Spirit Creek Forest is a state forest in Richmond County, Georgia. The forest is 725 acres and is managed by the

Georgia Forestry Commission This is a list of Georgia state forests. In the state of Georgia, all state forests are managed by the Georgia Forestry Commission. All state forests are operated under a multiple-use Forest Stewardship management plan. This takes into account the ...

. The forest is mostly made up of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

, loblolly pines, and bottomland hardwoods.

History

The land where Spirit Creek Forest is currently located used to belong to the Gracewood State School and Hospital. They grew their crops and raised cattle and chickens. The field where then abandoned for a period of time before being leased to local farmers. These farmers converted the land to bahia grass fields to raise cattle. In 1984, the fields were given to the Georgia Forestry Commission. In the winter of 1984–1985, loblolly pines were planted on approximately 480 acres.

Present day

Currently, Spirit Creek Forest contains loblolly pines along with other types of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, including

longleaf pines The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

and mixed strands of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

. Benefits provided by the forest include timber production, wildlife habitats, soil conservation,

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Populati ...

, aesthetics, and educational opportunities. The forest is located in the southern part of Richmond County and is 30 minutes away from

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

Spirit Creek Forest Wildlife Management Area

The Spirit Creek Forest Wildlife Management Area is a 570 acre property adjacent to Spirit Creek Forest that provides hunting opportunities for

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and small game hunting. The area is jointly managed between the Wildlife Resources Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia Forestry Commission. The main hunting opportunities at the Spirit Creek Forest WMA include archery deer, archery turkey,

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

, and

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

, along with some dove and

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

. Only

shotguns A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

and

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

equipment may be used for small game hunting. Other activities available within the Wildlife Management Area include biking,

geocaching Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific l ...

, and wildlife viewing. Several bike trails also run through the area.

References

External links

Spirit Creek Forest
Georgia Department of Natural Resources {{Protected areas of Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) state forests Protected areas of Richmond County, Georgia

History

Present day

Spirit Creek Forest Wildlife Management Area

See also

References

External links