The Forest Legacy Program protects environmentally important working forests threatened by conversion to non-forest uses. GFC assists private landowners with technical advice in forest management and by holding conservation easements that support working forests.

The Urban Forest Sustainability & Management Review System is designed to provide a framework for comprehensively evaluating urban forest management programs. This review system (the checklist and the process) can be used for municipal or county urban forest management programs, or to evaluate college or corporate campus management programs

Georgia’s original Forest Action Plan was produced with contributions from many program leaders of the Georgia Forestry Commission, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service. Content contributors included Dr. Jon Ambrose, Constance Buford, Joe Burgess, Scott Thackston, Devon Dartnell, David Dickinson, Frank Sorrells, Ken Parker, Gary White, Scott Griffin, Josh Love, Joan Scales, Jim Ozier, Dru Preston, Dick Rightmyer, Buford Sanders and Risher Willard. Liz Kramer, University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences contractor, conducted the GIS analyses. Final document design and production was accomplished by Wendy Burnett, Kassie Keck and Stasia Kelly. Development and publication of this document was assisted by a grant from the National Association of State Foresters.

Georgia’s forests are being sustainably managed to meet the numerous needs of our state today. To ensure our forests will continue to meet the ever increasing demands of future generations, many challenges must be met. This initial report, submitted to the General Assembly on July 1, 2008, highlights the conditions of our forest resources, along with the challenges and opportunities being faced by Georgia’s forest managers and owners.

Landowners enrolled in Georgia’s Forest Stewardship Program should periodically be evaluated to ensure they are on the path of good land stewardship. Before a landowner can be honored as a Forest Steward, a completed copy of this evaluation form along with a copy of the forest stewardship plan must be provided to the local District Stewardship Forester.