Page 8 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - First Quarter 2021

BY DR. JOHN HATCHER AND ROB ELLIOT
An Opportunity for Positive Change
The Nantahala and Pisgah National Forest Management Plan Revision
Introduction
Forestry in North Carolina is as diverse as the landscape across our state. In one day, an ambitious person could go from watching a high-production logging crew in the Eastern part of the state to a mountain logging crew that drives one hour to a job that is four miles from their home “the way the crow flies.”
The ownership of North Carolina’s forests is equally diverse, with 15.57 million acres being privately owned, 1.11 million acres being owned by the state government and 2.08 million acres owned by the federal government. And while much of this forested landscape can be subject to similar rules and regulations, there can be additional rules, regulations, and other challenges that one has to go through to supply raw materials from one
of these forests to one of the many wood-processing facilities in North Carolina and neighboring states.
Over the last several decades in western North Carolina,
wood processing facilities near the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests have dealt with challenging public policies and other social pressures that hinder their ability to procure timber from national forests. Hopefully, this trend will start to reverse thanks to the determination of several the NCFA members and other stakeholders who understand the important role that sustainable forest management needs to play in the stewardship of national forests to both boost the economy and create wildlife habitat, clean air, and clean water.
6 ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2021