Tag Archives: timber

Montgomery County Forester Matthew O’Connor Named Georgia Forester of the Year

Posted on by

Ailey, GA |

For Matthew O’Connor, becoming a forester was never simply a career choice — it was a lifelong passion rooted in family, community, and stewardship. That dedication has now earned him one of the highest honors in his field: Georgia Forester of the Year from the Georgia Forestry Commission.

“I grew up around forestry. I grew up on a tree farm working with my dad, so I’ve been in forestry pretty much all my life,” O’Connor said. “When I went to the University of Georgia, I learned they had a really good forestry program. I got into the school, graduated with a forestry degree, and then had the privilege of coming to work with the Georgia Forestry Commission straight out of college. I’ve been here since, and I’ve just worked my way up to the position I’m in now.”

MORE THAN MANAGING TREES

As O’Connor explains, the role of a forester extends well beyond simply managing timber. It’s about building lasting relationships with landowners, promoting responsible stewardship, and ensuring Georgia’s forests remain healthy and productive for generations to come.

“As a forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission, we work with private landowners across the state — and that could be anywhere from getting trees planted back all the way to that final harvest,” O’Connor said. “We get to spend a lot of time with our private landowners, with federal partners, through various programs, and just trying to continue to foster good stewardship of our forests and help them be productive and healthy throughout the state.”

A LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY AFTER HELENE

While that work is important year-round, it has taken on added urgency in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, as foresters across Georgia continue helping landowners navigate the long recovery from the storm’s devastation.

“There’s still a long road to recovery. There are a lot of sites that still have a lot of debris on them that have not been reforested yet — this is a many-year recovery effort,” O’Connor said. “While a lot of sites have been salvaged, cleaned up, and are getting planted back right now, there’s still a lot of acreage that still needs to be cleaned up and reforested and get back into productive forestry. That’s where the Georgia Forestry Commission is continuing to serve our landowners, trying to help all those in the path of the hurricane get back on their feet and hopefully back in the right direction.”

SERVING THE COMMUNITY HE GREW UP IN

For O’Connor, the most rewarding part of the job isn’t the recognition — it’s the opportunity to serve the people and places he’s known his entire life.

“My favorite part of the job is just getting out and meeting private landowners and being able to serve them. I get to work in an area I grew up in — with people I grew up going to church with, or saw at the local store,” he said. “Being able to serve my community and continue to foster good forest management throughout this area is really rewarding. Trying to help others, serve others, be a blessing unto others — that’s what I really get the most out of, and trying to help continue this legacy of good forestry throughout this area.”

For the Georgia Forestry Commission, O’Connor represents exactly the kind of forester the state’s landowners depend on — someone who brings not just expertise, but genuine care for the land and the people who call it home.

By: John Holcomb

Timber Operation Engineering Revolutionary, Sustainable Building Products

Posted on by

Dothan, Alabama

With Georgia being the number one producer of commercial timber in the United States, finding new and innovative ways to use it is a top priority within the industry. That’s the goal of SmartLam North America, as they are engineering cross laminated timer, which can be used by major construction companies on a number of different projects.

“It is basically plywood with lumber utilized in flooring for large commercial buildings or high end residential as well as three plies, which can be utilized in walls,” says Derek Ratchford, CEO of SmartLam North America.

This type of building material has a number of advantages over its counterparts as CLT not only creates less of a carbon footprint, but it also makes construction faster and cheaper, as the panels are prefabricated before they are shipped to the site.

“Significantly less traffic on site utilizing mass timber products as well as the speed of installation is significantly reduced,” says Ratchford. “You also have the carbon sequestration side which is better for the environment.”

This product is made by gluing together three or more layers of solid-sawn lumber, which gives it the structural integrity you would typically see from the more common materials used in large scale construction projects.

“It is very competitive, in many applications stronger than steel, but CLT and glue lam are not designed to replace steel. It fits into full mass timber buildings as well as what I call steel hybrid CLT buildings,” says Ratchford. “There’s many uses for it, depends on the spans and the loads that the engineers, architects, and developers are looking for.”

Creating more viable construction options from timber could be a huge benefit for the industry here in Georgia as it has the potential to greatly expand the customer base for the growers.

“It’s an expanded new product line that absorbs capacity of timber and lumber that was not on the market before. With our growth rate, over the next five to ten years, it’s just going to keep growing and growing and growing and put more and more demand on sawmills,” says Ratchford. “It will require additional sawmills in the future as well to keep up with the increased demand.”

For that reason, the Georgia Farm Bureau Forestry Committee decided to take an up close look at the new facility in order to get a better idea of what has made it so popular overseas and how it can benefit the domestic industry in the future.

“We’re probably close to twenty years behinds them, but the growth that they’ve experienced there is here. We are starting to see it not only with the number of projects, but the scope and size of the projects keep growing and growing each year. So, over the next twenty to thirty years, in the wood products industry, this has the most growth potential,” says Ratchford.

By: Damon Jones