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The old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” can be applied to many of life’s situations. This nugget of wisdom should also be embraced by Georgia’s forestland owners who want to prevent trespassers on their property. A properly maintained boundary line will serve as a ‘line in the sand’ and will prevent most neighbors from wandering on to your property. A well marked boundary will give the landowner added protection against accidental timber harvest, while helping to prevent ‘accidental’ trespass and individuals hunting without permission.
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GEORGIA FORESTRY
TODAYVolume 9, Issue 3May | June 2013
AN OUNCE OFPREVENTION
GEORGIA BOBWHITESPAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
4 May | June 2013
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY is published bi-monthly by A4 Inc., 1154 LowerBirmingham Road, Canton, Georgia 30115. Recipients include participantsof the Forest Stewardship Program and the American Tree Farm System.
Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the pub-lisher, A4 Inc., nor do they accept responsibility for errors of content or omis-sion and, as a matter of policy, neither do they endorse products oradvertisements appearing herein. Part of this magazine may be reproducedwith the written consent of the publisher. Correspondence regarding changesof address should be directed to A4 Inc. at the address indicated above. Ad-vertising material should be sent to A4 Inc. at the e-mail address:[email protected]. Questions on advertising should be directed to the adver-tising director at the e-mail address provided above. Editorial material shouldbe sent to A4 Inc. or to Alva Hopkins.
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAY1154 Lower Birmingham Road, Canton, Georgia 30115
On the Cover:
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.
Bio-fuel producer
[email protected] Galilee Church RoadJefferson, GA 30549
Office: (706) 367-4813 Mobile: (706) 498-6243Home: (706) 367-1521
LAMARCANTRELL
GEORGIA FORESTRY TODAYPrinted in the USA
PUBLISHER:A4 Inc.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFAlva Hopkins
PRODUCTION MANAGERPamela [email protected]
EDITORIAL BOARDWendy BurnettAlva HopkinsJesse JohnsonStasia KellySandi Martin
Roland Petersen-FreyBrian Stone
Steve McWilliamsHow should Georgia’s forestlandowners prevent trespassers on theirproperty? See story on page 8
5Georgia Forestry Today
FORESTRY TODAYGeorgia
Volume 9, Issue 3 May | June 2013
P.08 An Ounce of Prevention
P.11 Message from the Georgia
Forestry Commission Director
P.12 GFC News
P.13 All Fired Up:
Spring Break at the Jones Center
P.16 Endangered & Separated
Researchers identify mussels’ fish
host gulf sturgeon and purple
bankclimbers both in peril, blocked
by a dam
P.18 Catfishing Time is Here
P.20 Georgia Bobwhites Past, Present, Future
P.26 GFT News
P.28 Georgia Forestry Association
Ad Valorem Tax: The Season of Appeals
May 30 & June 4Property Tax & Tax Appeal WorkshopMay 30: Gainsville, GeorgiaJune 4: Tion, GeorgiaInfo: Visit www.gfagrow.org or call 478-992-8110
June 5-72013 National Conference of Private ForestLandowners | e Coeur d' Alene ResortCoeur d'Alene, ID
June 17-21Georgia Teacher Conservation WorkshopCharlie Elliot Wildlife CenterVisit www.gfagrow.org or call 478-992-8110
June 20-22GFA Annual Conferencee Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & SpaHilton Head, South CarolinaInfo: Visit www.gfagrow.org or call 478-992-8110
SeptemberUGA Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Re-sources Golf Tournament Presented by Plum CreekAthens, Georgia
Forestry Calendar
If you have a forestry event you’d like to see on our calendar, please contact AlvaHopkins at [email protected] with the subject line ‘Calendar Event.’
7Georgia Forestry Today
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Meeks’ Farms & Nursery ....................Inside Front Cover
MorBark ......................................................................30
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Prudential ....................................................................10
Rivers Edge Forest Products .........................................30
UPC | Georgia 811 ........................................Back Cover
Weyerhaeuser ...............................................................23
Vulcan on Board Scales .................................................4
Yancey Brothers ...................................Inside Back Cover
8 May | June 2013
AN OUNCE OFPREVENTIONBy Jesse Johnson | Registered Forester
The author’s nephew puts up a posted sign on a new property.Taking part in placing signs like this helps him take ownership.
Te old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”can be applied to many of life’s situations. is nugget of wisdomshould also be embraced by Georgia’s forestland owners who wantto prevent trespassers on their property. A properly maintainedboundary line will serve as a ‘line in the sand’ and will prevent mostneighbors from wandering on to your property. A well markedboundary will give the landowner added protection against acci-dental timber harvest, while helping to prevent ‘accidental’ trespassand individuals hunting without permission.
Frustrated is a mild word used to express the feeling mostlandowners have when they discover four wheeler tracks or bootprints le on their property by an uninvited ‘guest.’ For most forestlandowners, trespassers rank right up there in popularity with rootcanals, IRS audits, and quality time with the in-laws. is is espe-cially true in today's hectic world where many of Georgia’s forest-land owners live away from their property and are busy balancingwork and family resulting in most being ‘weekend forest stewards.’e thought that someone else is roaming around their propertyand taking advantage of all their hard work is enough to make ‘emspit fire.
It has been my experience that a well-maintained boundary lineis the most cost effective way to keep others off your property andwill prevent you from having to deal with some potentially uncom-fortable and hazardous situations. However, boundary line main-tenance is oen the first cost that the average forest landowner willcut from his or her operations budget. According to forestry con-sultant Robbie Griffith with Southeastern Agri-Business, “Bound-ary line marking is the best money you can spend; it prevents a lotof other potential problems.” He went on to say that “when a clientpurchases a new property with faded paint on the boundary line,getting it repainted is at the top of my list.” Robbie also adviseslandowners to plan on “refreshing the boundary lines every five toeight years.”
Boundary line maintenance, like most things in life, is not free.Getting a forester or contractor to repaint the existing boundaryline will cost the landowner between $100 to $350 per mile (5,280linear feet). e price varies based on several factors such as whoprovides the paint (landowner or contractor), scraping of trees, ter-rain, understory, and the posting of No Trespassing signs. erefore,a landowner needs to make sure they are comparing apples to appleswhen getting quotes from prospective contractors.
As with other timber management activities, landownersshould always check references before turning someone loose tomark their boundary lines. Landowners could open themselves upto a degree of liability if a contractor makes a mistake and acciden-tally changes the placement of the property line. “e line is not al-ways down the old fence line or where Grandpa said it was,” said JRSmith who is a Georgia licensed surveyor and owner of CornerstoneSurveying in Hull, Georgia. JR’s advice to landowners is that “ifmost of the old paint is really faded or gone, the landowner probablyneeds to resurvey the property and have the surveyor mark the
boundary. at way, the liability lies with the licensed surveyor andnot the landowner.” JR’s advice reminds me of the saying that youfind out the real value of a tree when you accidentally cut it downon someone else’s property.
