Dixon Memorial State Forest
1935 Planted Slash Pine on Dixon Memorial State Forest
Map
Map showing the location of Dixon Memorial State Forest
Map showing the location of Dixon Memorial State Forest
Geography
LocationWare County, Georgia & Brantley County, Georgia, United States
Coordinates31°7′13″N 82°15′17″W / 31.12028°N 82.25472°W / 31.12028; -82.25472
Area35,000 acres (14,164 ha)
Administration
Established1938
Governing bodyGeorgia Forestry Commission
Ecology
Dominant tree speciesSlash pine (Pinus elliottii)
Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris)
Pondcypress (Taxodium ascendens)
and various hardwoods

Dixon Memorial State Forest is a state forest in Brantley and Ware counties, located 10 miles southeast of Waycross, Georgia bordered by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to the south. The forest is approximately 35,000 acres and is the largest state forest owned and managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission. The forest is mostly made up of pine plantations consisting of slash pine, longleaf pine, and loblolly pine as well as wetlands consisting of pondcypress, swamp blackgum, sweetbay magnolia, loblolly bay, and other various hardwoods.[1]

History

In 1937, the U.S. Resettlement Administration purchased distressed farm and pasture land northeast of the Okefenokee Swamp under a federal land utilization program authorized by the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act. The land purchase was for the Georgia Coastal Flatwoods Upland Game Conservation Project.[2][3] The following year in 1938, the land was leased to the state of Georgia to manage and was renamed the Waycross State Forest. In 1955, a wildfire burned approximately half of the forest causing catastrophic damage.[4] Later that year, the federal government deeded the forest to the State of Georgia.[5][6][7] The Waycross State Forest was renamed in 1974 to Dixon Memorial State Forest in honor of longtime Georgia Forestry Commission board member, Hugh M. Dixon.[8] The 2007 Sweat Farm Fire, which was part of the Georgia Bay Complex, catastrophically burned a significant portion of the southern and western parts of the forest.[9][10] Then in 2011, the Racepond wildfire burned a path through a large amount of the southeastern state forest.[11] Many of the areas on the state forest that burned in the 2007 and 2011 fires were reforested in longleaf pine.[12]

Current Forest Management

Currently, Dixon Memorial State Forest is managed for multiple uses with timber management as the primary objective. The pine plantation and wetland hardwood forests also provide benefits for wildlife habitats, soil conservation, water conservation, and aesthetics. The forest is also used for research and educational opportunities.[1]

Dixon Memorial State Forest Wildlife Management Area

Dixon Memorial State Forest is also a Wildlife Management Area that provides hunting opportunities for deer, turkey, dove, bear,[13] and small game. The area is jointly managed between the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Forestry Commission.[14] The Dixon Memorial Shooting Range is also located on Dixon Memorial State Forest.[15]

Leased Areas

A few entities lease portions of Dixon Memorial State Forest from the Georgia Forestry Commission. These include the Okefenokee Swamp Park, Laura S. Walker State Park, and the Georgia Lions Camp for the Blind.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "State Managed Forests". Georgia Forestry Commission. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Human History of the Okefenokee Swamp". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. ↑ Thomas J. Straka; S. Knight Cox; Heather T. Irwin. "Current Use of Federal Land Utilization Projects Granted to State and Local Agencies" (PDF). Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Clemson University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-06-08. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  4. ↑ Cypert, Eugene (October 1961). "The Effects of Fires in the Okefenokee Swamp in 1954 and 1955". The American Midland Naturalist. 66 (2): 485–503. doi:10.2307/2423049. JSTOR 2423049. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "History of The Georgia Forestry Commission" (PDF). Georgia Forestry Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-23. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Georgia forestry, Vol. 8, no. 4 (Apr. 1955)". Galileo Georgia Government Publications. Archived from the original on 2022-10-18. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Ray, Janisse (2005). Pinhook: Finding Wholeness in a Fragmented Land. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 168. ISBN 9781603581684.
  8. ↑ "Georgia forestry, Vol. 27, no. 3 (Sept. 1974)". Galileo Georgia Government Publications. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Sweat Farm Damage Map" (PDF). NIFC Public Information Server. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Big Fires Break Out Near Waycross". Georgia Outdoor News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-28. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Sweat Farm Again Map" (PDF). NIFC Public Information Server. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-17. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  12. ↑ "ARRA grant turns challenges into successes". Southern Group of State Foresters. Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  13. ↑ Trani & Chapman. "American Black Bear: Ursus americanus" (PDF). The Land Manager's Guide to Mammals of the South. USDA. p. 518. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-28. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  14. ↑ "Dixon Memorial WMA". Georgia Department of Natural Resources-Wildlife Resources Division. Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Dixon Memorial Shooting Range". Georgia Department of Natural Resources - Wildlife Resource Division. Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved October 16, 2022.

31°7′13″N 82°15′17″W / 31.12028°N 82.25472°W / 31.12028; -82.25472

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