Units Nos. 1 and 2, hereinafter referred to respec- 

 tively as southeast and southwest Georgia. A forest 

 survey unit is an area of 4 to 11 million acres in 

 which the forest, economic, and industrial con- 

 ditions are reasonably homogeneous. The di- 

 vision of a State in this manner facilitates analysis 

 and discussion of the forest situation. The 2 

 Georgia units here described include 57 counties 

 with a total land surface of 15,297,100 acres, not 

 including the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast 

 Georgia or the tidal marshes and coastal islands 

 along the Atlantic coast, which are here briefly 

 described in general terms. 



Areas Mot Included in Survey 



The Okefenokee Swamp covers approximately 

 412,000 acres, principally in Charlton, Ware, and 

 Clinch Counties of southeast Georgia. It was not 

 included in the line-plot survey because of the 

 extra time and cost necessary to cruise such an 

 area. The name Okefenokee (quivering earth) is 

 of Indian origin and is most appropriate. With 

 the exception of several islands, during a portion 

 of each year the entire area is submerged 1 to several 

 feet. 



The swamp is made up largely of cypress bays or 

 hammocks, pine islands, shallow marshes or 

 prairies, and watercourses and lakes. The cypress 

 bays are largely forested in cypress, 1 tupelos, and 

 several minor species. Some of the bays, particu- 

 larly those in the western part of the swamp, for- 

 merly supported splendid stands of high-grade 

 cypress and blackgum, in which lumber companies 

 operated for many years; other bays support a 

 growth of scattered scrub cypress unsuited for 

 sawlog purposes. The pine islands were originally 

 forested with good stands of both longleaf and slash 

 pine, but with one or two exceptions these areas 

 have been worked for turpentine and cut over. 

 The shallow marshes or prairies, which frequendy 

 occupy large contiguous areas, are most prevalent 

 in the eastern half of the swamp. These areas are 

 dotted with small cypress "houses" or "heads" 

 which are in reality small cypress hammocks. 



1 The lumber-trade term "cypress" is used throughout this 

 publication to designate principally baldcypress {Taxodium 

 distichum), but also includes pondcypress (7". adscendens). 

 Similarly, the lumber-trade term "tupelo" is employed for 

 water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), and the term "blackgum" for 

 black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) and swamp tupelo {N. biflord). 



Open waterways and narrow shoestring lake 

 are to be found in all parts of the swamp. The 

 Suwannee River originates in the western part of 

 the swamp and flows southwest into the Gulf of 

 Mexico, while the St. Marys River emerges from 

 the southeast corner and flows into the Atlantic 

 Ocean. 



The Okefenokee Swamp was largely unsurveyed 

 State property until 1889, when the State land was 

 sold to the Suwannee Canal Co., which attempted 

 to drain and reclaim the area. This gigantic task 

 known as "Jackson's Folly," was abandoned in the 

 middle nineties as unsound, and the timber re- 

 sources were placed on the market. Approximately 

 300,000 acres, including the major portion of the 

 swamp, were purchased by a large lumber company 

 that began logging operations about 1910. From 

 then until 1926, when active operations ceased, 

 approximately 400 million board feet of cypress 

 and about 60 million board feet of pine were 

 removed. No blackgum was logged, and it was 

 believed that over 100 million board feet were left 

 standing in the areas cut for cypress. Since 1926, 

 several small companies have successfully operated 

 in the smaller and more sparsely stocked stands 

 bordering the swamp, and the cutting of cypress 

 railroad ties has long been an activity along the 

 outer rim. A severe fire which swept the swamp 

 in the spring of 1932 and destroyed much of the 

 residual stand caused particularly heavy damage 

 in the western part, where well over one-third of 

 the blackgum was said to be destroyed. 



The Bureau of Biological Survey, United States 

 Department of the Interior, has recently acquired 

 approximately 300,000 acres, to be administered as 

 a game and bird refuge. Here the unique and 

 interesting natural conditions can be studied and 

 the vanishing bird and animal life protected and 

 preserved for future generations. 



No estimate is here made of the volume of timber 

 left in the Okefenokee Swamp, but it contains a 

 large supply of scattered cypress, blackgum, ever- 

 green magnolia, southern sweetbay, and red maple 

 (mainly in the smaller diameter classes), and also 

 a considerable volume of slash and pond pine along 

 the outer edges. 



The other area not included in the field survey 

 consists of approximately 384,200 acres of tidal 

 marshes and offshore islands along the Atlantic 

 coast, shown in white on the type map at the back 



