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Senate · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

SR 929: Georgia Forestry Commission's Telfair/Wheeler County Unit and the Emanuel/Candler Unit; recognize

Last action March 9, 2026 · Senate Read and Adopted

A Senate resolution honors two Georgia Forestry Commission units and two individuals for their 2025 achievements in wildfire service and forest management.

Read the full resolution text

These buttons carry the resolution's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

This Senate resolution recognizes several award winners from the Georgia Forestry Commission for the year 2025. It commends the Telfair/Wheeler County Unit for being named Unit of the Year for Service, citing its work helping landowners with firebreak plowing and prescribed burn assists. It also commends the Emanuel/Candler Unit for being named Unit of the Year for Community Engagement, based on its Smokey Bear programs and other community outreach. The resolution further recognizes Will Dale as the 2025 Wildland Firefighter of the Year for his work in wildfire mitigation and suppression, and Matthew O'Connor as the 2025 Forester of the Year for his work in forest management. The Senate directs its Secretary to make copies of the resolution available to the public and the press. The resolution does not change any Georgia law.

What the bill does

  • Formally commends the Georgia Forestry Commission's Telfair/Wheeler County Unit for being named 2025 Unit of the Year for Service.
  • Formally commends the Emanuel/Candler Unit for being named 2025 Unit of the Year for Community Engagement.
  • Recognizes Will Dale as the Georgia Forestry Commission's 2025 Wildland Firefighter of the Year.
  • Recognizes Matthew O'Connor as the Georgia Forestry Commission's 2025 Forester of the Year.
  • Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution to the public and press.

Who it affects

This resolution directly names the Georgia Forestry Commission's Telfair/Wheeler County Unit, the Emanuel/Candler Unit, and staff members Will Dale and Matthew O'Connor. It also involves the Secretary of the Senate, who must distribute copies of the resolution.

Why it matters

The resolution carries symbolic and ceremonial weight rather than legal effect. It publicly acknowledges the work of specific Georgia Forestry Commission units and employees in wildfire prevention, community outreach, and forest management, but it does not create new programs, funding, or legal requirements.

Key provisions

  • The whereas clauses describe the Georgia Forestry Commission's role in wildfire prevention, emergency response, forest management, and community assistance.
  • The resolved clause formally recognizes and commends the two units and two individuals for their specific 2025 award titles.
  • The final clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to prepare and distribute copies of the resolution to the public and press.

From the bill

“the Georgia Forestry Commission plays a critical role in protecting Georgia's natural resources, ensuring public safety, and supporting the citizens and landowners of this state through wildfire prevention and suppression, emergency response, forest management, and community assistance”

Describes the general role of the Georgia Forestry Commission cited as the basis for the recognition.

Discussed in meetings (1)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. Senate floor session, March 19, 2026 (legislative day 34)

    From 1:26:05 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The Senate recognized Georgia Forestry Commission units and individual award recipients. The presenting senator said the resolution had passed and praised the commission's response to Hurricane Helene. The commissioner said the Telfair/Wheeler unit burned more than 5,200 acres of hurricane debris, performed more than 300 hours of firebreak plowing and averaged a four-minute fire response. The commissioner also described educational outreach by the Emanuel/Candler unit, a forester's 511 landowner cases and a firefighter's leadership of out-of-state crews.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-03-09Senate Read and Adopted (Senate)
  2. 2026-03-06Senate Hopper (Senate)

Sponsors

  • Max Burns (R, SD-23)Primary sponsor
  • Lee Anderson (R, SD-24)
  • Blake Tillery (R, SD-19)
  • Sam Watson (R, SD-11)
  • Russ Goodman (R, SD-8)
  • Jaha Howard (D, SD-35)
  • Nikki Merritt (D, SD-9)
  • Carden Summers (R, SD-13)
  • Emanuel Jones (D, SD-10)
  • Drew Echols (R, SD-49)
  • Gail Davenport (D, SD-17)
  • RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-38)
  • Steven McNeel (R, SD-18)
  • Bo Hatchett (R, SD-50)
  • Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
  • Nabilah Parkes (D, SD-7)
  • Marty Harbin (R, SD-16)
  • Jason T. Dickerson (R, SD-21)

Topics

  • forestry
  • wildfire prevention
  • legislative resolution
  • community engagement
  • Georgia Forestry Commission

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Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sr929.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp

SR929: Georgia Forestry Commission's Telfair/Wheeler County Unit and the Emanuel/Candler Unit; recognize | Georgia Commons