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VALLEY — At the Monday evening meeting of the Valley Lions Club, Chambers County Commissioner James “Moto” Williams talked about his lengthy career with the Alabama Forestry Commission (AFC). He will be retiring in January after 35 years with the state commission.

“It’s about time I had the time to do some fishing and other things I’d like to do,” he said.

Williams lives in the Clacksville/Mount Olive area in north-central Chambers County. He represents District 3 on the Chambers County Commission.

Forestry specialists like Williams have a variety of responsibilities. They work throughout Alabama assisting landowners with forest management, fire prevention, wildfire suppression. forest insect and disease control as well as information and educational programs.

His expertise has allowed him to travel to many places outside Alabama.

“I’ve been all over,” he said. “I’ve been to places out west, where wildfires are a big problem. A problem in California, I think, is that there are not into prescribed burning the way we are in Alabama.”

Also known as controlled burning, prescribed burning is a widely accepted scientific means used by forest managers to manipulate vegetation and decaying material in a landscape. It’s a controlled application of fire by a team of fire experts under specified weather conditions to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire.

“California is finding out that control burning is a good thing,” Williams said.

If controlled burning isn’t done from time to time, decayed material builds up on the forest floor. Should a wildfire break out, and they usually do, that fire will be much worse with the large amount of dry fuel to burn.

Williams said he has seen some big changes in timber harvesting during his career.

“Loggers used to sell pulpwood by cords,” he said. “Now they sell timber by weight.”

Log trucks people see on the roads are different than they used to be. In the past, the trucks carried smaller loads that were laid in shorter logs parallel to the cab. Bigger trucks are now carrying longer logs that are stacked perpendicular to the cab.

The trucks carrying thicker, straighter logs are going to sawmills, where they are cut into lumber to be used in construction projects, furniture and pallets. The trucks carrying the lighter, looser logs are more than likely headed for the Barton Mill in Huguley (West Frazer, or Norbord), where they go into OSB, a lower cost plywood substitute.

“In the old days, if a pulpwooder sold 20 loads in a week he would feel good about that,” Williams said. “Most loggers today carry 20 loads every day.”

There’s a downside to this.

“We have planted so many trees that the market is flooded,” Williams said. “Right now, sawmills don’t compete for timber anymore. In west Alabama, landowners are having to pay people to haul off their pulpwood. We are growing trees so fast now. You can clear cut, replant and be ready to cut again in 15 years.”

Williams said it’s a good idea to plant longleaf pines. This may not help today’s landowner, but it may be something he can leave for his children and grandchildren.

“If you plant longleaf pines, you will have to manage them,” Williams said. “They grow in stages, and they love fire. You can burn around them on a routine basis. The wildlife love that. I love to hear quail calling at night. You don’t hear that with some kinds of replanting. I miss hearing those quail on that kind of land.”

“If you plant longleaf pines,” Williams added, “make sure you teach your children how to manage the trees the right way.”

Williams talked a good bit about the pine beetle problem in the South.

“There are three types of pine beetles in this part of the country,” he said. “The black turpentine beetle attacks the tree near its base, the southern pine beetle is usually found in the middle of a tree and the ips engraver beetle, or IEB, is near the top of the tree.

These three species of insect are often grouped together as they all attack pine trees in the South, but each has distinct characteristics and preferred areas of attack on the tree.

Far and away, the worst pest of the three is the Southern pine beetle. It’s the most aggressive of the three types and more capable of attacking healthier trees than the other two.

Williams has learned a lot over the years. One thing he’s learned is where the smoke comes from.

“The U.S. Forest Service in Talladega is bad to smoke out the Valley,” he said. “If you ever experience a day here where the smoke is bad that may be where it’s coming from.”

During the winter months, prescribed burning around West Point Lake could also contribute to this.

Prescribed burning needs to be done with the right weather conditions. It doesn’t need to be done during a drought or if it’s windy, and it always should be done after getting a burn permit.

“I can’t tell you how many times we have gotten calls when someone is burning,” Williams said. “If we hadn’t got a permit from someone we don’t know who’s doing it.”

The National Weather Service in Birmingham has an excellent website. One feature is a color-coded map showing where the smoke from a fire will travel during the daylight hours.

“It won’t tell you where it will go at night,” Williams said. “The humidity tends to rise at night. It’s heavier than the smoke and tends to push it down.”

A member of the club asked Williams if trees that have been damaged by pine beetles can be processed into lumber.

He said that sometimes happens but there is a problem with this.

“The Southern pine beetle leaves blue dye in the wood, and that’s not good,” he said.

The timber industry has been good for Chambers County. It’s already one of the county’s top industries and will be seeing further growth when a new sawmill locates in LaFayette. Williams explains that it will be different from most sawmills in this part of the country. Most of the existing plants work almost exclusively with pine. The new plant will be working with hardwood.

“They will be making cross ties and pallets out of sweet gum trees,” Williams said.

The South could be called the wood basket of the U.S. It’s the country’s top producer of timber, supplying 12 percent of the world’s wood products, 19 percent of the pulp and paper and 12 percent of the world’s industrial roundwood.

The Deep South is becoming a target for mass timber growth, with a USDA-funded study estimating that commercial projects in the region will fuel mass timber growth. The South’s cheap, abundant and non-union labor force, along with the region’s cheap and productive timberland, make it an attractive region for wood products mills.

The South’s forests are also home to many threatened species including the Southern hognose snake, the gopher tortoise and the red wolf.