Emmanuel County's Forestry Chief earns national honor

MACON, Ga., (March 10, 2010) - The Georgia Forestry Commission’s Doug Chassereau, Emmanuel County Chief Ranger, has earned a prestigious national forestry honor. Chassereau was named recipient of the 2009 Robert E. Browning, Jr. Award, which recognizes outstanding wildland fire prevention efforts within the 13-state southern region.

“We are extremely proud of Doug Chassereau’s accomplishments,” said GFC Director Robert Farris. “Through his leadership, the number of wildfires in Emmanuel County has declined by almost 30 percent, and the number of acres lost to wildfire has been reduced by 25 percent.”

The Robert E. Browning, Jr. award honors the memory of Robert E. Browning, Jr., a native of the South, who gave his life battling a wildland fire on Storm King Mountain (Colorado) in 1994. The13-state Southern Region stretches from Virginia to Texas.

Chassereau has been with the GFC for 15 years, and has served as Emmanuel County’s Chief Ranger for four years. He was nominated for working within a 34-county target area that had the highest number of wildfires in Georgia. Chassereau’s efforts included a prevention plan for the county which emphasized debris burning as the primary cause of wildfires. A billboard campaign supported the plan, and Chassereau promoted the cause at Swainsboro’s 2008 Pine Tree Festival & Southeast Timber Expo.

“Doug Chassereau has done a fantastic job of completing a well rounded fire prevention program for his county, and this award proves his efforts are of the highest national caliber,” said Robert Farris. “He exemplifies the Georgia Forestry Commission’s mission to provide leadership, service, and education in the protection and conservation of our state’s forest resources.”