The Game Management (GM) Section of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) implemented several processes in the late 1990s geared toward systematic long-term forest management of state-owned Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). These included development of 50-year management plans for individual WMAs, expansion of the Forest Management Unit (FMU), and development of a cooperative timber harvest proposal protocol. The effort culminated with a detailed forest stand inventory integrated with desired future stand conditions into a model that produces a timber harvest schedule includes a detailed five-year harvest plan and revenue projection for each inventoried WMA, as well as a state-wide 35-year timber harvest and revenue projection. The model is also structured to incorporate changes in revenue and harvest constraints. This integrated system allows GM to work with a five-year habitat-planning horizon with built-in flexibility to handle changing circumstances.