In my opinion, a well maintained boundary line should beclearly marked with ‘painted’ trees and have Posted/No Trespassingsigns. e marked or ‘painted’ trees should be no more than 30 to50 yards apart. A good rule of thumb is when standing in front of a‘painted’ tree you should be able to see the next painted tree to yourle and right. is makes it easy for a person facing the propertyline to see how the boundary line runs. It is important to rememberthe person facing your property line could be a logger in a ‘cut down’machine and you do not want him guessing where the line is.
It is always best to ‘scrape’ the tree prior to applying the paint.Scraping is commonly performed with a machete or bush ax. Whenscraping the tree, the objective is to remove some of the bark off thetree in order to have a clearly marked tree. You do not want to digtoo deeply in the bark and thereby accidentally kill the tree bygirdling it. Note, if you are considering performing this job yourself,I highly recommend wearing eye protection to prevent debris fromgetting in your eyes.
Aer properly ‘scraping’ the tree, I recommend using a paintbrush to install at least a four inch band of paint on every tree tobe marked. I prefer to install a solid band around the tree so thepaint can be seen on both sides of the property line. Remember,you want to be a good neighbor and make the boundary line iden-tifiable from your side too in order to prevent you, your guests, ora hunting club from accidentally wandering on to an adjacentlandowner’s property.
Boundary line paint is available in an array of colors. It is notuncommon to see property lines marked with blue, white, red,green, yellow, or orange paint. Many large timber companies suchas Plum Creek (white) and Rayonier (blue) use one color on alltheir property lines. Being that I have a degree of color blindness, Iprefer to use white paint as it is easier for me to see in the woods. Agallon of boundary line marking paint, according to Nelson PaintsWeb site cost $22 - $25 per gallon. Nelson also states that their paintwill last for six to eight years.(www.nelsonpaint.com)
I highly recommend that Posted or No Trespassing signs be in-stalled when performing boundary line maintenance. Even thoughGeorgia law does not require a property to be posted in order toprosecute someone for criminal trespass or hunting without per-mission, No Trespassing signs serve as another deterrent and pointof notice to the general public to stay off your property. GeorgiaDNR Ranger First Class Phillip Nelson highly recommends thatPosted signs be placed on all property lines, especially along all pub-lic roads and entrances to the property. “A well marked and identi-fiable boundary line with Posted signs is a landowner’s best defenseagainst trespassing,” stated Ranger Nelson.
Even with a well-marked and identifiable boundary line, tres-passing can and still does occur. Ranger Nelson advises that if you
9Georgia Forestry Today
come upon an individual who is trespassing,it is best to avoid a confrontation and callthe local DNR agent or Sheriff ’s office. “Bynot confronting the individual and simplyleaving and calling the authorities you makeit easier for law enforcement officers tocatch the person in the act.” He also recom-mends writing down a description of theirvehicle and tag number in order to helpidentify the person or persons. Ranger Nel-
son also stated that it is best to contact theDNR for hunting/trapping related activity.For other activities, such as four wheeling ortimber harvesting, contact the Sheriff ’s of-fice.
In conclusion, the majority of trespass-ing on timberland properties in Georgiausually involves some type of recreationalactivity like four-wheeling, horseback rid-ing, fishing, or hunting. Trespassing oen
results in a loss to the landowner, whetherthe loss is damage to roads, the unwantedtaking of fish/game, or simply thelandowner’s loss of peace of mind. Georgia’sforest landowners should consider beingproactive and budgeting the money tofreshen up their boundary lines and let ad-jacent landowners know clearly where ‘theline’ is. is will serve as a general notice tothe public that they should know theirplace, which is safely on the other side ofthis line. v
10 May | June 2013
Additional Informatione Georgia Criminal Code definesCriminal Trespass in Title 16 Chapter 7Article 2 Part 1 (O.C.G.A 16-7-21) andHunting without permission in Title 27Chapter 3 Article 1 Part 1 (O.C.G.A 27-3-1)
Jesse is a Georgia Registered Forester,Co-Owner of Southern TimberlandConsultants, and an Associate Brokerwith Southern Land Exchange, LLC.Jesse can be reached at [email protected] or on his mobileat 706-614-4855.
s much as I appreciated the win-ter rains, I have to admit thedrab weather of the season gota little old ’round about lateMarch. When the dogwoods
started popping, though, and I didn't needto turn on my truck’s heater, I rememberedthat hope really does spring eternal! There have been a lot of signs recentlythat things are looking good for our indus-try, and that’s something to be encouragedabout. Have you stopped lately to considerthese bits of good news?• Recent figures on economic output of
the forestry industry show we havegrown to a $25 billion dollar eco-nomic engine for the state of Georgia.
• Statistics also show a notable increasein the total number of forestry jobsand wages, and we now have ninewood pellet mills, with additionalmills in the works.
• Lumber prices are up significantly,and our timber product output surveyshows a 16 percent increased outputof solid wood products from our 15largest mills.
• The drought has subsided; rainsthrough the winter season improvedreforestation efforts and diminishedthe number of wildfires by over 27percent.
• The US Supreme Court remanded anearlier district court ruling that wouldhave required untenable new permit-ting restrictions on logging roads nearwaterways.
• Governor Nathan Deal's pledge andactions to make Georgia the numberone place to do business are showingpositive results. His executive order re-garding forest certification demon-strates strong support for our state'sSustainable Forestry Initiative andAmerican Tree Farm programs.
• Strong legislative support for forestryduring the 2013 legislative session in-cluded passing bills related to forestryad valorem taxes, timber security, bor-row pits, GIS council, and an agricul-tural commodity commission.
While success sure feels good, compla-cency can’t be an option for any of us.There are numerous issues that we need tokeep an eye on which could impactforestry operations in Georgia. Just a fewinclude:• The promise of ongoing challenges to
the forest logging roads case and ourNPDES silvicultural exemption.
• The potential listing of gopher tor-toise and diamondback rattlesnake to
the endangered species list.
• Increasingly urban legislative represen-tation with limited knowledge offorestry matters.
• An ever growing wildland urban in-terface here in Georgia.
• And, if climatologists have it right, in-creasing climate extremes such as we’veexperienced with recent droughts.
Communication and involvement go along way toward alleviating the challengeswe face. Focused efforts such as the SFIMacon Habitat for Humanity House, civicclub presentations, legislative meetings,and Teacher Conservation Workshops aregreat ways to reach groups of people. Re-member as well to communicate with thepeople you interact with most regularly, in-cluding your family, friends, neighbors,and even the lady at the grocery checkoutcounter. Let them know what you do andhow important forestry is to all Georgians.Who are you talking up forestry withtoday?
