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TO CELEBRATE SIXTY-FIVE YEARS OF TREE FARMING IN THE PALMETTO STATE AND SALUTE THE SOUTH CAROLINA TREE FARM PROGRAM.
Whereas, the State of South Carolina is celebrating sixty-five years of tree farming in 2011; and
Whereas, the American Tree Farm System is a nationwide program that gives public recognition to more than ninety thousand private forest landowners who are managing their forests for wood, wildlife habitat, recreation, aesthetics, and clean water; and
Whereas, the American Tree Farm System is sponsored by the nation's wood-using industries through the American Forest Foundation with the assistance of forestry organizations, public agencies, consulting foresters, and others; and
Whereas, the Tree Farm Program in South Carolina is sponsored by the South Carolina Forestry Association, South Carolina Forestry Commission, and Clemson Extension Service with assistance from forestry organizations, consulting foresters, and others; and
Whereas, South Carolina has more standing timber volume than ever previously recorded in this great State, covering two-thirds of our land, or 13.1 million forested acres, supporting expanding industry investment, clean watersheds, beautiful landscapes, and abundant wildlife; and
Whereas, eighty-eight percent of South Carolina's forests are privately owned, sixty-seven percent of this amount by family forest owners and twenty-one percent by industry, with the remaining twelve percent publicly owned; and
Whereas, forestry has emerged as the number-one manufacturing industry in South Carolina in employment and wages paid to support South Carolina families; and
Whereas, timber is the state's largest cash crop, with a delivered value of $784 million, and the annual total economic impact of South Carolina's forest-products industry is more than $17 billion, providing 90,624 jobs in the Palmetto State, supporting families, and providing $4.1 billion annually in labor income; and
Whereas, the South Carolina Forestry 20x15 Project, which has as its aim growing forestry's annual economic impact to $20 billion, relies upon private timber production; and
Whereas, landowners and industry must have adequate protection from wildfire for their forests and investments, and prescribed fire is an essential, cost-effective forest-management tool that maintains healthy forests, reduces the occurrence and intensity of wildfires by controlling hazardous underbrush, controls insects and disease, enhances wildlife habitat, protects plant species that are dependent on fire, and prepares lands for reforestation; and
Whereas, private forests fulfill a critical role in providing biomass for renewable energy, with the potential to supply the energy needs for one-third of all homes in the state; and
Whereas, the sixty-fifth anniversary of tree farming in South Carolina is an occasion deserving of special recognition, and the members of the Senate take great pleasure in honoring it and in extending best wishes to the South Carolina Tree Farm Program for much continued success in years to come. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, celebrate sixty-five years of tree farming in the Palmetto State and salute the South Carolina Tree Farm Program.
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to the South Carolina Forestry Association, the South Carolina Tree Farm Committee, the South Carolina Forestry Commission, and Clemson Extension Service.
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