Page 28 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 4 - Fall 2022

GFC’s Chelsea York brings her passions for forestry and teaching to hundreds of students in a variety of settings every year.
Project Learning Tree is a 501(c)3 organization that was introduced in the early 1970s, and it has been the education beacon for the forest industry ever since. It is managed and administered by the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) and UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources. The program’s co-coordinator is GFC Conservation Education Coordinator Chelsea York.
“Summer is our busiest time of year,” said York, “with the most opportunities for face-to-face activities, engaging with teachers and students for longer periods of time. But PLT and all the programs we’re involved with are operating, at some level, year-round.”
Natural Influencers
Education is one of the pillars of GFC’s mission and is inextricably connected to everything else the agency does. As its employees serve and lead, they are educating people, one by one, about the benefits of the forest and the dedicated professionals who protect and conserve it. Forest rangers teach landowners that fire can be slowed and property saved when pre-suppression firebreaks are plowed. Forest health specialists enlighten others about the dangers of tree overcrowding when leading a field day through a pine beetle-riddled tract. Urban foresters help planners establish and nurture city greenspaces. And social media followers get an ah-ha! moment when they see children at summer camp mesmerized by the buzz of a sawmill or the felled-tree thwumps at a harvest site.
“Sharing the good that forestry brings to all of our lives is critical to ensuring Georgia remains the #1 forestry state in the nation,” said GFC Director Tim Lowri- more. “We’re committed to spreading the word about the amazing benefits of our forestland, the kinds of career opportuni- ties available, and the role well-managed forests play in answering sustainability questions and concerns. High-quality outreach and educational programs are critical to that mission,” he said.
Teachers and the organizations for which they work have consistently praised GFC’s outreach efforts. A recent award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators was of special note, as GFC received the organization’s “Outstanding Cooperation Award” in 2020. The GFC was recognized for its “service to agricultural education programs in 159 counties in Georgia
Harvesters of Natural Longleaf and Slash Pine Stumps in the Coastal Plain of Georgia
DONALD MURPHY
FORESTRY PROCUREMENT MANAGER
(904) 591-3529 I donald.murphy@pinovasolutions.com
PinovaSolutions.com/sell-your-pine-stumps

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