood receiving yard or mill, or a wood dealer working with multiple loggers. The steel bridge federalcost share maximum is $10,000; wooden bridge maximum is $4,000. Companies will be required to track usage of the bridges, andtracts on which purchased bridges are being used may be visited by GFC to document BMP implementation for use by SFI com-panies and GA EPD. Full details on this cost-share program are available at GaTrees.org. e
GFC News
The Georgia Forestry Commission has named its District of the Year
and North and South Regions of the Year for fiscal 2014. The Cof-fee-Atkinson Unit took South Region of the Year honors for its manyachievements, including fire prevention activities with home risk assessmentsfor 88 homeowners, and 631 miles of plowing and harrowing pre-suppressionbreaks. The North Region of the Year award went to the Jasper-Jones Unit,where the team was recognized for its 55 prescribed burn assists and the sup-pression of 67 wildfires averaging 3.5 acres in size. The Flint District earnedDistrict of the Year honors for numerous accomplishments, including leadingthe GFC during FY 2014 in firebreak plowing, firebreak harrowing, and pre-
scribed burning acres, as well as completing several major GFC renovation projects. Representatives from these teams were recog-nized at the State Capitol in Atlanta by Governor Deal, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. e
It’s interesting to read about Georgia's notable trees, growing and flourishing
all over the state. That’s why the Georgia Forestry Commission features significanttrees in ‘Tree Talk,’ a special feature on GFC’s Web sitehome page at GaTrees.org. A tree’s height, history orlocation may make it extraordinary, and we’re alwayslooking for trees to spotlight! If you know of a notabletree, tell us about it by e-mailing [email protected] some good photos! We’re looking forward totalking about your special tree. e
Are you receiving the Georgia Forestry Commission’s e-Update? This newsy commu-niqué contains all the latest information from GFC’s business units, including Forest Manage-ment, Forest Protection, Reforestation, and Utilization, along with messages from GFC DirectorRobert Farris and a calendar listing of important upcoming events. The GFC e-Update is dis-tributed quarterly directly to your preferred e-mail inbox. If you’re not on our mailing list andwould like to be, please contact [email protected]. e
It is a windy, downright cold February day in Braselton, Georgia.Anyone who doesn’t have to be outside is not, and those who dohave to be outdoors aren't necessarily happy about it. at is, un-less you’re a person with a passion, and a great big Southern heart.
Bill Lott and Jimmy Mock are tree champions, and there’snot much that can stop them from sharing their zeal. With ca-reers in forestry and agriculture education respectively, thesenative Georgians have been friends for decades, and are veri-table human Google searches for Georgia’s most notable trees.They’ve spent many an hour sizing up those trees for the state’sChampion Tree program, managed by the Georgia ForestryCommission.
Trees that are listed as Georgia Champion Trees are thelargest known tree of a particular species in the state. eir trunkmust be at least nine and a half inches in circumference measuredfour and a half feet from the ground, with a defined crown of fo-liage and at least 13 feet in total height.
Jimmy Mock is credited with submitting more eligible treesto the Georgia Champion Tree system than anyone else. Bill Lottmanages the University of Georgia’s
ompson Mill Forest and Arboretum, just off Interstate 85near Chateau Elan. Together, the gentlemen exhibit the joy oftwo kids in a candy shop as they serve as tour guides through this320-acre wonderland of trees.
“Of the 200 tree species native to Georgia, we’ve got all ex-cept five growing here,” said Lott, “and we’ve got three federallyprotected plants as well.”
Champions among Us: Georgia's Notable trees and the
People Who find them
19Georgia Forestry Today
Bill Lott and Jimmy Mock examine woodpeckers' signatures on the champion Lebanese Cedar at the
Thompson Mill Forest and Arboretum.
By Stasia Kelly
Details about Georgia's Champion Tree program can be
found here: http://www.gatrees.org/forest-manage-
ment/champion-tree-program/
A list of every Georgia Champion Tree, including photos,
can be found here: http://www.gatrees.org/forest-man-
agement/champion-tree-program/.
