A University of Georgia researcher has found that Georgia’s forestlands
provide essential ecosystem services to the state worth an estimated
$37 billion annually.
This is in addition to the value of timber, forest products and
recreation. This is the first time these indirect benefits of Georgia’s
private forests have been estimated.
That’s substantially more than the $28 billion annually from the
conventional wood-products industry.
Sure, everyone wants jobs for the people right now and jobs
so the children don’t have to go somewhere else to find one.
But what good is that if those jobs suck up all the water
those children need to drink?
This is the problem:
“What I believe the three most important things are,
not only for our community, and our state, and our country,
but for our country,
thats jobs number 1, jobs number 2, and jobs.”
Brad Lofton, Executive Director,
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
speaking at the
Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner,
Lake Park, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 January 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
I shook Brad Lofton’s hand after that speech and told him I liked it,
because I did: in general it was a positive speech about real accomplishments.
I’ve also pointed out I had a few nits with that speech.
This one is more than a nit.
This one is basic philosophy and policy.
Now one would expect an executive director of an industrial authority
to be all about jobs.
And that would be OK, if
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Video of Ben Copeland, Past Chairman of the Board, Wiregrass Technical College,
speaking at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner,
Lake Park, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 January 2011.
by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
When the 27,000 gallons of untreated waste water was discharged at 4036
Bemiss Road on Tuesday, Jan. 20, local resident Dan Davis began to notice
dead shiners over the next few days in the nearby Cherry Creek and Lake
Cleve waters.
According to Davis, approximately fifty to sixty shiners — a small,
silver-colored fish commonly used for bait by fishermen — were found
dead in Cherry Creek over the last week. In addition to the fish, Davis
also spotted a dead gray egret washed up underneath the bridge.
In the aftermath of Valdosta’s recent water calamity, it might be a
good time to ask whether residents of Lowndes County are taking things
like plentiful water for granted? Apparently, the Valdosta City Council
is already thinking ahead, for on the agenda of their January 20, 2011
meeting, was a “Consideration of an Ordinance to establish standards
for outdoor watering for the City of Valdosta.” One wonders if they’re
worried about people watering their lawns in the summer? If that’s the
case, it’s good that they acknowledge that the South is in the midst
of a long-term drought.
Or perhaps I’m giving Council credit where it’s not due?
Ben Copeland asked the big question: “How much growth do we want?”
He related it to regional water in the aquifer, rivers, growth, and planning,
speaking at the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce annual dinner, 28 January 2011.
“Do we want to be Jacksonville?
Do we want to be Tallahassee?
Do we want to be a large metropolitan region?
Folks are going to move to south Georgia, I can tell you that,
because of all the resources that we have.
I’m a great believer in the free enterprise system.
How much do we try to limit that?
Monthly LAKE Meeting
When: 5:30 PM, Tuesday 1 February 2011
Where: Family Pizza House
5945 Bemiss Road @ Radar Site (in front of Moody AFB)
(229) 244-1845
The LAKE blog, On the LAKE Front, quadrupled its page views this month!
The talk of the town (and apparently all of south Georgia today) is the Lowndes County seat
lost water.
Both the Valdosta’s city government web pages (VLD) and the newspaper (VDT)
have been reporting
online, but it’s hard to tell exactly when, since both have
only datestamps, not timestamps.
What does “in the next hour” mean when you don’t know in what
hour the notice was posted?
Time notations appropriate for paper media issued once a day
aren’t quite adequate for online posts multiple times a day.
My name is Russell Anderson. I am the Co-Director of
Collectiveprogression.org and graduate of Valdosta State. I am writing to
inform you of my intent to publish the below piece on our website and to our
readership as well as produce a full length documentary about the community
struggle against the proposed Wiregrass LLC biomass incinerator.
I have you all on this email {Sterling Assets, Langdale’s, Council, Commissioners,
Authority, Attorneys} and
ALL of you have continued to pass the blame and
buck on the building of this plant.
Rather than doing the more responsible
thing (pending EIS),
NAACP reiterates charges of environmental racism,
despite claims from Brad Lofton, Executive Director of the
Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority,
that
“all of a sudden we haven’t heard anymore about environmental racism.”
Leigh Touchton, president of the local NAACP chapter,
presents to the Valdosta City Council
research published by
Robert D. Bullard about environmental apartheid.
