Red Clay Forestry, LLC

INTERFOR CORPORATION announced today [Aug. 19, 2024] that it will indefinitely curtail operations at its sawmills in Meldrim, GA and Summerville, SC. These curtailments are in response to persistently weak lumber market conditions. Log deliveries will be curtailed immediately, followed by a wind-down of operations, which is expected to be completed by the end of third quarter 2024. Both sawmills produce kiln-dried Southern Yellow Pine dimensional lumber and have a combined annual capacity of 330 million board feet.
These indefinite curtailments will impact approximately 180 employees across both facilities. The expected impact of these curtailments on production volume for the remainder of 2024 was included in the temporary curtailment guidance referenced in Interfor’s press release dated August 8, 2024. However, the indefinite nature of these curtailments means the impact on lumber production is likely to extend beyond 2024, based on facts and circumstances known today.

Lightning struck trees are common but saw this one today where it blasted a main root / soil for 40 ft. Had to be an explosion!
The pine tree it hit only showed damage toward its base.

This past weekend, at the GFA's Annual Conference & Forestry Expo in Savannah, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to endorse Tim Lowrimore as the new President and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Association and Foundation. Lowrimore will succeed Andres Villegas, who served in the role since October 2015.

Lowrimore has over 25 years of forestry experience, and he understands well the key issues impacting Georgia landowners, loggers, and manufacturers. His leadership in government and the private sector will strengthen GFA’s advocacy efforts and GFF’s reputation as a trusted partner. Building on the past decade of ambitious work, the Association and Foundation well positioned keep Georgia as the #1 forestry state by seizing growth opportunities and tackling challenges head-on.

“I worked at GFA early in my career, and I have always had such tremendous respect for this association and the commitment it has to excellence. In many ways this feels like I’m coming back home.” said Lowrimore, who served as Director of Forest Policy from 2003 to 2008. “Following a great leader like Andres Villegas is an honor. The opportunity to continue supporting the work of the association in this new role is a dream of a lifetime.”

→ Read More at https://gfagrow.org/tim-lowrimore-appointed-as-president-ceo-of-georgia-forestry-association-and-foundation/

A new Forestry School Building at Clemson is under construction and it will use Mass Timber construction. Very appropriate and thankful for Dr. Pat Layton's leadership in the exciting new Mass Timber arena.

Send a message to learn more

A whiskey barrel’s origin….

Not a Georgia story but interesting.
Did you know the USDA experiment station at Byron, GA (right off I-75) has every known native variety of Pecans?
I met the guy who oversaw it and believe I was told about 140 unique native varieties grow there to preserve the gene pool.

🌳🌳 Did you know that there is debate regarding whether or not the Pecan Tree (Carya illinoinensis) is native to the state of Alabama? 🌳🌳
According to the Flora of the Southeastern US database map, the Pecan Tree is native to at least one area near the middle to southern Alabama region.

However, botanists at the Alabama Plant Atlas note a more complex story.

While they also recognize the species as native, they state:

"There is some debate as to whether Pecan is native to Alabama or introduced. The main range of the species is along the Mississippi River and its major tributaries. Many botanists believe that Pecan is native in portions of the Black Belt region of Alabama, but a recent introduction in most of the rest of the state. Charles Mohr in his account of Pecan in the 1901 Plant Life of Alabama states ‘Hale County, Gallion. Dallas County, Uniontown. Marengo County, Demopolis. Undoubtedly indigenous.’ Early explorers of the Southeastern United States found Pecan growing around Native American settlements. Perhaps the Native Americans brought this species from further west and it escaped in the Black Belt area in pre-colonial times. There is also some evidence that the Chickasaw Plum was introduced by Native Americans from areas to our west, and some populations of Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria Aiton) outside of the Coastal Plain seem to have been cultivated by Native Americans. We may never know for certain."

See that tiny dot in middle Alabama on the range map? That's the only pocket of accepted nativity within the state. However, you can see how it is fragmented from the rest of the native range, so I can definitely see how it can be questioned.

This fascinating blend of history, botany, and indigenous culture highlights the complexity of our natural heritage.

What do you think?

