Publication Information

This report highlights the principal findings of the seventh forest survey of North Georgia. Field work began in October 1997 and was completed in April 1998. Six previous surveys, completed in 1936, 1953, 1961, 1972, 1983, and 1989 provide statistics for measuring changes and trends over the past 61 years. This report primarily emphasizes the changes and trends since 1989.

Periodic surveys of forest resources are authorized by the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978. These surveys are a continuing, nationwide undertaking by the Regional Experiment Stations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. In the Southern United States, these surveys are conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Research Work Unit at the Southern Research Station, Asheville, NC. The FIA unit operates out of two locations, one in Starkville, MS, and the other in Asheville, NC, and is responsible for inventories of 13 Southern States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The primary objective of these surveys is to periodically inventory and evaluate all forest and related resources. These multiresource data help provide a basis for formulating forest policies and programs and for the orderly development and use of the resources. This report discusses the extent and condition of forest land, associated timber volumes, and rates of timber growth, mortality, and removals.