Sincerely,
Robert Farris v
11Georgia Forestry Today
Dear GFT Reader,
Robert Farris
Georgia Forestry Commission
A
Message from the Director
12 May | June 2013
The Supreme Court of the United States has weighed in on a case
of great interest to Georgia forest landowners. The case stems froma 2010 ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that stormwaterrunoff from logging roads constituted a point source of pollution, whichthe Northwest Environmental Defense Center argued poses risks to en-dangered species and aquatic ecosystems. In a March 20, 2013, opinion,the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the earlier Court of Appealsdecision. If instituted, a North Carolina State study shows the costs ofsuch permitting could have decreased net timber sale revenue by 19 per-cent for large landowners and 71 percent for small landowners.e
GFC News
A new 51-acre demonstration site near Waycross is open and providing an up-
close look at biomass production. In cooperation with Dixon Memorial Forest, theGFC has ‘species’ and ‘planting density’ scenarios on display to help landowners understandhow to integrate woody biomass production into their forest management plans for anearly source of revenue that supplies emerging bioenergy markets. A future demo site willbe established in the Piedmont during the 2013-2014 growing season. For more informa-tion, e-mail [email protected]
The Georgia Forestry Commission is offering a special one-day
workshop covering issues regarding forest certification for the forest
products supply chain. Industry, procurement, and consultant foresters,managers of wood-using mills, wood buyers, dealers, and others involvedin the management, procurement, and utilization of forest resources inGeorgia should consider attending the seminar. It will be held in Statesboroon June 20 at the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center. Visit GaTrees.org fordetails and registration information.e
The Georgia Forestry Commission is preparing to serve up GRITS, the Georgia Resource
and Incident Tracking System. GRITS is a Web-based computerized system that tracks fire—bothwildfire and prescribed fire—in real time across Georgia. The tool will be used by GFC as an automatedfire tracking system and will also be available to the public via a web portal for local fire informationand identification purposes. GRITS is expected to launch this summer. e
It’s an annual rite of spring. ousands of young adults put theirbooks and classrooms behind to swarm southward, seeking sun-shine, fun, romance, and rest. A few, however, take a detour. eyset their GPS on a place where they get to dig deeply into their ed-ucation; a unique opportunity to study with forestry experts, getsome precious hands-on learning, and, oh yes, release their innerpyromaniacs
“My friends are gonna love this,” said Alex Boswell, a senior atthe University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and GradySchool of Journalism. “What did you do on your spring break,Alex? I set the woods on fire!”
Boswell and a cadre of fellow forestry and wildlife students aretraipsing down a sandy path through the woods. ey're followinga flame retardant jumpsuit-clad coed carrying a drip torch. Eachtakes their first-ever turn lighting a back fire for a prescribed burnon an 80-acre tract inside the Joseph W. Jones Ecological ResearchCenter at Ichauway, Georgia. e hands-on learning experience is
part of an annual week-long ‘March’mester’ course on prescribedfire, for which two academic credits are given to successful gradu-ates.
“We get students out in the field and show them how theirclassroom and theoretical knowledge works on the ground,” saidKevin McIntyre, Education and Outreach Coordinator for theJones Center. “Safety is our top priority, just like it is on any pre-scribed burn, so we limit this course to 16 people.”
e Jones Center complex sits on the 29,000 acre southwestGeorgia property that once belonged to Coca-Cola magnateRobert W. Woodruff. e passionate outdoorsman and conserva-tionist enjoyed quail hunting here until his death in 1985. Today,the center is known as a research and conservation site of regional,national, and international significance. Named for Woodruff ’sright hand man, Joseph W. Jones, the center’s mission is to “under-stand, demonstrate, and promote excellence in natural resourcemanagement and conservation on the landscape of the southeastern
all fired Up : spring Break at the Jones Center
13Georgia Forestry Today
Pine trees that are home to red-cockaded woodpeckers are circled by a
protective burn before the prescribed fire is lit.
By stasia Kelly
14 May | June 2013
coastal plain of the United States.” Residentgraduate students and visiting scientists, ed-ucators, professionals, and students from avariety of institutions come to immersethemselves in the remarkable, pristine envi-ronment. e land is comprised of 18,000acres of rare, mature, longleaf pine wood-lands, 3,000 acres of young restorationplantings of longleaf pine, innumerable wet-lands, rivers, and streams, and 3,000 acres offield habitat. A full time staff of 85 managesthe property and programs.
Dr. Lindsay R. Boring taught forestecology and dendrology at the University ofGeorgia for nine years before being nameddirector at the Jones Center .
“is experience opens their eyes,” saidBoring of students who come for the classeson prescribed fire. “You can’t do this inClarke County” (UGA’s home county)“very easily because of smoke managementissues. Plus, loblolly’s not the fire creaturelongleaf is. is experience gets students outof a purely academic environment, givesthem familiarity with the longleaf pineecosystem, and really opens their eyes.”
A Week Like No OtherCompetition’s tough to be accepted intothe ‘March’mester’ class. McIntyre callsthese students “the best of the best,” and
they gather for the first time on a Sundayevening to hear an overview of the center,the longleaf pine forest, and the weekahead, along with a good ol’ fashion fishfry. Students are housed in nearby dormi-tories.
Classroom time on Monday covers firebehavior, forest fuels, and personal protec-tive equipment, and students are introducedto their take-no-prisoners lead teacher andfire boss, Mark Melvin.
“ese kids are here because they wantto be here,” said Melvin, Conservation Man-agement/Education Technician for theJones Center. “ey’re giving up springbreak. at’s serious.”
And so is Melvin. It doesn't take long torealize he knows the topic of prescribed fireinside out and has personally conductedabout a million of them. e kids can tellhe’s personable and approachable, but hisexpectations are high. ere’s no room forclass clowns in this school.
Day two brings more class time, as thegroup examines the sociopolitical and pub-lic relations realities of prescribed burning.Smoke management, prescribed fire certifi-cation, and air quality presentations are ledby partners from the Georgia ForestryCommission and US Fish and WildlifeService. By the time lunch is over andthey’re covering case studies, burn permits,and fire planning, the students are itchingto get outside and send their knowledge upin flames.
Up Close and PersonalOn Wednesday morning, two vans full ofstudents, teachers, supervisors, and an ATVroll onto an 80-acre tract on Ichauway. It’sthe first time the students have been thisclose to prescribed fire
“Quintessential 75 to 100 year old nat-ural longleaf forest,” explained instructorJeff Hepinstall of the University of Georgia.“Open; wiregrass underneath; a good burnday.”
Melvin logs onto his smartphone. At11:08 a.m. the temperature is 50 degrees,humidity is 32 percent, fuel moisture is 15
percent, and winds are from the north atthree to six miles per hour. A burn permithas been secured from the Baker County of-fice of the GFC, and all systems are go.
“at’s gonna burn niiice,” grins NealEdmondson, Prescribed Burn Coordinatorfor the GFC and class teacher.
“Get with your teams and stay withthem,” barks Melvin, directing his chargestoward their four teams. “Check your ra-dios; we’re on channel three!”
A small test fire tells Melvin that con-ditions are right to begin, and he reviews op-eration of the drip torch.
“e valve should be all the way open.Once you get this set, it will light fires as fastas you can walk. When you’re done, blow itout with the wind, in one big puff.”
Melvin walks a few steps behind his ap-prentice. “You always want to light rightwhere the fuel and mineral soil meet.”
Hepinstall pipes in with another tip.“You should be checking the smoke disper-sion. Where that smoke’s going, that's thewind you’re working with.”
