Bartram Educational Forest (also known as Bartram State Forest) is an educational program component of the Baldwin Forest, a 2113 acres (9 km²) state forest in Baldwin County

Baldwin County, Georgia

Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 46,337. The county seat is Milledgeville.Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes neighboring Hancock County....

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The forest was named in honor of naturalists John Bartram

John Bartram

*Hoffmann, Nancy E. and John C. Van Horne, eds., America’s Curious Botanist: A Tercentennial Reappraisal of John Bartram 1699-1777. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 243. ....

 (1699-1777) and his son William Bartram

William Bartram

William Bartram was an American naturalist. The son of Ann and John Bartram, William Bartram and his twin sister Elizabeth were born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...

 (1739-1823).

It is located in the city of Milledgeville

Milledgeville, Georgia

Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...

 at geographic coordinates 33°01.290′N 83°12.284′W. It occupies property formerly used as a farm for patients of nearby Central State Hospital

Central State Hospital (Georgia)

Central State Hospital , located in Milledgeville, Georgia, is the state's largest facility for treatment of mental illness and developmental disabilities...

. It serves four major functions, the first of which is timber production and management. Income raised from sale of timber (predominantly Loblolly Pine

Loblolly Pine

Pinus taeda is one of several pines native to the Southeastern United States, from central Texas east to Florida, and north to Delaware. It is particularly dominant in the eastern half of North Carolina, where there are huge expanses consisting solely of Loblolly Pine trees...

) on the property supports the upkeep of the forest. Second, Bartram Forest is also a place for wildlife cultivation and refuge. Hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 is popular in the region, and Bartram Forest allows hunting within the bounds of certain regulations. Third, researchers use the forest to learn about plant diseases and genetics. Finally, it is a favorite destination for outdoor education and recreation, especially among members of the Georgia College & State University

Georgia College & State University

Georgia College & State University is a public liberal arts university in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States, with approximately 7,000 students...

 community. Bartram Forest also contains a stone labyrinth

Labyrinth

In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...

, used for meditative and other purposes.

External links

• Georgia Forestry Commission