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Land trust expands holdings into northwest Georgia
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The Georgia Land Trust, which used a loan from the Open Space Institute to acquire a 201-acre tract adjacent to Fort Stewart, is branching out into other areas of the state.
GLT made a bargain purchase of development rights on the property at Fort Stewart to assist the Army Compatible Use Buffer program.
ACUB works to ensure that strategic military installations do not have their training and force deployment functions limited by encroaching development.
Jim Floyd, president and CEO of the Heritage Bank, serves on the GLT board.
In a new program an $110,000 grant to assist in the protection of nearly 500 acres in northwest Georgia was made by a program of OSI. The $4.25 million fund was established by OSI, the Lyndhurst Foundation and the Benwood Foundation in 2007 to assist in the protection of critical habitat lands established by Georgia State Wildlife Action Plans.
The grant to GLT will help underwrite an endowment to support conservation easements that provide permanent protection to habitat areas identified by Georgia's SWAP. These easements are a vital step in continuing to advance the transition from the Georgia SWAP's planning phase to on-the-ground protection.
In the case of the grant to GLT, the owners of five properties in Chattooga, Floyd and Walker counties -- with an appraised market value of almost $4 million -- relinquished almost all of their development rights, thereby limiting future human habitation to no more than a handful of homes already on the land and a few more that could be built under what are called "reserved rights" within the conservation easements.  
Conservation easements impose a limit on the amount or type of land development without sacrificing private ownership, which allows land trusts to provide protection without the need to purchase properties outright.
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GPA grows trade, market share
Intermodal volume up 20 percent
port photo
Rubber tired gantry cranes handle cargo at the Chatham Intermodal Container Transfer Facility at the Port of Savannah. The Georgia Ports Authority's Mason Mega Rail project will double rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year by 2020 - photo by Provided

The Georgia Ports Authority achieved 14 percent growth in March container volumes, moving 355,208 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers.

From July 2017 to March, TEU container trade grew by 9 percent, or 255,786 additional units for a total of 3.08 million, a new record for Savannah.

"Savannah's continued strength is a reflection of our customers' commitment, Georgia's leadership, and the many dedicated service providers, GPA employees and ILA members who come together every day to achieve great things," said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "March marked our 17th consecutive month of business expansion thanks, in part, to a strong economy and growing market share."

Intermodal rail volumes jumped by 20 percent in March and 15.4 percent for the fiscal year to date, for a total of 318,454 containers handled over nine months – another record for the GPA.

"As the numbers show, our rail cargo is growing at a faster pace than our overall trade," GPA Chairman Jimmy Allgood said. "This is important because rail is playing a key role in our responsible growth strategy. We anticipate our rail infrastructure investments to take 250,000 trucks off the road each year by 2020."

The GPA recently broke ground on its Mason Mega Rail Terminal, on which the Port of Savannah will build 10,000-foot unit trains within its own footprint. From the expanded rail infrastructure at Garden City Terminal, Class I rail providers CSX and Norfolk Southern will provide direct rail service to major Southeast and Midwestern markets from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago to Cincinnati.

An added benefit is that the Mason Mega Rail project will move all rail switching on terminal – improving vehicle traffic flow around the port.

In August, the GPA will open its Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County. Located in an industrial belt, including the production and export of carpet and flooring, automobiles and tires, the ARP will provide an alternative to all-truck transit to Northwest Georgia.

Each round-trip container moved via the Appalachian Regional Port will offset 710 truck miles on Georgia highways.

March was also a strong month for roll-on/roll-off auto and machinery units at the Port of Brunswick and Ocean Terminal in Savannah. Colonel's Island Terminal in Brunswick handled 66,144 cars, trucks and tractors, while Ocean Terminal added 4,050, for a total 70,194, a 17.2 percent increase.

"The global economy is thriving and our volumes are following suit," Lynch said. "As existing accounts grow their footprint in the expanding auto facility in Brunswick, Georgia's competitive logistical advantages are drawing additional business across all of our docks."

Lynch noted that for the fiscal year to date, Mayor's Point breakbulk terminal in Brunswick grew by 44 percent (34,515 tons) to reach 112,728 tons of forest products. At East River Terminal, bulk cargo expanded by 34 percent July-March (189,918 tons) for a total of 750,384 tons.

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