Page 22 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 4 - Fall 2022

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Our forestry industry impacts so many aspects of everyday life, from people spending time in their home, to getting their packages, to writing and receiving letters or spending time in the woods. These necessities and pleasures would be nonexistent without working forests and their products — which is why protecting and advancing this industry is so important to our state’s success. Enriching our working forests is crucial to Georgia’s economy and preserving our way of life. In Georgia, we grow 48% more trees than we harvest and have over 22 million acres of commercially available private timberland. Georgia’s forests support more than 140,000 jobs and have a $39 billion economic impact. These jobs and investment are crucial to our economy and everyday Georgians’ lives.
When it comes to our conservation efforts, it’s essential for us to adopt a forest first mentality. Georgia’s timber industry is thriving, and our goal should be to defer to industry experts on best practices to maintain and grow our conservation efforts. If elected Lieutenant Governor,
I will work hand in hand with our
forestry and timber industry experts and empower them to keep our #1 industry growing, thriving and prospering for generations to come.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER
Republican for Secretary of State (Incumbent)
I believe healthy trees are a sign of a healthy environment. We’ve learned how to manage our forests as a renewable resource; in fact, wood could be considered our first renewable resource. Foresters have developed sustainable management practices, and we have more forest land now than we had 100 years ago.
Despite the development of a
wide array of synthetic building products, forest products continue
to be unparalleled in their uses. From houses to multi-family construction up to five stories, wood is the preferred
choice and the most economical choice. Forest products built this nation, and the forest products industry has adapted to handle the demand while providing the environmental stewardship necessary to remain a key component of our robust and growing economy.
I believe we must be diligent in protecting the forest products industry from burdensome over-regulation. Wood is a renewable product, and the industry has shown it can adjust to new technologies and new data to maintain a healthy forest. The industry understands better than anyone else that each tree is an investment that will be harvested in the future to return a dividend to its shareholders.
The forest products industry is also a major job creator. During timber’s grow- ing phase, it is creating jobs for foresters through thinning and pest control and all the other ongoing aspects. Those are local jobs for Georgians. During harvest- ing, it provides jobs for specialists in tim- ber harvesting. Then timber produces jobs in sawmills, pulp production, paper products and a host of other products, and each part of that process generates state GDP and jobs for Georgians.
I’m proud of the work the Secretary
of State’s office has done for all Georgia businesses, including the forest products industry. Our team licenses foresters, civil engineers, architects, surveyors
and landscape architects, and we have a strong record of expeditiously handling the licensing process, ensuring these professionals are able to get to work without the government getting in their way. It is this type of pro-business attitude that has been at the heart of our licensing operation, and we will continue to look for ways to make these and other processes more efficient and helpful to the business community in a second term.
CHRIS CARR
Republican for Attorney General (Incumbent)
As I often say, as attorney general, my priority is the three Ls: to protect lives,
livelihoods and liberties. Our forests enrich our lives with their natural beauty, the recreation they provide and the contributions they make to a clean environment and our ecosystem. Our forestry industry boosts livelihoods and economic development by providing 140,000 Georgia jobs and $39 billion of economic impact to our state, as well as providing products essential to our everyday lives, from paper products
to furniture to building supplies. I’m proud that Georgia ranks #1 nationally in annual harvesting and in forest product exports. Our forestry industry is both a good steward of our economy and of our land.
Returning to the 3 Ls, I’ll continue over the next four years to protect livelihoods and liberties. As a former commissioner of the Department
of Economic Development, I’m
well aware of what it takes for our economy to thrive. I will protect
our top-ranked business climate by fighting federal mandates from the Biden administration that violate our constitutional rights, from land use to healthcare decisions.
Whereas many activist Democratic attorneys general use the power of their offices to prosecute job creators they don’t like, I will stand up for
the rule of law and uphold the rights
of companies to do business with minimal interference from government regulators and prosecutors. I will do the job without fear or favor to any person or industry, with the desire to create a business environment where all have the chance to prosper.
JEN JORDAN
Democrat for Attorney General
In Georgia, forestry is one of our most important and valuable industries, and I am committed to serving and protecting the men and women who keep it running. I grew up in rural Georgia,
and I come from a family of farmers; I
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