Georgia Forestry Commission and Oglethorpe Power Partner to Replant Wildfire-Devastated Forest

/PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) and Oglethorpe Power Corporation have formed a first-of-its-kind partnership in the state to reforest as much as 500 acres of hardwood forestland burned in wildfires near the Okefenokee Swamp in 2007. The replanting project is taking place in the 33,000-acre Dixon Memorial State Forest located in Ware and Brantley Counties. The two parties made the announcement at the 4th Annual Georgia Environmental Conference in Savannah.

Under an agreement reached by Oglethorpe Power and the GFC, designated wetlands areas are being replanted with red maple, cypress, swamp chestnut oak and water tupelo trees. Trees have already been planted on more than 200 acres, with the remainder scheduled to be planted in the fall of this year.

"These are areas that the GFC would set aside as low priority for reforestation because of budget constraints," said Dru Preston, Jr., Carbon Project Forester with the Georgia Forestry Commission. "They would otherwise be left to natural regeneration, and wildlife habitat and damaged ecosystems would take much longer to recover."

As part of its agreement with the GFC, Oglethorpe Power will be able to receive credit for the carbon dioxide captured by the replanted trees as future climate change regulations unfold. Oglethorpe Power will have title to the carbon dioxide removed from the air by the trees for the first 25 years, then will share those rights with the state for an additional 50 years.

"We believe that planting more trees to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is an important part of addressing the climate change issue while also restoring our valuable forestlands and providing important wildlife habitat," said Michael W. Price, Chief Operating Officer for Oglethorpe Power. "We're excited to join with the Georgia Forestry Commission in this win-win effort for Georgia's citizens."

"This landmark partnership provides benefits on numerous levels," said Robert Farris, Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission. "The project will restore the bottomland hardwood-cypress ecosystem and critical wildlife habitat in Dixon Forest. It is also a breakthrough example of a Georgia company investing in Georgia's forestry resource to offset carbon emissions, which ultimately benefits every citizen," said Farris.

The reforestation partnership was also praised by Governor Sonny Perdue who said Georgia is well-served when the state and private industry are able to work together. "In joining together to restore these forests, the Forestry Commission and Oglethorpe Power are helping to establish a roadmap for future public-private partnerships that can benefit all of Georgia," Perdue said.

Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC) is the nation's largest power supply cooperative with approximately $5 billion in assets, serving 38 Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) across Georgia. These EMCs provide electricity to 4.1 million Georgia residents. In addition to the Dixon Forest reforestation project, Oglethorpe Power is also a partner in the PowerTree Carbon Company, a consortium of 25 utilities that has replanted more than one million bottomland hardwood trees in the lower Mississippi River Valley.

The Georgia Forestry Commission sustains and enhances the forests of Georgia for all citizens by providing forest protection, services and technical assistance to landowners and other forestry stakeholders. The GFC provides leadership that promotes healthy, sustainable forests to ensure clean air, clean water, and abundant products for future generations.

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Southern Company and NFWF Award New Conservation Grants

/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation today announced that four additional grants have been awarded to conservation and natural resource agencies through the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy partnership programs. The Power of Flight program protects birds through habitat and species restoration and environmental education. Longleaf Legacy supports restoration of longleaf pine forests, home to many endangered species like the red-cockaded woodpecker.

"Southern Company is proud to partner with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the sixth consecutive year to award much needed grants to these leading organizations," said Chris Hobson, Southern Company's senior vice president for research and environmental affairs. "The awards will help further the great work being done to conserve and protect the environment and restore bird populations and habitats throughout the Southeast."

Since 2002, Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have contributed more than $7.8 million through 80 grants to the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs. In addition, grant recipients have contributed more than $41 million in matching funds, resulting in an on-the-ground conservation impact of more than $49 million since the program's inception.

"With each year that passes, our partnership with Southern Company grows stronger, the projects funded under the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs become more meaningful, and the impact of those projects on the ground results in greater benefits to birds and longleaf pine habitats," said Jeff Trandahl, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's executive director. "The people and natural resources of the Southeastern United States are indeed fortunate that Southern Company and their affiliated operating companies are such responsible corporate stewards of our lands and waters, and the fish and wildlife that inhabit them."

Through these two programs, more than 160,000 acres of longleaf pine and other critical habitat on public and private lands will be restored or enhanced to the benefit of bird populations across the Southeast.

Two grants were awarded under the Power of Flight program:

-- Project Orianne - to restore or improve 10,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat within the Apalachicola and Conecuh National Forests to create and enhance habitat for declining bird populations, such as red-cockaded woodpeckers and Bachmann's sparrow, and other species of concern, such as the gopher tortoise and indigo snake. This project will build on the existing infrastructure and expertise of the Forest Service by providing additional funding to implement land management practices within large tracts of contiguous forests on federal lands.

-- Quail Unlimited - to continue to address the goals of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative through improved forest land management of 1,607 acres on both public and private lands. The habitat restoration and enhancement will take place in the Bankhead and Talladega National Forests in Alabama, at J. Strom Thurmond Lake in Georgia, and on private lands in the 15-county target area of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Bobwhite Quail Initiative.

Two grants were awarded under the Longleaf Legacy program:

-- Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge - to support conservation of 870 acres of land burned during wildfires in 2007 and plant approximately 170,000 longleaf seedlings over 400 acres. This project will support the expansion of red-cockaded woodpecker clusters on the refuge and is also part of a larger multi-agency effort to establish a half-mile longleaf pine conservation and fire resilient zone around the Okefenokee and Pinhook Swamps in southeast Georgia.

-- Auburn University - to develop a geospatial mapping and decision support tool to guide on-the-ground longleaf conservation efforts across its historical range. The tool will identify where restoration and management activities should be focused to best meet objectives for ecosystem restoration; species conservation (threatened and endangered species, migratory birds); and the need to manage longleaf habitats to maintain their structure, function, and diversity. This project will expand on the tool developed by the East Gulf Coastal Plain Joint Venture through a previous grant.

Visit www.southerncompany.com/planetpower to view fact sheets on the Power of Flight and Longleaf Legacy programs or to see a complete listing of awards granted.

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