Page 11 - Georgia Forestry - Winter2017

Metro Atlanta is now roughly 5.5 million people in a state of
10 million people.
specifically in South Georgia, require fewer laborers to operate. Young people leave to work in Atlanta or other cities when it comes time to find employment.
Agriculture and forestry remain two of Georgia’s largest industries, responsi- ble for many jobs and economic activity. They are not, however, exclusively able to maintain the communities that were built over two-hundred years on the back of agribusiness. Meanwhile, the growth of suburban and urban population centers in the state have shifted the balance of political power to focus on non-agricul- ture and non-forestry related activities.
The challenge for Georgia’s farmers and foresters is to help urban popula- tions around Atlanta understand the importance of their industries, which provide the economic backbone outside of Atlanta. At the same time, they must work to diversify the economic viability of rural Georgia farming and forestry communities based on local strengths and opportunities.
Our farmers and foresters must articulate what farming and forestry contribute to the state’s economy in a way that matters to people whose closest interaction with a farm or working forest could be their trips to the grocery store. At the same time, they must help Atlan- tans and their legislators understand that pro-forestry and pro-agriculture policy solutions needed are not about hand- outs. These policies are a way to increase the economic vitality of Georgia’s green- est industries, which will provide great benefit to the entire state. ■
GEORGIA FORESTRY ASKED CHARLIE HARPER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF GEORGIAPOL.COM, TO PROVIDE HIS PERSPECTIVE ON THE POLITICS AND POLICIES THAT WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT IN 2017.
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