Georgia-Pacific Cedar Springs

About the Program
Georgia-Pacific's Cedar Springs site is situated in southwest Georgia, along the Alabama-Georgia border on 323 acres of forested land. Sawhatchee Creek flows through the property, providing varied habitat for native wildlife in the region. Populations of eastern bluebirds, purple martins and various bat species benefit from on-site habitat conservation practices, including 323 acres of longleaf pine forest, with the dual objectives of protecting forested habitat and the species that call them home.

Practices and Impacts

• The team manages a Streamside Management Zone buffer to help maintain good water quality in the creek, supporting habitat of native freshwater mussels in the stream habitat. The team partners with US Fish and Wildlife to monitor the mussel species and maintain a healthy habitat. 
• The team built and installed 25 bluebird boxes and three purple martin gourd house stands on-site with the help of local high school students, providing extra nesting habitat for bluebirds and purple martins. The boxes were strategically placed in grassland areas to provide space for avian shelter and foraging.
• Two bat roosting boxes are installed on-site, with the objective of providing habitat to common southwest Georgia bats like little brown bat, big brown bat, tri-colored bat and others. The boxes are installed in an area with ample access to water sources, including the Chattahoochee River and Sawhatchee Creek, which provide insect populations for feeding.
• Monitoring data, obtained using an echo monitoring device, indicates that several less-common bat species are currently active in the mill’s roosting boxes, including Seminole bats, hoary bats, Mexican free-tailed bats and evening bats.