Page 23 - Georgia Forestry - Issue2 - Spring 2019

“Damage can be highly variable according to tree species, age, density and thinning history. Your objectives for your property will help determine strategies.” — Chuck Williams, GFC Director
Martin. “GFC personnel are very well trained and it was all hands on deck.”
“We never had anything like this,” said Heard. “There was no electricity, no lights, no showers, and we slept at the GFC office. The local churches were kind enough to keep us fed. And we haven’t gotten back to normal yet.”
Helping Hands
At GFC offices across the state, phones rang where they were working, and cell phones vibrated non-stop. Landowners needed help, fast. Many of them were established customers, friends and neighbors, and prioritizing became a challenge. Throughout, the GFC message was consistent: Assess. Salvage. Restore.
At landowner meetings in the hard-hit
districts, GFC Director Chuck Williams listened — and helped people understand. “Damage can be highly variable according to tree species, age, density and thinning history,” he said. “Your objectives for your property will help
determine strategies.”
GFC’s Forest Management Chief Scott
Griffin was by Williams’ side. “Assessments take these factors into
consideration, and they’ll drive decisions about salvage and restoration,” Griffin said. “Yes, time is of the essence. We’re moving extra staff in to help you with those decisions.”
The Georgia State Legislature went into special session in November to create measures that would assist reeling land- owners. Two-hundred million dollars in tax credits for timber losses report-
able on federal income tax returns was allocated for landowners who replant. And two special programs designed to reduce the risk of wildfires and insect infestations, to be administered by the GFC, were authorized. The Forest Debris Management Program (FDMP) provides for debris cleanup under an 80 percent cost-share plan. The Forest Access Road & Firebreak Restoration Project provides for fire prevention activities including debris clearing from existing firebreaks.
That’s a handful and a challenge for GFC staff across the 28-county disaster area, whose relationships with customers is always of great importance.
“I’ve gotten incredible support from the commission,” said landowner Patricia Middleton, whose 120 acres in Early County were already on a management
GFC’s Steve Martin and landowner Patricia Middleton survey damage on her Early County property.
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