As they greet me at the front gate, wemarvel at the state champion ApachePine, situated next to a giant (but notchampion), native longleaf pine. BetweenMock, the ‘tree seeker’ and Lott, the ‘treekeeper,’ no question is le unanswered forthis first-time guest. Facts are shared read-ily about heights, ages, species, wildlife,and the effects of weather, and each Geor-gia Champion Tree is highlighted.Snaking through the property along nar-row dirt trails, the commentary flows con-tinuously: black cherries fared worst in
the ice storm, and that bluejack oak likesit as much here as it does in sandy south-ern Georgia. We meander past a co-cham-pion (with Columbus, Georgia) EnglishOak and the Oglethorpe Oak that took ahit from chestnut blight. We see pond cy-press and bald cypress. en we stop totake a closer look at the striking 41-footstate champion Lebanese Cedar.
“at’s the tree that Solomon sentworkers to build churches,” interjectsMock. “ey’re known for their tall,straight trunks, so they were used for a lot
of ship masts.”“And the woodpeckers really like it,”
notes Lott, as we inspect the symmetricalhole patterns drilled by the birds.
In all, ompson Mill Forest is hometo ten Georgia Champion Trees. e ar-boretum is open to the public and featuresa number of hiking trails, all of which areideal for checking out Georgia ChampionTrees. Plus, you'll discover a beautiful newplace for a picnic—when the weather iswarmer than 30 degrees!
Champion Trees Documented
Throughout Georgia
Georgia’s Champion Tree program datesback to the 1950s, when it was known asthe ‘Big Tree’ program. It was associatedwith the American Forests (AF) program,which was responsible for recording the‘official statistics’ about big trees nation-wide. Differences between the two enti-ties’ measurement criteria, along with thestaff power needed to identify and docu-ment trees, led to today’s design, wherebyGeorgia maintains Tree Championrecords for Georgia, and prospective na-tional champions are submitted and veri-fied by AF.
Today, Champion Trees are located in70 counties around the state, “and I'vebeen to every one of them, except Polk!”said Jimmy Mock.
While Mock rarely takes a road tripwithout checking on a Champion, mostof the rest of us simply share a healthy ap-preciation for these very special trees.
“We get all different kinds of peoplewho want to take part,” said Scott Griffin,Associate Chief of GFC’s Forest Manage-ment Department and former supervisorof the Champion Tree program for GFC.“Some people want to save every tree, oth-ers want to conservatively use every tree,and all appreciate a big tree. ere’s nomoney on the table here, it’s just some-thing that’s interesting to everybody,”Griffin said.
Retired GFC forester Willard Fell’sinvolvement with Champion Trees beganin 1990 and continued aer he le the
20 March | Arpil 2015
This magnificent deodar cedar in Clarke County shares champion status
with another tree in Butts County.
21Georgia Forestry Today
Commission.“e program increases the public’s
awareness about the value of trees,” saidFell. “I saw a lot of different people get in-volved, from students and schools, tocounty and city officials. Trees were rec-ognized in city parks, church yards, andeven on Ft. Stewart, where we had verylimited access to the state champion slashpine because it was in a firing impactzone,” said Fell.
Champion Trees inspire great pridein their owners, and most have been will-ing to share access to their trees, no matterwhere the location.
“I’ve seen how happy landowners arewhen their tree is admired and docu-mented as a champion,” said Jimmy Mock.“at always pleases me.”
One tree that has provided countlessmoments of pleasure and many memoriesis the State Champion live oak in Way-cross, Georgia. Estimated at more than250 years old, the 80-foot-tall tree with a160 foot crown spread stands regally atthe Baptist Village retirement facility.Mock relishes his personal connection tothe Village Centinel.
“My wife’s grandfather was a retiredpreacher,” said Mock. “After he fell andbroke his hip, he moved into Baptist Vil-lage for his last four years. He gave a serv-ice almost every day under that tree.We’d go sit under it and listen. I'll neverforget that.”
Champion Trees are at the heart of somany memories, for owners, visitors, anddocumentarians alike. Willard Fell sayslots of tree-tracking adventures stand outin his mind.
“I remember years ago when we weredocumenting a state champion tulip treein the Cohutta Wilderness,” said Fell. “Wehad to walk quite a distance to find it. Ittook us almost four hours to get there!”
