Forestry has long been among the top industries in Calhoun County with annual outputs of more than $183 million.
More than 50% of the acreage in Calhoun County is covered by forests and 66% of those lands are privately owned.
“It’s a significant part of our county and we try to provide a lot of help and information to make certain it is utilized to its best potential,” said George Calder, president of the Calhoun County Forestry Association (CFA).
Calder noted that forestry is the number two industry in the state and impacts nearly 1,200 jobs and more than $42 million in income in Calhoun County alone.
“For a long time people thought it was a bad thing to cut a tree,” Calder said. “We’ve worked hard to provide more education so that everyone understands the importance of reforestation and all we can do.”
George Calder
Calder is in the final months of his 2-year presidency over the county association. His introduction to forestry was somewhat accidental.
He was raised on his father, George W. Calder’s, dairy farm at the northern town limits of Calhoun City. Much of the family farm land was sold to the town for the Calhoun City Industrial Park. Calder moved away after graduating from Mississippi State for a career in accounting and insurance that took him all over the country. He and his wife Glenda moved back to the home place, directly across Hwy. 9 from the former Southern Discount Drugs, after retiring.
“The old pastures were just too much grass to mow, so I decided to contact the forestry association and plant trees,” Calder said. “I got invited to a meeting and found it very interesting.” He’s been involved ever since. “I think the educational programs we offer are one of the best things we do,” he said.
The association meets quarterly and covers a variety of topics such as herbicides, insect control, thinning, wildlife preservation, tax help and more. The most recent statistics from the Mississippi Forestry Association show that over 35% of Calhoun County’s economic output is derived from forestry and the forest products industry. Forest related value added amounts to nearly $68.3 million annually.
“It’s a significant part of our economy so we need to be educated on the best way to manage it,” Calder said.
Forestry Association data shows that Calhoun has 94,769 acres planted in hardwood, 76,200 acres in pine, and 10,248 acres of mixed. Sixty-six percent of those acres are privately owned, while 30% are industry owned and 4% are government owned.
Calder takes pride in the work the CFA does in the schools, including a teacher workshop where they cover the costs for Calhoun teachers to attend a forestry workshop at Mississippi State University.
“Education is the key,” he said. “We’d like to see more younger people getting involved.”
Damon Doler is scheduled to succeed Calder as president in 2016. Current CFA directors are Don Bell, James May, Charles Herring and Max Nichols. The next CFA meeting is Thursday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Building in Pittsboro. The program will be sponsored by Pennington Seed. Call 412-3177 for more info.