ATLANTA, June 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp honored Atlanta-based CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. (NYSE: CTT) earlier this month as a 2022 partner in the state’s Forestry for Wildlife Partnership, a program administered by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (DNR). Gov. Kemp recognized CatchMark for its "stewardship and land management practices benefiting wildlife across Georgia." See press release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources here.

Administered by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, the Forestry for Wildlife Partnership is a voluntary program that has promoted sustainable forest and wildlife conservation in forestry practices for 25 years. Partner projects focus on making improvements that sync with Georgia’s Bobwhite Quail Initiative and State Wildlife Action Plan, two statewide strategies.

In fiscal 2021, CatchMark undertook the following initiatives recognized by Georgia’s Department of Natural Resources:

• Conducted timber work aimed at returning endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers to Sprewell Bluff Wildlife Management Area near Thomaston.
• Supported an existing conservation easement on its Townsend property, protecting natural areas in the easement and making the tract available for recreation and research within the 4,000-acre Townsend Wildlife Management Area.
• Continued to grant DNR access to timberland in Long, Brantley and McIntosh counties for annual surveys of swallow-tailed kite nests.
• Left natural longleaf stands at a targeted basal area, thinned about 400 acres of loblolly pine to make way for adding cavity nest boxes, and after hitting harvest and other targets, will turn the remaining timber over to DNR to finish the transition.
• Continued to cooperate with the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust in maintaining a conservation easement in Long County. This easement protects high-priority habitats identified by Georgia’s State Wildlife Action Plan and maintains open spaces adjacent to Fort Stewart as part of the Army Compatible Use Buffer Program.
• Worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect habitat for endangered fringed campion on company sites in Talbot County, and with DNR and other botanists by permitting surveys for the plant to identify and verify existing or potentially new sites.
• Continued work with DNR involving bird surveys on lands with different site preparation prescriptions to determine possible effects of varying treatments on birds’ use of the areas.
• Practiced silvicultural treatments that promote conservation of gopher tortoises and their habitat.
• Sponsored and held hunting events with youth groups and organizations for the disabled to provide opportunities for these groups to learn about hunting and enjoy the outdoors.
• Allowed universities access to company lands for research, such as Virginia Tech’s pine growth study. CatchMark is also a member the University of Georgia’s Plantation Research Management Cooperative and is helping develop foresters by letting Auburn University conduct training and classes via field trips on the company’s timberlands.
• Continued an integrated harvest planning system that considers landscape-level diversity. One example is robust thinning of pine plantations that improves wildlife habitat and forest health.
• Monitored and treated company lands for invasive species.
• Continued recording and managing known populations of Georgia’s rare and threatened species according to state and federal guidelines.
• Maintained and offered the use of portable skid and truck bridges for logger’s use to minimize stream crossing impact.

With ownership interests in approximately 231,200 acres across Georgia (as of 3/31/2022), CatchMark has been a part of the Wildlife Partnership since 2011. 

About CatchMark
CatchMark (NYSE: CTT) invests in prime timberlands located in the nation’s leading mill markets, seeking to capture the highest value per acre and to generate sustainable yields through disciplined management and superior stewardship of its exceptional resources. Headquartered in Atlanta and focused exclusively on timberland ownership and management, CatchMark began operations in 2007 and owns interests in approximately 350,000 acres of timberlands located in the U.S. South. For more information visit www.catchmark.com.

SOURCE CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc.