For many in suburban counties, the idea of a forestry unit may not be familiar. For Chief Ranger Terry Quigley, the work of the Coweta County Forestry Unit is very real.
Quigley on Sept. 8 made the unit’s annual report to the Coweta County Commission.
With a staff of four, the unit responds to Coweta, Fayette and south Fulton counties. The unit covers a total of 327,074 acres. Of that, 171,762 acres are situated in Coweta County.
“Coweta is still considered 61 percent forested,” Quigley said.
The forestry unit provides a number of services which include landowner assistance, training exercises, forest management, education and public relations, home site risk assessments, reforestation and seedling sales, Quigley said.
One of the main aspects of the unit’s work is assisting with controlled burns. Quigley said rangers plowed approximately 511 miles of fire-breaks for 70 landowners during the past year and provided them with prescribed information on controlled burns.
“There were a total of 179 burns for 6,330 acres in Coweta County and rangers conducted or assisted on 30 prescribed burns for 2,897 acres during the year,” Quigley said. “The Coweta County unit issued a total of 16,651 burn permits, the fourth highest number in the state.”
Rangers, along with Smokey Bear, spend significant time doing educational and public relations work.
During the past year, rangers participated in 146 educational programs targeting 21,800 students and adults, staffed 10 exhibits at local events on fire prevention, water quality, stewardship and reforestation and distributed 2,000 brochures and promotional materials to the public.
