Georgias Sustainable Forests

Forestry Best Management Practices (BMPs) are critical in ensuring sustainable forest management in the United States because of their effectiveness in protecting water quality, reducing soil erosion, maintaining riparian habitat, and sustaining site productivity. The success of forestry BMPs depends heavily on coordination among primary stakeholder groups. It is important to understand perceptions of such groups for a successful forest policy formulation. We used the SWOT-AHP (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis with the Analytical Hierarchy Process) framework to assess perceptions of three stakeholder groups (loggers, landowners, agency foresters) about forestry BMPs in Georgia, the largest roundwood producing state in the United States. The agency and logger stakeholder groups gave the highest priority to improved reputation under the strength category, whereas the landowner stakeholder group perceived sustainable forestry as the highest priority under the same category. Lack of landowner education was the highest priority under the weakness category for landowner and agency stakeholder groups, whereas the logger stakeholder group selected lack of trained personnel as the highest priority under the same category. Agency and landowner stakeholder groups gave the highest priority to training and education while loggers indicated maintenance of forest-based environmental benefits as their highest priority under the opportunity category. Finally, landowners and agency stakeholder groups perceived more regulations and restrictions as most significant in the threat category whereas the logger stakeholder group was most concerned about the insufficient accounting of cost sharing under the same category. Overall, selected stakeholder groups recognize the importance of forestry BMPs and had positive perceptions about them. A collaborative approach based on continuous feedback can streamline expectations of stakeholder groups about forestry BMPs in Georgia and several other states that are interested in maintaining high compliance rate of forestry BMPs for ensuring sustainable forest management.

This publication contains information concerning the forest resources of Georgia and a description of the status, trends and developments taking place in the forest sector and of the areas in which forestry activities have taken place over the past decade. For the forest sector, as for other branches of the Georgian economy, the period has been marked by the implementation of radical reforms necessitated by the changeover from a centrally planned to a market economy and by efforts to achieve sustainable development in forest management.--Publisher's description.

Since 1980, one of the country's most acclaimed rock/blues pianists has developed into one of our most respected conservationists and tree farmers. Over the last two decades, Chuck Leavell and his wife Rose Lane have transformed Charlane Plantation in middle Georgia into a textbook tree-farming enterprise--and in the process Leavell has become a nationally recognized spokesman on behalf of America's forests. In "Forever Green, Leavell steers a well-reasoned course for the future of America's forests. He points out that wood is one of our most critical resources, one that must be wisely used and conscientiously renewed. Leavell's message is frank but encouraging. Thanks to pressure applied by environmental and conservation groups, to responsible government policy, and to an ever-rising social consciousness concerning all our natural resources, we are making progress in forest management. And with the leadership of Leavell and others like him, the American forest does have hope.

Although south Georgia has long been noted for its extensive forests and diversified forest-using industries, there is an excellent opportunity here to build up (perhaps to double) the present growing stock. To do so would assure a permanent supply of raw material and thus permit additional industrial expansion. Many areas are still unprotected from fires: openings are in need of artificial restocking; turpentine practices, especially those of the many small gum producers, need further improvement; and many forest stands are stagnated with worked-out turpentine pines, cull trees, and inferior species.

A global assessment of potential and anticipated impacts of efforts to achieve the SDGs on forests and related socio-economic systems. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.