Another time, shortly aer the 1996Summer Olympics, when authorities weresearching north Georgia for a man sus-pected of setting off a bomb in Atlanta,Fell was scouring the woods for the statechampion hemlock tree.
“We came across a strange lookingcampsite,” he said, “and thought it mightbelong to the missing bomber. We backedoff from that one really fast.”
Long County landowner CecilStafford said he’s “probably measuredevery big tree on my property.” He’s hadfive Champion Trees recognized on his160 acres of forestland, including the cur-rent swamp tupelo champ, which stands101 feet tall.
“I’ve always been interested in trees,”said Stafford. “I’ve driven miles and miles
out of my way just to see a state or nationalchampion.”
It’s safe to say that many tree lovers inGeorgia understand that compulsion, andthey are encouraged to keep an eye out forthe giants among us. e process for mak-ing tree discoveries ‘official’ is specified onthe Georgia Forestry Commission Website (details on page 19).
Fair warning, however: tree huntingis contagious! In the words of JimmyMock, “I don’t smoke and I don’t drink,so I get my fix on Champion Trees!” v
Forestry Specialist and Georgia Champion Tree Program Manager, Mark
McClellan, measures Cecil Stafford's swamp tupelo champ in Long County.
22 March | April 2015
Preaching in theGeorgia Woods
By John Trussell
The OUTDOORSMAN
23Georgia Forestry Today
s outdoorsmen, we often think that the
great outdoors is God’s greatest work and
his hand is at work all around us. In the
early pioneer days of Georgia, there were
few comforts of life and just living from day
to day was a challenge. Our early ancestors
looked to the Bible to draw strength and
the few circuit preachers, who went from settlement to set-
tlement to preach, were heartily anticipated to bring hope
to the wilderness. In pioneer days, going to church on Sun-
days was the center of social life, where everyone got to
talk with their neighbors and share a great meal under the
towering oak trees. This a story about one of those rugged,
penniless, and pious preachers who brought religion to the
back woods of Georgia in the early 1800s.
Many years ago, I passed a roadside bronze plaque, set
off the road along highway 11 in Jasper County, near the
Charlie Elliot Wildlife center. I passed it several times over
the years before curiosity got the best of me and I had to
stop my truck and take a look. The Plaque was attached to
a very large granite rock and said, “On this rock in 1803,
Lorenzo Dow of Connecticut, famous pioneer evangelist,
preached the first gospel sermon in Jasper County.” A quote
from him said, “Upon the great journey of life, eternity is
the country to which we are all traveling,” Lorenzo Dow,
Road to Peace. The Plaque was placed there in 1933 by the
DAR chapter of Monticello. My thought was, who was
Lorenzo Dow?
He was an evangelist, author, mason, and eccentric.
Lorenzo Dow was once one of the most famous people in
the United States. His autobiography was the second best-
selling book next to the Bible in the early 1800s. Thousands
of children were named after him with Lorenzo Dow re-
maining a popular name until the early 1900s. He became
a traveling minister on probation with the Methodist
Church at age 21, but was never ordained. During the 38
years of his career, he traveled to England and Ireland two
times, to Canada and the West Indies, and around the
United States and into rural Georgia 15 to 20 times. Since
he was not an ordained minister, he preached in town halls,
barns, open fields, and in the Congressional Hall of Repre-
sentatives.
He was known for appearing at public events announc-
ing that he would preach in the same spot one year from
today. He always appeared and was met by an immense
crowd. His oratory was known to bring women to tears and
men to hysteria as he preached fire and brimstone. It was
said that he never used a comb and only had the clothes
on his back. Tall and bony, he was a charismatic speaker
with a harsh raspy voice. He knew instinctively how to ap-
peal to an audience. After speaking, he would often jump
into the saddle of his horse and ride away at a gallop. He
was known for leaving through windows instead of doors.
There are hundreds of stories about the itinerant preacher
who himself became a folklore legend.
