Utility Replants 500 Acres Burned by Ga. Wildfire

WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) -- A Georgia electric utility is replanting 500 acres of hardwood forest that burned near the Okefenokee Swamp during a massive wildfire in 2007.

Oglethorpe Power Corp. said Wednesday it's nearly halfway done replanting wetlands inside the Dixon Memorial State Forest as part of an agreement with the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Dru Preston Jr. of the Forestry Commission said wildlife habitat and ecosystems destroyed by the fire would take far longer to recover if the burned forest was left to recover on its own.

The agreement will allow Oglethorpe Power to offset its power plant emissions by claiming title to carbon dioxide removed from the air by the replanted trees for 25 years.

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