State Rep. Jan Tankersley recently accepted a check for $37 billion check for Georgia forests on behalf of the state and the constituents of House District 158, which includes North Bryan.
The check, presented by Steve McWilliams, executive director of the Georgia Forestry Foundation, reflects the $37.6 billion ecosystem services value of the 22 million acres of privately owned forests identified in a study conducted by Dr. Rebecca Moore at the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia.
The study, “Quantifying the Value of Non-timber Ecosystem Services from Georgia’s Private Forests,” was funded by the Georgia Forestry Foundation and numerous other public, private and nonprofit organizations that seek public policy that promotes working forests.