One keen observer said of him, “He arrests attention--
this gaunt, restless preacher. With his long hair, his flowing
beard, his harsh voice, and his wild gesticulation; he was so
rude and unkempt as to startle all conservative hearers. De-
spite his detractors, his hold upon the masses was remark-
able. He was not selling anything but free eternal salvation,
never took up a collection, and that alone gave him instant
notice. No preacher, so well as he, understood the heart of
the pioneer. In a day when the ‘jerks,’ falling and rolling on
the ground, and dancing still accompanied religious preach-
ing, he still knew how to give to his hearers the wholesome
bread of life. Frequently he inspired an awe that was almost
superstitious and made numerous converts. Many stories
are told of him.
At Montville, Connecticut, a thief had stolen an axe. In
the course of a sermon, Dow said that the guilty man was
A
Known as a righteous man, Seaborn Goodall gave Lorenzo Dowrefuge in his house when he visited Jacksonboro, Screven County Georgia in 1820
in the congregation and had a feather
on his nose. At once the right man was
detected by his trying to brush away
the feather and quickly drew the at-
tention of the sheriff.
It is very likely that a few of our an-
cestors heard Dow speak because he
traveled widely and drew a crowd
wherever he showed up. He often
spoke in Savannah, but traveled all
over Georgia. However, folks in some
towns were not so glad to see him. In
the early 1800s, both Irish whiskey and
local moonshine flowed freely, and in
some towns, it was more like the Wild
West than congenial southern Geor-
gia. Dueling with pistols to the death
was not uncommon, and bar room
brawls often involved the gouging of
eyes and the removal of ears, fingers
or other appendages.
Jacksonboro was that kind of town
when Lorenzo Dow wandered into it in
Screven County in 1821, according to
Clyde Hollingsworth, local historian.
Dow attempted to have a religious
service in the town’s small church, but
was disrupted by loud rowdies in the
street. Besides summoning the people,
the ringing of the church bell was the
cue for the crowds in the saloons to
get busy. After singing several hymns,
Seaborn Goodall, the clerk of court,
presented Rev. Dow, and then all heck
broke loose. The rowdies outside
began to throw pieces of brick and
stone into the open windows, shot off
pistols in the air, and gave many deep-
throated yells. The lights were extin-
guished in the church, but the roar
from the outside continued.
Dow was forced to close the
meeting. The congregation, under the
leadership of Mr. Goodall, quietly
withdrew from the building into the
outer darkness and returned to their
respective homes. But Dow was not
finished. He soon followed the row-
March | Arpil 201524
Georgia Forestry Today 25
dies into one of the saloons and at-
tempted to clean the place out. He re-
ally got their attention when he broke
open a keg of whiskey! It was said
that if he had not been rescued by
Seaborn Goodall, Dow would have
been hurt, if not killed. Later, Mr.
Goodall invited Dow to spend the
night at his house and made sure he
was well fed.
The next morning, Dow again en-
countered his tormentors, who pelted
him with rotten tomatoes and eggs as
he was walking away from the town.
Dow was seized as he passed a saloon,
and the rowdies inflicted one last in-
dignity upon him. Dow, who was a par-
tial hunchback, was told that they
wanted to straighten his back for him.
He was placed between two wide
boards, sandwich-like, and the men sat
upon the top board. After this indig-
nity, they let the raging soul go. But he
did get in the last word.
As he crossed the bridge over
Beaver Dam Creek, he raised his face
heavenward and asked God to destroy
the wicked town, except for the house
of Seaborn Goodall, who had be-
friended him. Within a few years, the
town slowly began to disappear
through floods, fire, and rotting away.
By 1847, Jacksonboro was largely
abandoned and the county seat was
moved to its current location of Sylva-
nia. By the time approximately 14,500
Union troops camped in Jacksonboro
on December 5, 1864, during General
Sherman’s infamous March to the Sea,
the Goodall House was the only re-
maining structure. Today the home has
been restored by the Briar Creek Chap-
ter of the DAR, Sylvania, Georgia.