By 12 noon, Melvin had orchestratedthe safe burn of the tract. Aer lunch, it wastime to gauge conditions for burn numbertwo. To everyone’s disappointment, theweather was deemed unacceptable: toowindy. But what happened next made a bigimpression on the students. As the groupwas packing out, an escaped debris burnfrom a neighbor’s adjacent field swept ontoJones property.
“Ironic!” said one student. “Here we’requitting because conditions aren’t safe, butwe’re helping put out a fire for someonewho didn’t even get a permit. at says alot.”
The Home StretchOnly two more days to go and it’s almosttime to prove what’s sunk in.
e group examines yesterday’s burnsite, then enjoys a field talk by Lindsay Bor-ing, as they dig in the dirt and explore fire’seffect on soils. en Georgia Forestry Com-mission District Manager Greg Findley im-parts some words of wisdom about services
of the commission and developing solid re-lationships with its rangers.
e group’s final project has them di-vided into four student teams, each of whichis given a prescribed burn assignment withdifferent management objectives: timber,game management, non-game management,and conservation values. Using itslandowner objective, GIS shapefile, burnunit history, information gathered at theburn site, and knowledge of the longleafpine ecosystem, each group is directed to de-velop a PowerPoint presentation detailingtheir burn plan. All aspects of the plan mustbe covered, including preferred weatherconditions, specific burn windows, smokesensitive areas, features to protect, troublespots, and more.
An onsite computer lab becomes homefor the next several hours as the technology-savvy students begin researching and cra-ing their presentations.
“ose kids cut their teeth on com-puter soware,” said Boring. “at’s one ofthe great strengths of Warnell, and theyclearly see how they can apply that here.”
At the end of the day, the teacher waspleased.
“You guys did a good job,” said Melvinof the group’s impressive presentations.“When you start layering objectives, it getscomplex quick. Everything’s about planningand contingency.”
And, about “seeing things for them-selves and figuring things out,” according toMelvin. He proves that on Friday morningat 9:45, when the group tries a test burn onfuel that’s too wet. eir final 100-acre pre-scribed fire won’t be sizzling anytime soon.Patience, it seems, is a necessary virtue onthis job.
“at’s part of the intent,” said Melvin.“is is how you learn. You see the weatherchanges that take place between 10 a.m. and2 p.m., and the resulting effects on forestfuels and fire behavior.”
Eventually the teams zig-zag across thetract, lighting strips of fire with driptorches. Melvin teaches them about thedreaded ‘banana hook,’ the nickname givento off-course lines of fire. He urges them to
note the areas where fire is burning andwhere it’s not, causes and effects, and theimportance of constant communication.As flames pop, crackle, climb, and con-sume, lines merge into hot, smoky waves.The shimmering force does its work, andeach person feels the awe of the naturalpower of fire and wind.
“Using fire’s like trying to teach some-one how to fish,” said Melvin. “You canteach about tackle and baits, etcetera, butyou have to feel the fish on the line to un-derstand. Fire’s the same.”
As their rigorous week of learning
comes to a close and students pack theirdusty boots for travel back home, it’s clearthe graduates of 2013’s ‘March’mester’ classat the Jones Center got the feel for pre-scribed fire, and liked it.
“All my classes at school are really inline with what they’re teaching us here.”
“It’s my first time here, but hopefullynot my last.”
“I wouldn’t take it back for anything.It's been terrific!"
“It’s the real world."”Amazing. ere's a little 'pyro' in every-
body!” v
15Georgia Forestry Today
UGA forestry student SamanthaMarchman gets hands-on practicewith a drip torch during a prescribedfire at the Jones Center.
ittle is known about the fishthat freshwater mussels relyon as hosts to reproduce.But Warnell researchershave made a startling discov-ery: one federally endan-
gered freshwater mussel is relying on afederally endangered fish species as host forits larvae. In fish host trials last year, Ph.D.candidate Andrea Fritts, her advisor Dr.Robert Bringolf, and sturgeon expert Dr.Doug Peterson discovered that purplebankclimber mussels use gulf sturgeon. Notonly are both endangered species, but theyare now separated from each other by a largedam built six decades ago.
It's challenging to figure out which fishspecies the mussels need as hosts, Bringolfsaid, making this discovery even more sig-nificant. eir identification of gulf stur-geon as a key host fish for purplebankclimbers was recently published inFreshwater Science. Although the Warnellteam also found that purple bankclimberscan use darters as hosts, the success rate wassubstantially lower, and the tiny darters pro-duced only a fraction of the number of ju-veniles produced by the large gulf sturgeon.
Purple bankclimbers are native to theApalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Riverbasin in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.Jim Woodruff Dam, which created LakeSeminole on the Georgia-Florida border,was built in 1952 and has blocked up-stream movement of the gulf sturgeon tothe Flint River where they used to spawn,and where the mussels were historicallyfound in high numbers. “Dams are knownto fragment habitat and have adverse ef-fects on river ecosystems, but this situationunequivocally illustrates the
need to re-establish connectivity and nat-ural flow regimes in river systems,” saidBringolf. “The fate of these mussels andL
16
ENDANGERED & SEPARATED:Researchers identify mussels’ fish host gulf sturgeon and purplebankclimbers both in peril, blocked by a dam
May | June 2013
Several species of mussels
found in Flint River.
Ph.D. candidate Andrea Fritts
in the lab.
By Sandi Martin | Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources
17Georgia Forestry Today
others often rests with the fate of their hostfish.”
Mussels play an important role by fil-tering our rivers and lakes, maintainingwater clarity, removing contaminants, andhelping balance bacteria levels. AlthoughGeorgia is home to several federally listed
mussels, the host fish required by manyrare and common mussels remain largelyunknown. Many mussel species requirespecific fish species as hosts. A typical wayto reproduce, Fritts explained, is for mus-sels to release their larvae - called glochidia- into the water column, bound in mucus.
These glochidia, which are about the size
of a grain of sand, then pass through the
mouths and gills of passing fish, and snap
onto the gills of the correct host. Fish tis-
sue creates a capsule around the glochidia
which, over a period of two to three weeks,
develops into a juvenile mussel with a foot,
gills, muscles, and a digestive tract. Juve-
niles detach from the fish gills, fall to the
river bottom, and eventually grow into
adult mussels.
Peterson and Bringolf will be moving
some tagged gulf sturgeon above Woodruff
Dam and tracking them to see if they can
navigate the reservoir section of Lake Semi-
nole to reach their native spawning grounds
in the sections of the Flint River, where the
mussels also occur. “Fish passage at Jim
Woodruff Dam has the potential to create
one of the greatest success stories in ecosys-
tem recovery to date,” said Peterson. v
Microscopic image of mussel larvae.
small atlantic sturgeon
e hot, sultry summer is primetime to put some tasty catfish on the stoveto enjoy a great southern fish fry, but firstyou have to catch the fish! ankfully for us,while fishing for many other species slowsdown when the water heats up in the sum-mertime, cat fishing is just ‘getting good’when the water temperature gets into the80s range.
Without a doubt, the number one cat-fish across Georgia is the channel cat, and itis the species most oen stocked in farmponds, reservoirs, and public fishing areas.A favorite of many anglers, channel catfishdo well in ponds and provide additional an-gling pleasure when stocked in combinationwith largemouth bass and bluegill.
