Page 28 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 1 - Winter 2022

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26 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
In the spring of 2020, during
the early portions of the COVID-19 pandemic, GFC personnel supported logistical efforts by managing
a medical supply warehouse in Kennesaw to supply necessary medical supplies to hospitals across the state. The experience and expertise of our Type 2 Incident Management Team brought order
to chaos and was lauded by state emergency management leaders.
From wildfire to storms to the pandemic, GFC has always answered the call. Our commitment is to remain ready to help the forest community, the state and nation, whenever and wherever needed.
Meeting Future
Challenges
To ensure GFC will be positioned to address future challenges and opportu- nities, which arguably are coming at a much faster pace than ever before, we must continue to build on the strong reputation we have established. We must continue to grow, maintain and harvest our agency’s relevance with our stakeholders to ensure GFC is well cap- italized. It is an imperative prerequisite to preserving Georgia as the #1 forestry state in the nation.
The greatest challenge our agency faces today is attracting and retaining employees to our team. I know many of you reading this article face the same challenge. Numerous careers with the agency require individuals with critical skills and/or formal education. Wild- land firefighters must have or obtain a Commercial Driver’s License, be pro- ficient operating heavy equipment and become a certified wildland firefighter TYPE II. Foresters are required to have a bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources. A recent performance audit of our Protec- tion Department highlighted the urgency of this challenge to our agency. Nearly 60% of our wildland firefighters have not experienced a significant wildfire season. Our agency data also indicates that 75% of our foresters have fewer than five years of service with the agency.
I have enormous confidence in our employees and our agency’s ability to continue to do everything possible to answer the call to manage and protect lives, property and communities. Yet I believe the current situation and trend, if not reversed, poses a significant threat to