Since International Paper closed its mills in Liberty and Chatham counties last fall, business owners in Southeast Georgia who once made the state the largest timber exporter in the nation have been feeling acute pain. As of January, demand for timber had dropped more than 60%. …The cost of pulpwood, meanwhile, had plummeted. …Gov. Brian Kemp has carved $14 million for the timber industry in his draft budget, based on recommendations from a task force he set up last fall. Most of those funds will go to a timber innovation initiative at Georgia Tech, rather than to farmers. Separately, House Bill 1000, a bipartisan bill that would would remove local taxes on timber sales. …If it passed the House and the Senate this session, the bill would become a constitutional amendment that would need approval in a statewide referendum. …Among those plans: a pivot to mass timber.