Published: April 14, 2009 10:48 pm      

Friends & Neighbors: Meet Jimmy Gallman

When Jimmy Gallman thinks back over his nearly 31-year career with the Georgia Forestry Commission, one situation stands out.

It was a hot day in 1987, made worse by an extreme drought. Multiple fires scorched the Dalton area, including one monster blaze close to Valley Point Middle School. The fire consumed approximately 130 acres, crossing Swamp Creek and roads before crews finally extinguished the blaze about 12 hours later a mile away at Cross Plains Boulevard.

“That was probably my scariest moment,” said Gallman, who retired March 1 as Whitfield-Catoosa chief forest ranger senior for the Georgia Forestry Commission. “I felt a bit helpless and I was in charge. The radio frequency was so crowded you couldn’t talk to the plane overhead.”

The pilot was scouting the fire and relaying information to crews on the ground.

“He was trying to tell us what was going on,” Gallman said. “We had fires everywhere and we couldn’t do anything with this one. It got close to buildings but the fire department kept them from burning. We just lost a lot of trees.”

Growing up on a farm in Murray County, his experiences with nature were peaceful. Woods surrounded the property and the Gallman kids made the forest their sanctuary — playing, hunting and enjoying the outdoors.

“It was all we knew,” he said.

As a youngster, Gallman dreamed of becoming a veterinarian and practiced taking care of the farm’s pigs, dogs, cows and chickens as well as abandoned animals. However, his love of animals had to be reconciled with the necessity of survival.

“We’d cry when daddy would shoot a pig,” Gallman said. “We raised most of what we ate. We had to, there weren’t any jobs in Dalton in 1953.”

After graduating from Murray County High School in 1964, Gallman decided against a career in veterinary medicine because he lacked the proper background. Instead, he enrolled at Walker County Technical School to study television repair and later Pickens Technical Institute for appliance repair. Gallman wanted to stay out of carpet mills.

“Working in a carpet mill is a dead end job,” he said. “You can only go so far.”

Gallman’s plan changed when tough economic times forced him to a local carpet mill, ending his trade school education. After a few years, however, Gallman jumped on a chance to return to one of his lifelong loves: the woods.

Gallman became a forest patrolman in Pickens County for the Georgia Forestry Commission on Aug. 7, 1978. He held numerous Smokey Bear programs at schools teaching kids about trees and forest fire prevention, checked people’s trees to diagnose problems and helped fight wildfires.

After 15 months, Gallman transferred to Whitfield County where he continued working as a forest patrolman. He was promoted to chief ranger of Whitfield County in 1986 and became chief ranger senior in 1989. On April 1, 2006 he became the chief ranger senior of Whitfield-Catoosa counties when the two units merged.

Gallman loved the work but found the schedule a bit limiting.

“You couldn’t plan anything,” he said. “I was on call 24/7, and we couldn’t take any days off during fire season. Fire season is February to April and October to December. There were only three people on staff then.”

In July 1985, Gallman’s unit went to Los Padres National Forest in California to help battle a 200,000-acre wildfire. He summed up the experience in one word: rough.

“We were there two weeks,” he said. “We slept on the ground in spike camps. They fed us good … We put in fire lines with rakes. That’s not a place to be if you’re not in good physical shape.”

Gallman never saw any firemen or forestry workers die or suffer major injuries.

“You’re trained to do it,” he said. “Most fatalities occur when helicopters or planes crash. You drink a lot of water to avoid heatstroke. The biggest thing is blisters and lack of sleep.”

Back home, Gallman helped form the Dalton Tree Board in 1992 with Harlan Godfrey and Grant Evans. He also had the idea to create Otis Cook Tree Park on Northview Drive with Kris Thomas in 1996.

“I’d always wanted to see an arboretum (a botanical garden devoted to trees),” Gallman said. “Its about two acres, very peaceful and quiet. It draws people in. Kris did the footwork for it though. I can’t really take credit for that.”

Gallman thinks the community can never have too many trees.

“It’s cooler and more pleasant,” he said. “You feel cooler under a tree.”

Gallman also is a self-described people lover and is grateful for the opportunity to have met thousands of amazing people over the years.

“Ninety-nine percent are as nice as can be,” he said. “You treat them well and they’ll treat you well. I had a few mad at me but not many.”

Gallman misses that interaction since he retired, but he says the time had come.

“I had my time in and everything was falling into place,” he said. “Everything ends. In life you’re just passing through.”

Gallman now spends his time working on his wife Paulette’s “long honey-do list,” gardening, metal detecting, raccoon hunting, babysitting twin grandsons Noah and Braeden and doing genealogy research. He also hopes to get back to beekeeping soon.

“Bees are good for pollinating, honey and nature,” said Gallman. “My dad kept them. I’ve been stung multiple times. They’ll eat you up if you’re not careful.”

Gallman believes communing with nature requires respect.

“I like water but I respect it,” he said. “Same with fire. Everybody likes fire because it’s relaxing but I respect it. When it’s controlled and you respect it, it’s good.”