Many religious men blessed early
Georgia with their presence, including
John and Charles Wesley, Sam Jones,
Claiborne Trussell, and Humphrey
Posey. Trussell was my great uncle
and Posey was my great grandfather,
several generations back, and I did
not know they ever existed until I was
researching this article and also trying
to join the SAR. Trussell is listed as an
early Georgia pioneer preacher, and
Posey helped establish the early
Cherokee Indian schools in North Car-
olina, the school for the deaf and
blind in Cave Springs, Georgia, as well
as many early churches. Do you have
any notables in your past? Most likely
you do, and the Sons of the American
Revolution and the Daughters of the
American Revolution can help you ex-
plore your own story. Go to dar.com
or sar.com to get started, and let us
give thanks to those early Georgians
who brought hope to the piney
woods. v
Lorenzo Dow, famous early GeorgiaPreacher, stopped in Jasper CountyGeorgia in 1803 and helped to inspireGeorgia's first settlers.
“On the great journey of life, eternity isthe country we are all traveling”
- Lorenzo Dow
26 March | Arpil 2015
State Forestry Association Introduces Timber Theft
Reward ProgramBy Matt Hestad | Director of Communications and Public Relations | Georgia Forestry Association
Following the signing of House Bill
790 in 2014, an initiative to
strengthen Georgia’s timber theft
and timber trespass statutes—the
Georgia Forestry Association (GFA)
officially reinstated its timber theft
reward program in order to provide
greater security to member
landowners who are concerned
about protecting their timber as-
sets.
e reward program aims to in-crease awareness of the new law while of-fering a $1,000 reward to individuals whoprovide information that leads to the ar-rest and conviction of individuals or par-ties involved in cases of timber the ortimber arson on a GFA member’s prop-erty. GFA members may purchase timberthe reward signs to display on theperimeter of their property.
“We want to increase awareness of thetimber security legislation through thisprogram,” GFA President SteveMcWilliams said. “ere are very few badplayers in the industry, and increasedawareness of this legislation should stifletheir bad behavior.”
HB 790 contains several features thatprovide greater protection to landownersin cases of timber the and trespass,namely, expanding the authority of theGeorgia Forestry Commission (GFC) toinvestigate, issue warrants, and make ar-rests in timber the cases. Prior to HouseBill 790, GFC had this authority only inarson cases.
According to GFC’s law enforcementdivision, landowners who have com-plaints about actions affecting their tim-ber should follow three specific steps:• First, attempt to resolve the situa-
tion with all parties involved.
• If that fails or if the harvesting par-
ties are unknown, landownersshould record all known informa-tion including contracts, dates,names, and contact information forother parties involved and anyonewho has knowledge of the events.
• Once that information is obtained,the landowner should report theincident to the local GeorgiaForestry Commission office.
“As always, communication is key to suc-cessful timber transactions,” said GFC Di-rector Robert Farris. “e GFC willcontinue helping landowners understandtimber sale processes and their rightsunder the law as part of our obligation.We’re all on the same team, and togetherwe can strengthen forest sustainability bypromoting improvements to the systemsthat support our industry.”
In addition to expanding the author-ity of the Commission, House Bill 790has several additional elements that helpto ensure the security of timber transac-tions including:• When timber is harvested without
authorization, a landowner nowmay recover ‘three-times’ the valueof the loss versus ‘one time’ thevalue.
• Scale tickets must be provided to
the timber seller within 20 days ofdelivery to the receiving mill.
• Landowner’s exposure to liabilitymay be reduced in the event of anovercut or other unauthorized tak-ing of timber if the landownertakes certain steps (not required)including clearly marking propertylines, having a survey conducted orexecuting a letter of agreement onproperty line location with the ad-joining landowner prior to harvest,a copy of which must be providedto the timber buyer.
• e new legislation establishes afour-year statute of limitationsfrom the time of the taking of thetimber during which a landownermay pursue damages.
e GFA Timber e Reward signs are$14 each for aluminum and $8 each forplastic. For more information, call the As-sociation at 478-992-8110. To report anincident of timber the or arson, contactthe Georgia Forestry Commission’s LawEnforcement Division by phone at 1-800-GA-TREES (428-7337) or by e-mail [email protected]. For moreinformation, visit http://www.gatrees.org/forest-fire/wildfire-prevention/law-enforcement/index.cfm.v
27Georgia Forestry Today
e media, politicians, and scientists de-bate the drama of climate change. Somesay it’s getting warmer; some say not. Somesay glaciers are melting; some say Antarc-tica is growing. Some say the seas will riseto flood coastal homes and low lying areas.Some say it’s all man’s fault.
