DOUGLAS, Georgia — State leaders gathered this morning to discuss the impacts of recent mill closures across rural Georgia. Some recent mill closures include: International Paper locations in Savannah and Riceboro… and Georgia-Pacific in Blakely. A committee of State Representatives, the House Rural Development Committee, gathered to discuss the recent closures. …Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper expressed his concerns about the thousands of rural Georgians who have been impacted by these closures. …The effect of the mill closures across the state is a snowball effect. …The committee says, right now, it is looking at ways to maintain the population in South Georgia by exploring new grants, utilizing Artificial Intelligence, agriculture, the timber industry, biomass production, and job creation. “We will take the recommendations from the committee and take them back to leadership in Atlanta and find some solutions to try and help these counties.” Representative Greene says.