Dear GFT Reader,

It was 1985. U.S. Forest Service data was showing that we were harvesting more timber than we were planting in certain areas of the state. In response, the Georgia Forestry Commission added 12 'reforestation' foresters who, among other efforts, began to encourage the formation of local 'reforestation committees' to encourage higher rates of tree planting. In one instance, Greene, Morgan and Walton Counties combined their reforestation committees to streamline the effort.

During one of the reforestation committee meetings someone suggested that a forest landowner group be established and patterned after local cattlemen's associations. Thus, what is known today as the Greene-Morgan Forest Landowners Association (GMFLA) was born. Today, almost twenty-five years later, the Association is still going strong, boasting at least 135 members who collectively own more than 75,000 acres. The group meets four times each year and focuses on the sharing of information between private landowners and professional foresters, educating members on quality forest management practices and principles and trends in forest production and public policy. It was 1994. The 21,000 acre Shorts Fire of 1990 that scorched swamp and upland areas in and around the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was still seared in the memories of the timber industry, landowners and state and federal agencies. All had been pushed to the limit fighting this destructive wildfire and had realized that in the future a better coordinated effort among all stakeholders would increase the efficiency and success of fire prevention and suppression.

Four years later as the local forestry community continued to consider its options, informal landowner group supper meetings began to take place. Some landowners had begun to envision a more formal organization that could address fire and other issues unique to the Okefenokee area.

Out of this vision emerged the Greater Okefenokee Association of Landowners (GOAL). The group is more active today than when it was formed 15 years ago and serves as a unified team managing, protecting and promoting forest resources in southeast Georgia and north Florida. While fire continues to be GOAL's primary focus, the group has supported other efforts, such as black bear research in the Refuge.

It is natural to wonder how groups like GOAL and the Greene-Morgan Forest Landowners Association have held together for so long. But I believe there is a more perplexing question: Why are there not many more such local forestry organizations throughout the state? (Mississippi has almost 70 local forestry associations, probably more than any other state in the country!)

Associations-local, state, regional or national-accomplish a variety of things and may grow to provide valuable services to members, but they generally form around the need to combat a particular common threat or to address issues and solve problems that one or two could not handle alone. Unlike state or national groups, local associations typically are more focused on one or two main purposes-GOAL on fire, or GMFLA on forestry education, for example. They most often operate as tax exempt, or not-for-profit, organizations, and they often incorporate for the protection that incorporation provides to individual members.

Local issues like property taxes, logging ordinances or zoning regulations certainly lend themselves to a need for local response. Yet separately, one or two individuals have little chance to make a difference compared to a large number of well-organized, committed individuals with a common goal or purpose.

In almost every case forming a local group will require an energetic and committed champion or two who can frame the need, inspire his or her peers, and propose and initiate the organizational structure. Like the Marines, Georgia's forestry community needs a few good men (and women) to lead the way. GFA is here to help in any way possible.

Steve McWilliams
GFA Executive Vice President