Channel catfish eat a wide variety offoods including fish, insects, and aquatic
plants. While fish appear in the diet whencatfish reach 12 to 14 inches long, small cat-
fish feed mostly on aquatic insect larvae,crayfish, and algae. Catfish feed on a
wide variety of baits, includingworms—especially Louisiana
pinks, cut bait, raw shrimp,chicken livers, and many
kinds of blood/cheese/dough mixtures. emost popular methodto catch catfish is to
put the bait on amedium-sized hook with
a half-ounce weightand fish it on thebottom with a tightline. When the cat-
fish takes the bait,the line will oen go slack
before it is swallowed by the fish and it be-gins to move off. at’s the time to set thehook!
e most adventurous method of catfishing is noodling and it’s most oen doneto catch large flathead catfish that hide indeep holes during the daylight hours. istype of fishing for catfish uses only barehands and is practiced primarily in thesouthern United States. e fisherman,called a noodler, places his hand inside a dis-covered catfish hole, and that’s no easy trick.In a worst case scenario, the noodler mightlose a finger to a snapping turtle or alligator.Also, I must mention that the noodler mustbe very careful not to become tangled inunder water brush and possibly drown!Usually the hole is deep underwater, and ittakes a good bit of underwater swimming inmuddy water to locate these holes. Once theholes are found, the noodler sticks his handinto the hole and hopes that he can grab thehiding catfish with his hand and pull it outand back to the surface! Most oen, the cat-fish bites down on the hand as a defensivemove, the noodler gets a good arm shake,and the catfish’s raspy teeth are chomping
down on his fingers. No, I have no personalexperience with this fishing method andnever want to try it. Yes, this is a legal fishingmethod in Georgia, but because of thesafety concerns, I can’t recommend it.
Less adventurous, but just as much fun,is to set limb lines along small streams andrivers in the pursuit of night-feeding catfish.Usually, the angler uses strong nylon stringfor line and ties it to limbs overhanging thestream. Use cut bait or raw shrimp for chan-nel cats, but for flatheads use live smallbream, three to five inches long, and hookthem through the lips, as the bait will beswallowed head first and this will give youthe best chance of getting a good hook set.You can check the lines every few hours, orlet them work all night and check them atfirst light. is can be a very productive fish-ing method and every year anglers catchsome of the biggest catfish on limb lines.Keep in mind that if you pull in a potentialstate record catfish from a limb line, it can-not be certified because only fish caught onhook—line and reel or pole—can be en-tered into the record book.
Another good way to catch catfish issetting out floating jugs with a short line andhook attached. Basically, the method in-volves putting out as many jugs as you canhandle in a pond or lake cove as the sun goesdown and picking them up at sunrise. isis a good way to catch a bunch of catfishwithout too much work and a good way toget young kids involved in outdoor adven-ture. But please be sure to pick up all yourjugs when you're done.
Stocking catfish in your farm pond is agreat way to ensure that you have plenty offish every year. Fingerling channel catfishless than a year old that are stocked in a newpond in the fall can be 11 to 12 inches longthe following year, 14 to 15 inches longaer two years, and 16 to 18 inches longaer three years. Channel catfish may liveto be 12 to 15 years old, but six to ten yearsis about average. Channel catfish can and
18 May | June 2013
Catfishing Time is HereBy John Trussell
19Georgia Forestry Today
do reproduce in ponds. Spawning usuallytakes place in a dark cave-like hole. Exam-ples are hollow logs and beaver or muskratholes enlarged by the male. e fish willalso use tile and other artificial structuresplaced in the pond.
Spawning in Georgia takes place fromlate May to late July. In clear ponds, bass andbluegill usually eat most of the eggs andyoung. If this were not the case, the pondwould soon be overrun with small catfishthat could not obtain enough food to grow.Because survival of young channel catfish ispoor in ponds stocked with bass andbluegill, supplemental stocking is usuallynecessary to maintain the catfish popula-tion. Because adult bass can eat channel cat-fish less than eight inches in length, pondswith an existing bass population should onlybe stocked with channel catfish that arelarger than that. For good growth, up to 20per acre of eight-inch or larger catfish maybe stocked per year. Unless you supply addi-tional food, avoid building population levelsgreater than 60 or 70 channel catfish peracre. For best results, keep good records offish stocked and fish caught and removed.
Channel catfish are available from manycommercial hatcheries in Georgia. For ad-ditional information, contact your nearestGeorgia DNR office and consult with astate fisheries biologist.
Some pond owners want to stock onlychannel catfish. When channel catfish arestocked alone and are allowed to grow toadult size, reproduction and survival ratescan be so high that crowding and slowgrowth result. In this situation, all adultsshould be harvested before they reach 15inches. Otherwise, there soon may be toomany catfish in the pond for the availablefood. Slow growth and muddy water will re-sult. Too many large channel catfish in thepond may lead to a fish kill due to a lack ofsufficient oxygen. e channel catfish has adeeply forked tail with black spots on itsback and sides. Its top and sides vary fromgray to slate-blue and are oen olive with ayellow sheen. Its body is scaleless, and it haseight barbels (whiskers) around its mouththat serve as taste sensors for locating food.e anal fin of a channel catfish is round,while the anal fin of a blue catfish has astraight outer edge.
e current state channel catfishweighed 44 lbs. 12 oz. and was caught byBobby Smithwick from the Altamaha Riveron May 18, 1972. e state record flatheadcatfish weighed 83 lbs. and two anglers aretied for the record, Carl sawyer ( June 22,2006) and Jim Dievency ( July 11, 2010).ey caught their catfish in the AltamahaRiver. Although not an official record fish,Tom Head of Bonaire, Georgia, caught a103-pound flathead on a limb line in theOcmulgee River near Houston County onAugust 19, 2009. Now that's a whopper! v
Art Christie, of Warner Robins, pulledin these nice channel cats from the
Hugh Gillis PFA near Dublin.
Author John Trussell caught these two big eight poundchannel Catfish from the Ocmulgee Public Fishing Areaon raw shrimp for bait.
20 May | June 2013
GeorgiaBobwhitesPast, Present, FutureBy Reggie Thackston and James Tomberlin | Georgia Department of Natural Resources
21Georgia Forestry Today
orthern bob-whites (Colinusvirginianus) holda special place inGeorgia’s out-door culture andwildlife heritage.
Georgia has been a premiere quail-huntingdestination for more than 100 years, andin 1970, Georgia lawmakers designatedthe bobwhite the state gamebird.
However, due to extensive changes inGeorgia’s landscape over the last 75-plusyears the bobwhite population has de-clined drastically. Consequently, so has thenumber of quail hunters. The good newsis there is growing interest and increasingeffort focused on restoring habitat for bob-whites and numerous other ‘early succes-sion’ wildlife species that depend ongrasses, forbs, and shrubs.
Let’s look at the early days, where weare today, and where we’re headed relativeto bobwhite restoration and hunting in thePeach State.
