FOREST 



RESOURCES 



O F 



SOUTH 



GEORGIA 



Future Outlook 



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smaller ones are protecting and developing their 

 forest properties and are using good judgment in the 

 harvesting of their timber crops. It cannot be said, 

 however, that wise forest management is widely prev- 

 alent. There is need for continued and intensified 

 fire protection, for better woods practices in gum na- 

 val stores, for the removal of cull trees and inferior 

 species, and for greater thrift in utilization. If the 

 thousands of small forest holdings, annually sub- 

 jected to many forms of debilitating mismanage- 

 ment, are to be rehabilitated and do their part in 

 maintaining that high degree of productiveness of 

 which the region is capable, forestry educational 

 work must be expanded. 



It is essential that the annual increment of the 

 forest be increased if the present wood-using indus- 

 tries are to be assured of an adequate and continu- 

 ous supply of raw material at a reasonable cost. At 

 present the annual requirement for pine products 

 outstrips the current annual increment. It is true 

 some relief can be furnished by central Georgia, the 

 survey unit adjoining on the north, where pine in- 

 crement exceeds drain by about a million cords 

 annually. Nevertheless, as the balance between 

 growth and drain now stands, there is a distinct 

 limitation to the extent to which the forest indus- 

 tries can be expanded without facing a gradually 

 declining source of supply. 



South Georgia, with so many natural factors fa- 

 vorable to tree growth, should not be content with 

 the comparatively small improvement in growth 

 needed to balance its present forest budget. It 

 should look forward to an intensive development of 

 this, its main natural resource, with the expectation 

 of perhaps doubling its annual yield within the next 

 20 years. The pressing need for increased indus- 

 trialization to furnish greater employment for both 

 capital and labor fully justifies a serious and sus- 

 tained effort to this end. 



SOUTH Georgia has long been noted for the 

 extent and value of its forest resources. The 

 social and economic structure of the region is 

 intimately connected with the use of the land for 

 growing timber crops and with the manufacture, 

 marketing, and transportation of forest commodi- 

 ties. The forest-using industries have played a 

 major role in the development and progress of the 

 area, and there is every indication that they will 

 play an even greater role in the future if furnished 

 abundant and suitable raw material. 



For many years south Georgia has been the heart 

 of the naval stores belt, and the business of produc- 

 ing rosin and turpentine from the longleaf and 

 slash pine forests has been the dominant forest 

 activity for several decades. The forest industries 

 producing lumber, poles, ties, and similar commod- 

 ities have had in the main to take second place, 

 both in economic importance and in the order of 

 their access to the forest stands. Recent develop- 

 ments, however, seem to indicate that the future 

 may see a change in this situation. 



Within the last few years the new pulp mills that 

 have been located in this section of Georgia or near- 

 by have acquired large areas of forest land on which 

 the first objective of management is the production 

 of wood rather than naval stores. Furthermore, 

 the large new outlet for pulpwood from lands other 

 than company-owned is developing a different con- 

 cept of management. Although the production of 

 gum turpentine and rosin is likely always to be one 

 of the outstanding sources of wealth from longleaf 

 and slash pine forests, increasing profits from inte- 

 grated utilization, including pulpwood sales, may 

 eventually change it from a primary to a secondary 

 objective of forest management. 



In the last 10 years there has been notable prog- 

 ress in forest management in south Georgia. Many 

 of the large forest landowners and some of the 



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