Photo Credit - https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/carya-illinoinensis/

Weakley's Flora: Carya illinoinensis (Pecan) - FSUS (unc.edu)

Alabama Plant Atlas: Carya illinoinensis - Species Page - APA: Alabama Plant Atlas (floraofalabama.org)

GFC recognizes the importance - and danger - of wildland firefighting. Every day we are grateful for the service of our wildland firefighters, and this week we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting .

A huge swamp chestnut oak today. About 45” diameter and 130+ feet tall and a relatively small canopy. Amazing organism God created!

Rece said yesterday was the hottest day so far… I have to agree!

I suppose May is mating season for turtles? Over the years, May is when I’ve seen large snapping turtles crossing roadways and see turtles of different species laying eggs.
This gal was laying eggs near a pond in Jasper County this week. Not sure of species but I’ve always heard locals call this one pond sliders because they sun on logs over the water and when danger approaches, they slide into the water.
By far the most common one I see in the woods is the eastern box turtle.

May 4 is also . We are so grateful that here at GFC, we have an impressive cadre of . They work tirelessly to protect Georgia's , communities and citizens from the dangers of . Thanks to each one of you for all that you do!

Stump was smiling at me this week…..

If you haven’t experienced the Roar of these periodic cicadas, keep scrolling.
But in patches of forest where they’re almost deafening, it’s impossible to ignore them so I wondered how many cicadas might be present?

FYI these periodic cicadas remain underground for years and they emerge during their “cycle year”. This spring, we have both the 13-year and 17-year cicadas emerging at the same time so perhaps we could estimate how many are in a given patch of forest?

The emergence holes from the ground can be seen by my boot. Where there are leaves, you’d have to pull them back to see these holes.
In a couple of places I checked, I counted about 18 holes in a 1 1/2 foot square. This equates to 350,000 cicadas per acre!
Perhaps there aren’t quite that many but a small forest can easily have tens of millions. No wonder they’re loud!

We need to change the state insect of Georgia (for the month of May) to cicadas. Billions of them roaring away!

Not too much noise around our farm, but was on a farm in Jasper County yesterday and these orange eyed cicadas were roaring away in the middle of the day.

Although Georgia celebrates Arbor Day in February, today is national Arbor Day. Pretty cool poster showing all the State Trees!

My office today was a unique tract with some steep terrain, beautiful hardwoods, rock outcrops and two streams. What a beautiful day!

Remnant from the past… working on a management plan on a Morgan County farm with a very old (pre-civil war era) home the owners live in. A few hundred yards downhill in the woods is the old spring the original owners dipped water and carried to the home and much later a well house was constructed and electric water pump.

Protecting the spring is a massive Yellow Poplar that is defying gravity! It’s about 6feet in diameter five feet above the ground and an enormous hollow cavity. I suspect it was forked earlier in its life but the single stem is all that remains. The tree’s height is approx 125 ft so it’s a marvel that it’s still standing!

There is an old cemetery on the property - it is believed to be the family that built the home in 1807. No carved headstones but rocks at the head and feet of each grave.

This natural stand was thinned 18 months ago, the understory hardwoods were sprayed the following summer and now a late winter burn. This should greatly enhance the area for deer and turkey.

Good perspective…..

Caption is this picture…

We need to share some rain with the western gulf states.

I had a client / landowner call yesterday as he'd noticed what he thought were "dead" trees far and wide in our area of the east central piedmont of Georgia. What he noticed was the elm leaf beetle that feeds upon our native elm trees and causes the leaves to turn brown and drop in late summer.
The good news is the trees are not dying but merely dropping the leaves early. This probably isn't good for the tree but, by this time of most summers, the trees have made most of the food it needs for the growing season. I've never noticed a tree dying from this defoliation.
Our most common elm species are Winged Elm and Slippery (or Red) Elm and it impacts both. Elm leaf beetles and this type of damage happens every year to some extent but seems to be worse this year.
This is just part of our natural world as I believe for every green plant, there are likely a hundred insects or diseases that can impact it but most are not fatal (note the word "most" as there are some exceptions)

I’m seeing a little bark beetle damage in my local area. Very small spots with only a few trees - these are due to southern pine beetle.

Although I don’t believe they’ll become a significant problem (if our rains continue), they still command respect and monitoring every few weeks.