Some say our addiction to fossil fuelsis the culprit. ey tell us hydrocarbons,such as oil and natural gas, when con-sumed by our cars, and coal, when con-verted to electricity to burn in our lightbulbs and air conditioners, spew CO2 intothe atmosphere. Some of this CO2 is ab-sorbed into the ocean and some is taken inby plants and converted into trunks andlimbs—but a bit is le over to float aroundthe atmosphere and create a heat retainingdome like a well insulated roof.
If this is true, in order for each of us todo his or her part in preventing a newwarming era in earth’s geologic calendar, Ipropose that we return to the ancient prac-tice of using wood. ink about it: oil andnatural gas were formed when sea crittersdied and settled to the floors of lakes oroceans; coal was made when plants diedthen fell in swamps and bogs. Both organicmaterials were buried in oxygen free envi-ronments where they did not decay butsimmered under great pressures and tem-peratures.
Coal and oil recipes called for cookingtimes of hundreds of millions of years.ey both remained buried, perhaps onslow boil, until a miner started digging ora roughneck driller poked some holes inthe ground. e global warming problemstarted when the unearthed coal wasburned in stoves, factories, and electricpower company furnaces, and gas was re-fined from oil and guzzled by your inde-cently large automobile.
In human bodies, when fuel or food istaken in, it’s converted into another form:
something’s extracted and what’s le overgoes into the septic tank or outhouse.With machines, stoves, and power com-pany furnaces, when fossil fuels areburned, energy is created, and CO2 is oneof the waste products spewed into the at-mosphere.
It seems to me that the environmen-tally sensitive, global warming worried per-son should: 1. Drive a smaller car; drive it slower
for greater fuel efficiency; drive itless and walk more;
2. Heat and cook, wherein possible,with WOOD instead of gas, elec-tricity, or coal. (In the Northwest,much good work is being done intransitioning from coal to woodfired boilers for heating schools.roughout the nation you oensee lumber mills that use wastewood as an energy source);
3. For generation of electricity, pro-mote use of hydro, nuclear, solar,wind, and WOOD as fuel sources;
4. Avoid plastics and other oil basedproducts;
To summarize: Plants and bacterial organ-isms from which fossil fuels were madelived millions of years ago. Perhaps someof these life forms breathed in oxygen,combined it with carbon and other ele-ments, and breathed out CO2 which theplants breathed in, used for a while, thenexhaled as oxygen. Plants, bacteria, andother life forms, aer death and then a longperiod of pressurized cooking, becamecoal and oil deposits.
When a miner unearths a vein of coalor a driller punctures an oil or gas dome,he violates the graves of beings which livedover one hundred million ago. en youand I burn the residue from these corpsesand release carbon from prehistoric timesinto today’s atmosphere.
Use wood. It’s environmentally neutral—carbon and oxygen united and sequesteredin the tree during the present era is recy-cled during the current time.
erefore—burn a tree to save the en-vironment—also, at the supermarket, askfor paper instead of plastic.v
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Save the Planet ~ Burn a TreeBy Walter Stephens
28 March | Arpil 2015
Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), chairman ofthe U.S. Committee on Agriculture, Nu-trition and Forestry, recently announcedthat Senator David Perdue (R-GA) willserve as Chairman of the Agriculture Sub-committee on Conservation, Forestry,and Natural Resources.
e subcommittee is responsible foroversight on the EPA’s regulation of pes-ticides, conservation of natural resources,biotechnology, and forestry. Senator Per-due will also serve on two other Agricul-ture subcommittees: Commodities, RiskManagement, and Trade and Rural Devel-opment and Energy.
“I’m proud to represent Georgia’sstrong and vibrant agricultural commu-nity,” said Senator Perdue. “My goal is tomake sure that the EPA doesn’t insidiously
burden our farmers, and that we continueto foster growth and innovation acrossour largest industry. As chairman of thissubcommittee, I’ll work to ensure thatGeorgia’s agricultural interests are pro-tected and that our homegrown productsare promoted around the world.”
