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The Bainbridge Rotary met for their weekly meeting at the Bainbridge Country Club this Tuesday. The guest speaker for the day was Dr. Jeremy L. Green, an instructor in the Land, Forest and Wildlife Management Program at Southern Regional Technical College- Thomasville.

Green, a former paleontologist, went over the basics of what conservation and land management entail, along with the various programs of study offered in the program.

“Essentially, everything that’s involved in working outdoors and being a steward of the land, and a steward of all our natural resources, including wildlife, including the timber industry, and just conservation in general…” Green said, “My daddy would always say this, and this comes from Aldo Leopold, it’s a wise use of resources.”

He went on to discuss the different courses offered in the Land, Forest and Wildlife Management Program, which is finishing its ninth year, founded in 2012; there are seven wildlife management courses offered, five forest management courses offered, in addition to internships that require 135 hours of in-field experience. Various classes and activities that are covered in these courses include learning equipment operation (namely tractors, mowers and chainsaws); performing prescribed fire burns; animal care; dog training; mapping, silviculture; tree identification; wildlife monitoring, and more.

One area Green made note of is the labor shortage in the forestry and wildlife field. “What we’re trying to do is actually train students to go into the workforce and enter the workforce,” he said. “Currently, there is a massive shortage of workers on local quail plantations all throughout southwest Georgia, north Florida and even up in the Albany area and surrounding areas. As all industries, it’s really going down.” According to Green, the current quail hunting industry in Thomasville alone brings in $200 million a year.

“Tall Timbers Research Station did that study three years ago, and now it’s probably over $200 million. A huge economic boom, and there is a huge investment from our plantations into our program and other programs like ours trying to get young people into this field, and to go to work,” Green ended.

For more information on the SRTC Management programs, Green can be reached at 229-227-3149, or at jlgreen@southernregional.edu.