Kay Harris
• Editor’s Note: One traditionally doesn’t think of conservationists and foresters as having common interests, but as the pressures mount on both government and private landowners to develop and sell off natural resources once thought to be limitless, these two groups have found common ground in the interest of protecting the future of the land and the health of our communities.
VALDOSTA — One of the nation’s fastest growing states, Georgia is beginning to buckle under the pressures of development. The state gains 108 acres of impervious surface every day, more than half of that in the 16-county Atlanta metro area, and loses 50 acres of canopy cover daily.
The demands of an rapidly increasing population go beyond just housing – water, infrastructure, power lines, recreation areas, and more are beginning to strain the state’s ability to preserve what has long been the country’s most well forested state.
In an effort to educate private landowners, foresters, conservationists and others interested in learning more about protecting the state’s natural resources, the Georgia Conservancy invited Gail Kimbell, the chief of the U. S. Forest Service, as well as Robert Farris, interim director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, Paul Bradley, Georgia’s acting forest supervisor and Dr. Bob Warren of the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources to speak to the challenges currently facing the state at Kinderlou Forest’s Ravine Grille Saturday.
In introducing Chief Kimbell, event host Wesley Langdale III said his family has been fortunate to have a working relationship with government and the forestry service throughout the Langdale Company’s 110-year history, and it was a “tremendous honor to welcome Chief Kimbell to Valdosta.”
Kimbell, the agency’s 16th chief forester, said she had heard a great deal about the practice of forestry in Georgia even before the recent rash of wildfires thrust the state into the national spotlight in recent weeks.
Speaking to the mixed group of conservationists, landowners and foresters, Kimbell urged those present to learn to work together in the common interests of land preservation and good stewardship in the face of population growth and related demands.
“Nationwide, our population is 300 million. We are facing increased water demands, recreation demands and housing demands. People are moving into our wildland areas at an unprecedented rate. We are losing 6,000 acres every day to housing. In the next 20 years, we will lose an additional 44 million acres of wildlands due to the increased demands,” she said.
According to Kimbell, climate changes are bringing challenges, “regardless of where you stand in this debate,” stating that ice packs and stream flows are changing and increased fire dangers are occurring nationwide.
“When you’re talking about development of forest lands, the biggest impacts will be here in the Southeast. When you lose private forests, you lose clean air and clean water.”
Kimbell said the loss of jobs, scenic beauty, habitats, wildlife populations, and other issues created by the loss of open space will affect our quality of life. “Who wants to see a vista of land that was once pristine and now is chopped up and altered by roof lines? These issues aren’t new, and conservation means having the kinds of things we enjoy as Americans.”
The U. S. Forest Service has a list of strategies, and Kimbell shared her top priorities, which include:
– Changes to the Federal Tax Code. “We have to promote conservation, and encourage landowners to preserve their land.”
– Better engagement at the local level. “We need to help communities faced with issues on where and how to grow.”
– Ecosystem Services Market. “We need to attach a fair value to land. Land contributes biodiversity, water purification, carbon and air purification.”
Protection from encroachment
Paul Bradley, the new deputy forestry supervisor on the Oconee, explained that national forest land is surrounded by private land, particularly in Georgia, where more than 90 percent of land is in private hands.
“When the land next to one of our forests is developed, it influences the integrity of the forest. What used to be agricultural barriers are now homes, or vacation and second homes, and they have a direct and indirect impact.”
Bradley said that subdivisions need roads, power lines, water, utilities, etc. and the fragmentation of private land is resulting in fragmentation of forest land. “Two of our biggest challenges are loss of open space and unmanaged recreation.”
He cited an example of someone who builds a vacation home in the mountains next to forest land who owns a horse, and decides they should be able to ride their horse in the mountains. “Suddenly you have horse trails, or over-the-road vehicle trails, and they are trespassing on federal land, creating fire hazards.”
While acquisition of private land has been successful in keeping some development at bay, Bradley said its not enough, and private landowners need to have an incentive to resist developers through conservation easements.
Following the presentations, which included an overview of the UGA School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and presentations by Wesley Langdale and Tom Putnam of the Langdale Company, the group was taken on a tour of forest land owned by the Langdale Company to showcase the conservation and stewardship of the land the company has practiced for more than 100 years in the forestry business.