“I am pleased to have Senator Perdueon the Committee and I look forward tothe business experience and family farmbackground that he brings to our work onbehalf of American agriculture,” Chair-man Roberts said. “As Chairman of theSubcommittee on Conservation, Forestry,and Natural Resources, Senator Perduewill provide Georgians with leadership inthese areas at a time when issues like pes-ticides and biotechnology are hotly de-bated across farm country.”
e Subcommittee’s responsibilities in-clude:• Conservation and protection of
natural resources• Regulation of pesticides under the
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, andRodenticide Act
• Forestry
e Subcommittee’s jurisdiction includesoversight of management and operationsof:• National Resources Conservation
Service• Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service• Biotechnology• e Forest Service v
NEWSSenator David Perdue named Senate Agriculture Subcommittee Chairman
Recently the media has reported on re-lease of the sequel to the infamouslyflawed ‘carbon debt’ argument, assertingthat biomass energy contributes to car-bon build-up in the atmosphere. The se-quel gets a thumbs down by pre-eminentcarbon science leaders as did the originalversion.
Carbon debt proponents argue thata tree or part of a tree removed from theforest for biomass energy releases carboninto the air as a ‘debt’ that can only be re-paid when that carbon is recaptured bygrowing a new tree in the same spot toreplace the wood used for energy.
This view conveniently overlooksthat modern forest management exists in
a continuous cycle that has no real begin-ning or end. Arbitrarily picking a startingpoint as the beginning simply manipu-lates that cycle—one could just as easilyargue that the wood used for energy isonly returning carbon to the atmospherethat was recently removed by a growingtree. The truth is that both argumentsare neither entirely right nor entirelywrong in a continuous cycle.
Perhaps that is why leading expertsare quickly giving the carbon debt sequela thumbs down.
Scientists at the Argonne NationalLaboratory—considered by many to bethe pre-eminent authority on bioenergylifecycle analysis—have stated that as-
sessing the carbon implications of usingbiomass for energy must “adopt a com-prehensive basis for estimates of GHGimplications,” and that the carbon debtproponents “bluntly denied a role thatbioenergy may play in the future for sus-tainable environmental development andenergy supply.”
Likewise, the highly credible Energyand Environment Study Institute (EESI)responded to the carbon debt sequel bypointing out that it is “based on a falseassumption,” and that it “lacks a basic un-derstanding of the complexities of agri-cultural and working forest land use[and] emerging research on the carboncycle in working lands.” v
NAFO: Carbon Debt sequel gets a thumbs down
29Georgia Forestry Today
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY DIRECTORY OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY DIRECTORY OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES
BOBBY D. BROWNRegistered Forester GA Number: 2164Licensed Realtor GA Number: 165520
20364 GA Hwy #3 Thomasville, GA 31792(229) 221-3016 [email protected]
FOREST RESOURCE SERVICES INC.Specializing in Land and Timber Management & SalesBuyers of Land and Timber
in Georgia and the South
Canal Wood LLC
601 North Belair Square, Suite 21
Evans, Georgia 30809
Phone: (800) 833-8178
E-mail: [email protected]
BeaCH tiMBer CoMPaNY iNC.
128 Beach Timber RoadAlma, Ga 31510
Office: (912) 632-2800
Gary Strickland Owner
Foresters Available
We Buy [email protected]
www.BeachTimber.com
Todd Hipp (803) 924-0978 [email protected] Hipp (803) 924-4131 [email protected] Hipp (803) 924-5940 [email protected]
Helping Grow Your Future
www.hippenterprises.com
C A N T R E L L F O R E S T
P R O D U C T S I N C .We buy all types of timber.
In Woods Chipping
1433 Galilee Church RoadJefferson, GA 30549
Office: (706) 367-4813 Mobile: (706) 498-6243Home: (706) 367-1521
LAMARCANTRELL
March | Arpil 201530
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY DIRECTORY OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES
31Georgia Forestry Today