The Early DaysWhen the first Europeans to Georgia ven-tured inland, they encountered magnifi-cent forests with great ecological diversity.Included were large, open-canopy pineforests maintained by frequent fire. Thesefires, set by lightning strikes and nativeAmericans, created and maintained exten-sive landscapes of pine savanna best de-scribed as a prairie of grasses, wildflowers,and shrubs under the trees. The most no-table was an estimated 21 million acres offorests dominated by longleaf pine.
Bobwhites and many other early suc-cession species occurred extensively acrossthis landscape, but likely not in greatabundance locally, except perhaps in asso-ciation with native American agriculture.
However, as settlements moved in-land, gaps were cut in these forests, andsettlers began implementing what wewould consider very crude agriculture.This resulted in small crop fields withweedy borders and hedgerows—lots of idleland with native grasses, weeds, briars,
shrubs, and bugs; i.e., excellent bobwhitehabitat!
Settlers frequently burned the wood-lands between the fields, and used theforests for lumber, fuel wood, grazing, andturpentine. Also, crop harvesting methodswere inefficient, resulting in waste grainavailable for wildlife. Mid-sized mammalssuch as raccoons, opossums, foxes, andbobcats were trapped or hunted, likely re-ducing quail predation.
So, the accidental byproducts of earlyhomesteading created an ideal bobwhiteenvironment, and bobwhite populationsexploded across the state. Through themid-1900s, from mountain valleys to thecoast, good to excellent quail huntingcould be had on the back 40 of the averageGeorgia farm.
But during the latter half of the 20thcentury, the bobwhite population began tospiral downward as agriculture and forestrypractices intensified, urban/suburban de-velopment greatly expanded, and pre-scribed fire was suppressed across the
N
22 May | June 2013
landscape. In 1962-63, surveys by theGeorgia Department of Natural Resources’Wildlife Resources Division estimatedthere were 135,000 quail hunters who har-vested more than 4.5 million quail. By2008-09, the estimates had dropped to22,423 hunters harvesting 808,036 bob-whites, of which 97 percent were pen-reared birds!
U.S. Geological Survey Breeding BirdSurveys (www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs) showthat Georgia’s bobwhite population has de-clined by 5.5 percent per year since 1966,reflecting an overall decline of approxi-
mately 90 percent. In much of Georgia,bobwhite densities have fallen below thelevel needed to attract and maintainhunter interest. In some landscapes, par-ticularly in the northern half of the state,
viable bobwhite populations are no longerapparent. Also in serious decline are anumber of other wildlife species that, likebobwhites, need early succession habitats.
The bobwhite is a barometer for an
A spinoff of Georgia’s BQI has been numerous quota youth quail hunts voluntarily hosted by participating landowners.
Georgia’s bobwhite restoration pro-gram is supported solely through the
proceeds from vehicle license platesales, grants, and direct donations.
ecological problem that also affects stateand local economies through the loss ofquail hunting and other wildlife-associatedrecreation.
Bobwhites TodayGeorgia’s current bobwhite culture is pri-marily comprised of three parts: the shoot-ing preserve industry; private wild quailplantations; and, evolving wild quailrestoration efforts through the transitionof Georgia’s Bobwhite Quail Initiative,guided in part by the National BobwhiteConservation Initiative.
Shooting PreservesGeorgia has approximately 150 commer-cial shooting preserves that use pen-rearedbirds to provide bobwhite shooting tothousands of residents and non-residents.These preserves have a huge economic andenvironmental impact. Collectively, theyalso provide thousands of acres of openspace that benefit many wildlife species.Additionally, preserves help maintain in-terest in quail hunting and bird dogs, andexpose many youth and adults to the sportwho might not otherwise have the oppor-tunity.
Wild Quail PlantationsWild quail plantations in Georgia are clus-tered primarily around Albany and
Thomasville, and cover about 400,000acres. Many were established in the late1800s through the mid-1900s when bob-
23Georgia Forestry Today
Georgia’s future bobwhite restorationefforts will be largely focused on habi-tat restoration within focal landscapes
selected through a detailed habitat pri-oritization process under the National
Bobwhite Conservation Initiative.
24 May | June 2013
whites were abundant across Georgia.Northern industrialists traveling southwere attracted to the excellent quail hunt-ing. Properties were acquired, consoli-dated, and placed into intensive bobwhitemanagement. Even today, these landsboast some of the highest wild bobwhitedensities ever documented.
This interest in sustaining high-den-sity bobwhite populations led to a land-mark effort in science-based wildlifemanagement when in 1924 Herbert Stod-dard was hired to head the CooperativeQuail Study Investigation. That work re-sulted in his 1931 publication, The Bob-white Quail, Its Habits, Preservation andIncrease. This book is still considered the‘bobwhite bible,’ and Stoddard's legacy ex-ists through Tall Timbers Research Stationand Land Conservancy (www.ttrs.org), anational leader in research of intensivebobwhite management and fire ecology.
Wild quail plantations prove there isno mystery to the quail decline and thatwhen quality habitat is provided at thelandscape scale, bobwhites respond. Likeshooting preserves, plantations also pro-vide strong economic stimulus to sur-
rounding communities and provide anarray of ecosystem services, such as openspace, carbon sequestration, and improvedair and water quality.
Wild Bobwhite RestorationResponding to the bobwhite decline, in1998 a grassroots effort spurred by keymembers of Georgia’s General Assemblyand the Board of Natural Resources led tothe Wildlife Resources Division’s BobwhiteQuail Initiative. BQI provides landowners,called cooperators, with technical guidanceand has provided financial incentives forspecific habitat practices (e.g., field bor-ders, hedgerows, fallow corners, conserva-tion tillage, and thinning and burning pinestands) to benefit bobwhites and otherearly succession wildlife. To maximize pro-gram efficiency and success, BQI initiallyfocused on 15 counties in the UpperCoastal Plain.
Public interest in BQI has been highfrom the beginning, and the program con-tinues to enjoy strong support. Since 1999,BQI biologists have worked with hundredsof landowners on more than 600,000acres, developing plans to integrate bob-
white management into working farmsand forests. Intensive monitoring and re-search funded through BQI has shownthat bobwhites and certain song birds re-spond favorably to habitat practices ap-plied with the appropriate intensity and atthe appropriate scale.
Georgia has also increased its empha-sis on bobwhite management on state-owned lands. A number of wildlifemanagement areas have bobwhite manage-
Native grass-forb-shrub field borders and field corners adjacent to pine stands that are thinned and frequently prescribeburned provide critical habitat for bobwhites, rabbits, certain songbirds and a variety of other wildlife.
ment objectives; most notably, DiLane,Silver Lake, Chickasawhatchee, and RiverCreek WMAs. Intensive management atDiLane has resulted in about 200 wild cov-eys on 5,000 acres of managed uplands.
BQI has provided public educationabout the bobwhite decline and youthhunting opportunities through quota quailhunts held on cooperator farms. BQI hasalso been used as a match to secure morethan $400,000 in outside funding forhabitat restoration by working with con-servation partners like Quail Forever, theNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation,and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The bottom line: BQI has shown thatbobwhite populations can be increased andsustained on working farms and foreststhrough coordinated management appliedat the appropriate scale and focused withinthe proper landscape context. Healthybobwhite populations are no longer an ac-cidental byproduct of agriculture andforestry. They occur only through plannedmanagement.
