Guest Blog: How Do Georgia's Working Forests Make Life Better?

Georgia Forestry Foundation launches education initiative and $35,000 contest to promote forestry

By Matt Hestad, communications coordinator for Georgia Forestry Association

One question: how do Georgia’s working forests make life better? If you are heavily ingrained in the forestry community, you know the value of Georgia’s forests. But do your co-workers, friends, children, teachers or elected officials in your community?

The Georgia Forestry Foundation recently launched a new contest and education initiative, “Forestry: AFoundation for Our Future,” to educate students and the public about the value of Georgia’s working forests. Schools and students who participate in the statewide contest will have an opportunity to win a prize valued up to $35,000. The initiative aims to create greater awareness of the economic, environmental and social benefits of Georgia’s 24.8 million acres of forest land.

The forestry community has for many years educated students about forestry via Project Learning Tree, an award-winning environmental education program, and the Georgia TeacherConservation Workshop, a week-long forestry workshop for teachers. This contest is the beginning of a campaign to build on those efforts, aiming to educate all Georgians.

“As more and more people live in and around our state’s cities, fewer and fewer understand the importance of forestry as an economic engine – including the jobs they provide. Fewer and fewer know about the critical role forests play in cleaning our air and water – providing a lot of natural resources that we depend upon to survive,” said GFF Chair Jody Strickland, timberland acquisitions manager for Weyerhaeuser.

As a part of this initiative, the Foundation is inviting fifth through 12th grade students across Georgia to participate in a contest to express the value of Georgia’s sustainable working forests through submission of a creative artwork and slogan. It includes two levels of competition: fifth through eighth and ninth through 12th grades, with one winner from each level. Each winning entry will be awarded a prize valued up to $35,000, which includes:

• $15,000 cash award to the school
• $2,500 cash award and forestry camp scholarship to the student
• Project Learning Tree environmental professional development for up to 20 teachers
• Paid registration for two teachers to attend the Georgia Teacher Conservation Workshop
• Field trip for students in the grade level of each winning student
• Materials featuring the winning artwork and slogan

The winning students, their parents or guardians and two school staff members from each of the winning schools will also be invited (expenses paid) to attend an award ceremony on Sunday, July 20, at the association's annual conference in Hilton Head Island, SC.

“Georgia has much to be proud of in its working forests,” Strickland said. “We’re delighted to expand upon our long-standing education efforts to further the understanding of what these natural resources bring to our state. We look forward to seeing the creative submissions developed over the coming months.”

As students consider how to express the importance of Georgia’s forests, they will learn that almost 25 million of Georgia’s 37 million acres of land are forestland. They will learn that our working forests provide almost $29 billion to the state’s economy annually and offer more than 135,000 jobs to Georgians. And they will learn that research has estimated more than $37 billion of annual value to our state of the benefits of clean air, clean water, carbon storage, wildlife habitat and aesthetics provided by working forests. Above all, they will learn that working forests are renewable and sustainable.

The foundation will use the artwork and slogan from the contest’s two winning schools to create banners for container trucks, interstate billboards, yard signs and other marketing materials that will be used in a campaign to further educate the general public across the state.

The artwork, slogan and entry form must be submitted by April 30, 2014, to be considered in the statewide competition. Only one submission will be accepted per school. The winners will be notified by the Georgia Forestry Foundation by May 16.

For more information on the contest including submission guidelines, entry form, terms and conditions and other resources for schools visit the contest website or call 478-992-8110. If you would like to sponsor or distribute information to your communities about this initiative and the contest, please visit this website.