Georgia Forestry Commission. Vision. Mission

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1 Georgia Forestry Commission ANNUAL REPORT for FISCAL YEAR 2006 Vision Healthy, sustainable forests providing clean air, clean water, and abundant products for future generations. Mission To provide leadership, service, and education in the protection and conservation of Georgia s forest resources. I. Unit Personnel Mark McClellan Forester/Chief Ranger Jason Harris Ranger II Timothy Redick Ranger I Vacant Ranger I 1

2 II. Administration It is our goal to provide the best quality service possible, while keeping cost as low as possible. Due to the variety of skills our employees have, we feel that we have saved thousands of dollars in labor and other fees. The figures below consist of recurring expenditures necessary in the upkeep of the buildings as well as everyday parts and tools needed to do our job. When it is possible to make or repair items, we do so ourselves before we buy new items, or pay someone else to do the work. Expenditures: Salaries Miscellaneous Equipment Utilities & Expense Operation Maintenance $83, $4, $18, $3, Total - $109, County Costs for Fire Protection Glynn County Expenditures: $5, (Fire per Forested Acre) Glynn County Forestry Budget: $14, III. EQUIPMENT 2003 Sterling Transport 1998 International Transport 1987 Brigadier 1998 John Deere 750 C 1998 John Deere 750 C LGP 2004 John Deere 700 H LGP 2000 Ford ¾ ton 4X4 Pickup with 90 gallon water tank 2004 Chevrolet ½ ton 4X4 Pickup with 70 gallon water tank 2

3 IV. FOREST PROTECTION This past year incendiary was the number one cause of wildfires for this unit. Sets alone accounted for 32.5% of wildfires this year. Through our fire prevention program, as well as, the increased rainfall we have experienced a moderate number of fires this past year. Numbers of Fires Cause of Fire Machine Use 10 Lightening 3 Rail Road 9 Camp Fire 0 Smoking 0 Debris Burning 9 Incendiary 16 Children 3 Misc. 2 Total Fires 52 Total Acres Burned Average Size for County.93 (The average size fire for the state is 2.77 acres.) Firebreaks and Burning Assistance Number of Plowing Assists: 25 Miles of Plowing/Harrowing: Number of Burn Assists: 102 miles 6 for 1,435 acres Number of Permits Issued: 7,030 3

4 V. FIRE PREVENTION INFORMATION AND EDUCATION A concerted effort has been made to contact as many people as possible through community involvement. We provided a mobile classroom and fire wise trailer at Coast Fest to educate and teach the importance of forestry and wildfire prevention. We also visited many elementary schools presenting our Smokey Bear fire prevention message. At Golden Isles Elementary students learn about Fire Prevention. In addition Glynn County personnel participated in many community activities such as the Tree City USA Program, FFA field days, outdoor class rooms, fairs, parades, and other land owner programs. VI. RURAL FIRE DEFENSE GFC Supplied # Wild Fire # Acres Average Size Vehicles Responses Burned Fire The RFD Program was originally created to assist unprotected rural communities in establishing an initial fire protection program, reinforcing existing fire departments and equipping them for fighting rural fires, and providing the Commission with a back-up force of equipment and trained people for emergency forest fire use. Currently, the Glynn County RFD is requesting 3 additional pieces of equipment. 4

5 VII. FOREST MANAGEMENT One forester is assigned to Glynn County to provide assistance and advice to landowners in managing forestlands. The forester is also responsible for providing assistance to the urban community as well as ensuring that landowners follow state and federal guidelines when participating in cost-share programs such as; the Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) and the Southern Pine Beetle Program (SPB). Detailed management plans, called Forest Stewardship Plans, are also written for landowners who wish to intensively manage their property. Approximately 23 landowner visits and correspondents were made in Glynn County last year. These meetings primarily consisted of rural forestry assistance, cost-share and prescribed burn assistance. IIX. REFORESTATION As you well know forestry in Georgia and especially Glynn County is still big business. With over 23 million acres of commercial forestland in the state, our forest industry directly contributes over $19 billion to the states economy annually for a total impact of over $25 billion. The state s forest industry employs (direct and indirectly) a total of 169,000 Georgians. The Glynn County Unit seedling sales were down slightly with approximately 3,110 seedlings sold last year. However, in order to provide an adequate supply of future seedlings, the unit usually collects seeds in our county for future tree sales. VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT 5