The Future?Based on years of research coupled withthe knowledge and experience gainedthrough 13 years of implementing BQI,Georgia bobwhite restoration efforts arebeing expanded to parts of more than 68Upper Coastal Plain counties. The coun-ties were selected through a landscapeanalysis guided by Tall Timbers ResearchStation working with the Wildlife Re-sources Division as part of the NationalBobwhite Conservation Initiative (www.bringbackbobwhites.org). NBCI is a 25-state plan for bobwhite habitat and popu-lation restoration.
The Wildlife Resources Division hasdeveloped an NBCI implementation planthat transitions BQI into these priorityrestoration landscapes. The intent is towork intensively with interested landown-ers on private lands and suitable publiclands within the landscapes to target man-agement programs, funding, technical as-sistance, research and monitoring efforts.
Georgia’s NBCI presents bobwhite
enthusiasts with a clear vision and roadmap to make a real difference for bob-whites and other grassland-dependentwildlife. However, public support isneeded to:• Promote and fund Georgia’s imple-
mentation plan.
• Continue and increase funding forfederal, state, and non-governmentalorganization programs and practicesthat help bobwhite habitat.
• Support an increased emphasis onmanaging public lands habitat (espe-cially timber thinning and frequentprescribed fire) to benefit bobwhitesand other early succession species.
Please note, too, that Wildlife ResourcesDivision bobwhite restoration efforts arefunded solely through the sale of an auto-mobile license plate. If you want to sup-port bobwhite restoration, buy or renew aBQI tag, or make a direct donation toBQI! v
25Georgia Forestry Today
Learn more atwww.georgiawildlife.com /conserva-tion/quail.
Reggie Thackston is Private Lands pro-gram manager and bobwhite projectleader for the Georgia DNR’s WildlifeResources Division. James Tomberlin isa senior wildlife biologist overseeingBQI implementation.
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26 May | June 2013
n March, Georgia-Pacific an-nounced that it is developing
plans for potential investments,which total nearly $400 million, in
its plywood and lumber operations. esefacility expansions and equipment upgradeswill further strengthen the company’s com-mitment to meet customers’ needs in thebuilding products industry.
e company has approved funding forsignificant engineering and is evaluating fa-cilities in a number of southern states, in-cluding North Carolina, South Carolina,Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas,and Texas. e effort would increase Geor-
gia-Pacific’s overall capacity by approxi-mately 20 percent. Pending final site selec-tion and required permitting, start-upwould be expected in the second half of2014 through the beginning of 2015.
“e markets for our products are cur-rently improving at a steady pace. ese pro-posed investments would positionGeorgia-Pacific to provide our current andpotential customers with the products theyneed to grow with a long-term recovery inhousing,” said Mark Luetters , executive vicepresident, Georgia-Pacific building prod-ucts. “We have a long-term vision for ourbuilding products business, and these invest-
ments underscore our commitment to theindustry and the communities where we arelocated.”
Since 2006, the Georgia-Pacific build-ing products business has invested close to$1.5 billion in capital for property andequipment upgrades and acquisitions. isincludes the 2007 purchase of several Inter-national Paper building products assets andthe 2010 Grant Forest Products acquisition.e company also continues to plan for themore than $700 million acquisition of theTemple-Inland Building Products assets.v
Georgia-Pacific Announces Significant Investments in Plywood and Lumber Operations
I
he Herty Advanced Ma-terials Development Cen-
ter, a world-leader inmaterials research and product
development, will mark its 75th year an-niversary in 2013 by celebrating its achieve-ments, milestones, and growth. rough ahost of activities, Herty will honor thelegacy of Dr. Charles H. Herty, whose pio-neering work in process chemistry helpedcreate the modern pulp and paper industryin the Southeastern United States. eHerty Center will recognize its long-stand-
ing achievements and its industrial partners;the impact it has had on economic growth;and present its exciting new initiatives.
Established by the state of Georgia in1938, the Herty Center was created to pro-vide research and development support tothe pulp and paper industry. Early work atthe Herty Center focused on chemicalpulping and the commercialization poten-tial of southern so woods, and especiallysouthern pine. is work directly enabledthe modern pulp and paper industry to de-velop in Georgia and throughout the South-
east. is industry has evolved to become akey industry within Georgia, topping $25billion in output in 2011, providing over118,000 jobs and generating $15.1 billionin revenues, with the majority of this com-ing from pulp and paper manufacturing.
Today, the Herty Center specializes inbiomass conversion technologies, advancednon-woven materials, fibers, and pulp andpaper operations. Herty is a ‘new productaccelerator’ for its clients by offering techni-cal, market, manufacturing, and develop-ment services. v
Herty Advanced Materials Development Center Celebrates 75th Anniversary
T
27Georgia Forestry Today
he continuing battle toincrease the weight limit for
trucks on interstate highwayshas recently experienced a re-
vival in Washington D.C. with the passageof a three-year nationwide study.
In February, the U.S. House Commit-tee on Transportation and Infrastructurecommitted to further study on a truckweight reform proposal that had been in-cluded in the American Energy and Infra-structure Jobs Act. The initial proposalwould allow states to opt into a higher fed-eral (interstate) vehicle weight limit forsingle-trailer trucks equipped with six axlesrather than the typical five. The requiredsixth axle maintains all braking and han-dling characteristics at the new limit of97,000 pounds - enabling shippers to safelyutilize truck space that remains empty atthe current 80,000-pound federal weightlimit. The proposal would reduce thetruckloads, vehicle miles, and fuel neces-
sary to meet demand.After consideration of the proposal,
the Transportation Committee insteadvoted for a three-year study to be con-ducted by the Department of Transporta-tion. The study will take a comprehensivelook at the implications of operating alter-native configuration vehicles, includingsix-axle 97,000-pound trucks, on differentparts of the U.S. highway system. The proj-ect will study elements such as diversionbetween rail and trucks and impact onsafety and infrastructure.
“Making trucking more efficient willbenefit the entire forest products supplychain,” Steve Worthington, GeorgiaForestry Association(GFA) board memberand General Manager of Southeast WoodProcurement at Rayonier said. “Updatingthe weight rules will immediately have abig impact on trucking efficiency.”
If you have any questions about thecurrent status of the transportation bill or
GFA’s stance on the transportation issue,
please contact Steve McWilliams at
[email protected] or 478-992-8110. v
or many consumer goodsand beverage companies, la-
bels allowing customers to ef-fectively interact with their
brand are considered the HolyGrail. Similarly, they are seeking solutions
to allow their boxed products to communi-cate with the consumer. With a newly de-veloped application for metallized paper,this ambitious goal might be closer than theindustry could have hoped for.
