Baldwin State Forest

About Baldwin State Forest

Bartram Forest is a Georgia Forestry Commission-managed working forest used in outdoor classrooms to educate students of all ages about Georgia's natural resources and raise awareness of conservation.

Bartram Educational Forest is part of the Baldwin State Forest (BSF), located in Baldwin and Wilkinson counties. B SF is 2,113 hectares of land owned by the State of Georgia and managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC).

Currently 1600 hectares are suitable for timber construction and are mainly planted with pine trees.

The Baldwin Seed Garden covers 100 hectares (52 fish ponds), and wetlands with streams and beaver ponds cover 270 hectares. B SF and integrate all these concepts into a viable plan for the development of the Baldwin State Forest as a multipurpose forest.

On 25 September 1969, Governor Lester Maddox signed an executive order transferring the property from the Ministry of Public Health to the Forestry Commission. Before 1969, most of the country was covered with willow trees owned and controlled by the Ministry of Health and the Central Hospital. The rest consisted of pasture land for the Baldwin Seed Garden and a small number of private farms.

The GFC signed a Memorandum of Understanding in July 1970 to manage the area as a wildlife management area. Five (5) ponds totaling 54 hectares have been designated as public fishing areas and managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as partof the Baldwin State Forest Wildlife Management Area.

In the early 1970s, a management plan was launched, which included extensive afforestation, with a large proportion of brownfield land converted into trees.

In the 1990s, about 850 hectares of seed plantations were planted, half of which were designated as Baldwin Seed Orchard (BSO). An updated forest management plan has been prepared for the BSF, following the guidelines of the Forest Stewardship Program. The B SF and B SO manage approximately 1,000 acres of the Baldwin State Forest, totaling 2.5 million acres of forest.

Since then, budget cuts have severely restricted BSO's activities and BSF's role in managing the state's Baldwin Forest.

In 1991, an open space was created for future seed plantations for timber production, and currently around 100 hectares are used for pine seed production. If necessary, the orchards can be afforested or cut down, but only if necessary, according to the BSF.

The forest remains open for recreational purposes and is considered a wildlife management area.

The DNR has stopped using the forest as open space for hunting, fishing and other recreational activities, but it is still considered a wildlife management area.