Page 10 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2022

ALLEN PLASTER:
Tree Farm Advocate & Landowning NCFA Member BY AMANDA MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, NCFA
In October, I took a two-hour drive east of our offices to Trenton, NC to meet with Allen Plaster, long-time industrial and consulting forester here in North Carolina. I’m used to
driving up to sawmills, cabinet companies, and other industrial-looking sites, but this time I pulled up in the driveway of the Plasters’ home.
The Plasters have a nice, fenced-in garden where they grow all kinds of produce. (After the interview, Plaster’s wife Karen sent me home with an entire grocery bag’s worth of kale.) I’m not sure if it’s the forestry industry or folks in North Carolina or both, but I felt at ease at the Plasters’ home and am grateful for being welcomed into this community of folks who care about forestry and the land in our state.
Q: Tell me about yourself and your role in forestry in North Carolina.
When did you get involved in NCFA?
A:I followed my father into the forestry profession and graduated from
NC State University with a BS in Forest Management in 1968. My first job was with Albemarle Paper Company in Roanoke Rapids, NC, where I evaluated thinning regimes using time and motion studies. I joined Weyerhaeuser in Plymouth, NC that same year. After various training/learning assignments, I started my first real job as Forestry Foreman and, over the next 17 years, had a number of assignments in
just about all aspects of industrial forestry, except wood procurement. In 1985, Weyerhaeuser parted ways with me in a major restructuring. After an unsuccessful job search, consulting forestry called and
I eventually formed my own firm, named Comprehensive Forestry Services because I wanted to offer private landowners everything they needed to manage their land successfully. I sold my business in 2011, but continued working through 2014. My role in forestry in North Carolina has been as an industrial forester and a
8 ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2022