Based on research carried out at Har-vard University (researchers Mazzeo, Kalb,Chan, Killian, Bloch, and Whitesides) andcollaborations with institutes in Portugaland France, a specially developed paper hasbeen demonstrated to yield sufficient capac-itive properties to be used as a ‘touch pad,’entirely made of paper. Aer a straightfor-
ward laser etching, followed by connectionwith cheap electronic interfaces, the papercan be used to detect a consumer’s ‘touch’like a smart phone’s touch pad. is prod-uct, however, is at a fraction of the produc-tion cost. Also, by using metallized paper,which is re-pulpable like ordinary paper, itis environmentally friendly. Other advan-tages in this option include that metallizedpaper can be easily glued onto surfaces (likea label) or folded or laminated in three-di-mensional shapes (like boxes), unlike glasssurfaces or thick films.
e researchers and AR Metallizing en-visaged and tested prototypes for applica-tions such as: touch sensitive labels,interactive book covers, food labels andboxes, interactive games on cereal boxes,multi-digit disposable code pads on ship-
ping boxes, and even entire paper-based key-boards.
How it works: when a person touchesthe paper-based surface, the capacitance in-creases. When connected to external cir-cuitry and electronics (all of which can becheap and multi-use), this change in capac-itance can be detected and messages or sig-nals transferred. rough etching, multiple,discrete capacitors can be put on two simplemetallized paper sheets, placed next to eachother. Testing showed that over 2000touches are possible without altering thefunctioning. ese technological and eco-nomical breakthroughs allow for the ‘smartpackage’ to be environmentally green. It canbe disposed of aer use, with no impact onthe environment. v
Paper Labels and Packaging which Interacts with Customers
F
TShould the Fed Allow Increased Weight Limits for Trucks on
Interstate Highways?
28 May | June 2013
ax season can be a scarytime of year for somewoodland owners inGeorgia. No taxpayerwants to pay more thanhe or she rightfully owes,
but unfortunately many landowners do justthat each year.
ere are some situations in the filingprocess that will give a landowner the abilityto file a tax appeal and reduce his or herproperty tax liability. In most cases, how-ever, landowners will not file for an appealsimply because they do not understand thelegal process or they feel unprepared to chal-lenge local taxing authorities.
A Common ProblemUnfortunately, overpayment is common asGeorgia's timberland owners pay some ofthe highest property tax rates in the south-eastern United States.
is is due to a variety of factors includ-ing development and speculative influenceson land prices; differing attitudes, resources,knowledge levels, and skills among local as-sessment offices; and the absence of a shortterm special program for keeping transi-tional land in agricultural use. Also, con-trary to the Georgia Constitution, when theamount of taxes levied is compared to thecost of services consumed, timberland own-
ers also bear a highly inequitable share of theoverall tax burden.
However, the good news is that thereare provisions under current law for tax ap-praisals of timberland to be based simply onthe income that can be generated fromgrowing trees.
Standards for tax assessors require val-uations to be performed in accordance withthe law, to be uniform and to be at ‘fair mar-ket value’ as defined in Georgia code. Be-yond that, Georgia is an ‘existing use’ state,meaning that ‘fair market value’ is supposedto be determined in the context of a prop-erty’s ‘existing use’ (as opposed to an alter-native or more profitable potential use).What is considered income information, ifavailable, shall be applied in tax appraisalsof timberland.
Simply put, assessment uniformity is vi-olated when a timberland owner pays morethan his or her fair share of the tax burden.In sum, Georgia law, rules, and regulationsprovide specific criteria as to how propertyshould be valued. Tax appraisals are subjectto being invalid when those requirementsare not followed.
“Georgia law provides a wealth of op-portunities for reductions in market valuesfor timberland for the practitioner whoknows which rocks to look under and whatbuttons to push,” Jay Roberts, ad valorem
tax expert and partner at Roberts | Tate,LLC, said.
Practical SolutionsOn May 30 in Gainesville, Georgia, and onJune 4 in Tion, Georgia, the GeorgiaForestry Association will sponsor two prop-erty tax and tax appeal workshops to assistGeorgia's woodland owners in becomingmore knowledgeable about property taxesand more comfortable with the tax appealprocess.
e workshops will address the prob-lems with ad valorem property taxation oftimberland in Georgia and will explore po-tential solutions. Real life case studies willdemonstrate what can be done in these sit-uations and prepare participants to ap-proach appeals with greater confidence.
“Many landowners are leaving toomuch money on the table at tax time,” GFAPresident Steve McWilliams said. “e goalof these workshops is to help them pay onlywhat they rightfully owe, not a penny more.”
Drawing on years of experience in ob-taining substantial reductions in timberlandproperty tax valuations, workshop presen-ters Steve Fentriss and Jay Roberts will teachlandowners what to expect when challeng-ing tax appraisals and how to deal with theassessors when they feel they have beenwronged.
Fentriss and Roberts combine the per-spectives of a specialized attorney, owner taxadvocates, an experienced real estate ap-praiser, a tenured hearing officer, a long-term former deputy chief appraiser, and alicensed real estate broker to bear in chal-lenging property tax valuations. In the ag-gregate, these professionals have worked ontax appeal cases that have resulted in $2 bil-lion in market value reductions.
GEORGIA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
Ad Valorem Tax: e Season of Appeals By Matt Hestad | Georgia Forestry Association
29Georgia Forestry Today
Fentriss, who has represented a multi-tude of Georgia property owners since es-tablishing his property tax consultingbusiness in early 2008, noted that in mostappeals, “knowledge and persistence are es-
sential elements for successful outcomes.”ese workshops will be a great oppor-
tunity for any landowner to become moreknowledgeable about Georgia's property taxprograms and the tax appeal process. For
more information on the workshop loca-
tion, speakers and agenda, call GFA at 478-
992-8110, e-mail [email protected] or visit
www.gfagrow.org/taxworkshops. v
Steve Fentriss: Steve Fentriss is licensed by the state ofGeorgia as Certified General Real Prop-erty Appraiser (#245677), is approvedas a Hearing Officer for Georgia ad val-orem tax appeals, holds the prestigiousSRA designation from the Appraisal In-stitute, and has earned the coveted Ap-praiser IV certification from theGeorgia Department of Revenue.
Steve has represented a multitudeof Georgia property owners and pro-vided litigation support for a number
of Georgia attorneys since starting hisproperty tax consulting business inearly 2008. Steve specializes in complexproperty tax matters, is published andis an accomplished workshop developerand presenter.
Jay Roberts: Jay Roberts is a partner at Roberts |Tate, LLC. He is a litigator and trial at-torney who practices exclusively civillitigation. Jay has developed a sub-spe-cialty in advising clients in ad valorem
tax matters and has assisted clients inobtaining more than $950 million inmarket value reductions.
Jay has adapted approaches used inother civil litigation to the property taxappeal context in order to change thedynamic from what the property isworth to whether the tax assessor com-plied with the law in performing a val-uation. Jay is a leader in the field of realproperty taxation in the state and isoften called upon for input in proposedlegislative changes in this area. v
Workshop Presenter Bios
30 May | June 2013
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) 227-1919 [email protected]
FOREST RESOURCESERVICES 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 Road
Alma, Ga 31510Office: (912) 632-2800
Gary Strickland Foresters Owner Available
We Buy [email protected]
