Governor Kemp honors CatchMark's forest stewardship

ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appreciated Atlanta-based CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. earlier this month in the state’s Forestry for Wildlife Partnership as this year’s partner, a program conducted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division.

Gov. Kemp acknowledged the company for its “stewardship and land management practices benefiting wildlife across Georgia”.

Forestry for Wildlife Partnership is a 25-year-old participant-driven and voluntary endeavor that gives the public access to the properties for camping, fishing, hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing and encourages conservation of wildlife habitat on large private forest lands.

Partner projects focus on making changes that align with two statewide strategies, Georgia’s Bobwhite Quail Initiative and State Wildlife Action Plan.

In fiscal 2020, CatchMark accomplished a signature project to reintroduce endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers at Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area in Thomaston.

Throughout the year, the company also attempted several initiatives such as:

• Helped a conservation easement to make its property near Ludowici accessible for recreational and research purposes and preserve natural areas within the bounds of Townsend Wildlife Management Area.
• Rent 1,900+ acres to the DNR for the Ocmulgee Wildlife Management Area near Cochran, permitting recreation and public hunting.
• Give universities authorization to access lands for research, which include a Virginia Tech pine growth study.
• Treated and monitored company lands for invasive species.
• Worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to secure habitat for the endangered Fringed Campion plants in Talbot County’s company sites.

CatchMark has been a part of the Wildlife Partnership since 2011, with ownership interests in approximately 243,800 acres across Georgia.

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