The bad news facing South Georgia land owners is that fires burned through 441,705 acres in the state’s worst wildfire season in history, resulting in the loss of $58 million dollars of timber. The good news? The timber industry will recover, in time.

South Georgia landowners filled the room Tuesday evening for a presentation on the wildfires and the recovery outlook at Kinderlou Forest’s Ravine Grille. The regional meeting of the Georgia Forestry Association featured speakers Alan Dozier, chief of forest protection for the Georgia Forestry Commission, and Brooks Mendell, principal of Forisk Consulting.

Mendell, a former University of Georgia faculty member and a board member for the Georgia Forestry Association, gave a presentation on “Timber Markets after a Forest Fire: Impacts on Prices, Logging & Mills.”

According to Mendell, Mother Nature has been unkind to the South for several years, with extreme weather events affecting timber prices.

In 2004, there were seven hurricanes causing $1 billion in damage in the Southeast; in 2005, there were 12 hurricanes causing $12 billion in damage; and in 2007, the region saw the worst fire season it’s ever seen.

“Hurricanes and fire have totally different effects on timber. Hurricanes turn sawtimber into pulp wood, while fire is a chemical event that leaves you with ash. Sometimes the wood is charred and can be salvaged.”

Mendell said timber prices following a hurricane go down for about a year due to the market being flooded with damaged trees, and then typically rebound in 12 to 16 months. Hurricane Katrina was different, he said, as the hundreds of thousands of homes destroyed created an immediate market for timber.

The burnt wood, however, causes tremendous issues for loggers, sawmills and pulp mills. The black and burnt parts interrupt the chemical processes, and sawmills can’t sell chips with burned parts to pulp mills.

“We are working with clients, trying to take the burnt wood off the market,” Mendell said.

He informed the landowners that they should expect short-term price impacts, and that mills are restricted in what they can consume, especially pulp mills.

Dozier of the Georgia Forestry Commission presented information on the recent unprecedented wildfire season across the state, saying that in an average 10-year period, there are 8,400 fires that burn 40,000 acres across the state.

“This year alone, 9,533 fires claimed more than 500,000 acres. Going all the way back to the ’50s, there is no year of comparison. This was the worst fire season we’ve ever had.”

Dozier said drought conditions set the stage. “I knew when we had fires burning at both ends of the state, we were in trouble.”

Rangers and foresters had their hands full fighting the blazes, staying ahead of the flames, creating fire breaks and helping landowners protect their houses. Despite a threat through the fire event to more than 2,400 homes, only 26 were lost.

The interruption to daily life, with school and road closures, evacuations and dense smoke, was coupled with the effects on commerce, including the closure of a major rail line between Waycross and Jacksonville as the fire was jumping the tracks in multiple places. “We heard that trains were backed up to the West Coast at one point. I understand there are 80 trains a day that travel that track.”