Forest Service Update

The Chattahoochee National Forest website can provide you with the latest information on recreation opening/ closing dates, campsite and pavilion reservations, land management activities, and even future proposed activities. The website address is www.fs.fed.us/conf.

DISTRICT RANGER NOTES: By Alan Polk

For the last few months, district employees have been very busy in completing the many tasks that we often accomplish when the recreation demands decrease and winter grabs hold in north Georgia. Some employees have repainted landlines (20 plus miles), others have worked to prepare areas for prescribe burns scheduled for later this winter or early spring, and some have been plowing thru the environmental documents to get ready for some new projects.

One of the new projects that I have signed the Decision Notice for is a project to restore forest health, improve wildlife habitat, and decrease the threat of southern pine beetles on 700 acres of the Chattahoochee National Forest in the Etowah River Watershed. The field work on this project has already begun. If you have questions about this project, contact Rachelle Powel at our office.

Another project that we have been working on is to determine the future of Anderson Creek OHV Trail. We have asked and have been receiving comments on a proposal to permanently close the remaining trails in this watershed to protect the area's water quality and stop soil erosion. After review of the public comments, I will be making the final decision in a Decision Notice within the upcoming weeks.

In addition, we are asking for public comments on other proposals from our partners and the public. One proposal is from Towns County and requesting to operate the Lake Chatuge Recreation Area by adding some amenities and operating it under a special use agreement. Also, we have a proposal from Camp Walasega in Lumpkin County to expand the width of a small section of Forest Road 28-1. Your comments are welcome as we make our final decisions on these proposals. Please contact our website www.fs.fed.us/conf for more information about these new proposals.

And as we begin gearing up for this spring recreation season and the many activities associated with that, we are continuing to work on the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid problem in Towns, Union, Lumpkin, and Fannin counties. This invasive insect, if left unchecked has the potential of eliminating our native Hemlock trees. We have been and continue to get beetles that eat the invasive Adelgid from Clemson, UGA, and Young Harris College. By using a combination of beetle types, we hope to determine what type of predator beetle works the best. Also, in some locations, we are injecting some areas of hemlock trees with an insecticide that will protect them up to 3 years and buy us some time to figure out what type predator beetle is the most effective.

And finally, with our winter weather in full swing, we have some of our roads gated to protect them from the effect of freezing and thawing. When this occurs, the road surface becomes soft and damaged. We plan to reopen these closed roads as soon as the weather permits.