Private landowners and others interested in forestry, wildlife habitat and prescribed burning are invited to a free land-management meeting at Berry College on Monday, October 19.
The “Good Fire in a Healthy Ecosystem” meeting will be held from 9 AM until noon in Room 324 of the Krannert Center at Berry College, 2277 Martha Berry Highway NW in Mount Berry. The event is being promoted by the Georgia Forestry Association and is open to private landowners, prescribed-burn practitioners, agency partners, volunteers and anyone interested in learning more about prescribed fire and land management.
The program will feature several speakers covering prescribed burn associations, wildlife and forest management, the ecological role of fire, longleaf pine history and conservation, along with a landowner’s firsthand experience using prescribed fire to accomplish management goals.
The program will continue after lunch with an opportunity to see some of those practices firsthand.
Beginning at 1:15 PM, Berry College Professor of Environmental Science and Studies Adrienne Ernst will lead participants on a tour of the college’s longleaf pine restoration areas. The tour will give landowners an opportunity to see how longleaf pine is being managed and how prescribed fire is being used on the landscape.
Berry is particularly well suited for the program. The college manages approximately 27,000 acres, with active forest-management practices that include selective timber harvesting and an ongoing prescribed-burn program designed to reduce wildfire risks and promote longleaf pine ecosystems.
The October program follows a series of landowner education events held across Georgia this year. In April, the Georgia Forestry Association and Georgia Forestry Foundation held a Forest Landowner Field Day in Summerville, where Northwest Georgia property owners learned about longleaf pine and hardwood management, wildlife habitat, forest carbon markets and prescribed fire. Berry College was among the partners in that Chattooga County event.
The October 19 meeting at Berry College is free, but registration is required.
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