County Greets New Tate’s Hell Operations Administrator

On April 22, Matthew Johnson, operations administrator for Tate's Hell State Forest, appeared before county commissioners for the first time to share year-to-date accomplishments of the local Florida Division of Forestry operations.
To date, the division has overseen over 50,000 acres of prescribed burns and responded to 22 wildfires covering a total of 305 acres.
This year 195,000 tons of timber have been harvested with a total value of almost $1 million. Slash pine seedlings have been planted on over 1,900 acres of land and an additional 625 acres have been planted with longleaf pine.
The division has sold 250 day use permits for mixed recreation, 332 primitive camp permits, 32 hunt camp permits, 25 OHV/ATV permits, 68 apiary permits and seven permits to harvest firewood.
Good sales of timber and permits in Tate's Hell are good news for Franklin County, since a portion of all income generated by the forest is contributed to the county school system.
In the first quarter of this year, 646 miles of forest roads have been graded in Tate's Hell and 21 miles repaired or rebuilt.
"We track all of these statistics monthly and anyone who is interested can call 697-3734 and get a report," said Johnson.
There will be a Tate's Hell State Forest Liaison Committee meeting on Thursday, May 1 at 2 p.m. at Tate's Hell headquarters on Airport Road in Carrabelle.
In a telephone interview, Johnson said he has worked full time for the Division of Forestry since December 2001.
He started as a ranger in Gainesville and held that position for three years. He then served as county forester in Gilchrist County before accepting the position of operations administrator for Tate's Hell in December 2007.
Johnson is a native of southern Missouri and attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello.