Page 7 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2022

NORTH CAROLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
1600 Glenwood Ave., Suite I Raleigh, NC 27608
(919) 834-3943 / (800) 231-7723 Fax: (919) 832-6188 ncforestry.org
BOARD CHAIR
Allen Whitesell
PRESIDENT
Nancy Thompson
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
BOARD MEMBERS
Todd Adams Tommy Adkins Jadie Andrews Scott Askew Keith Biggs Blair Bishop Scott Bissette Jay Boyette Jesse Burdett Doug Burleson Kenneth Cain John Cecil Chris Charest Mike Cheston Clay Creed Charles Daniels Rudy Daughtry Tara Dickson Tony Doster Rob Elliot Ashley Faircloth David Gadd Brett Goulding Orrin Goure Lori Grady Mike Harris Jason Hoyle Perry Hunt Dylan Hurley
Lynn Jenkins David Johnson AJ Keating Lauren Killian Arturo Lumpkin Mike Marks Boyd McLaurin Jeff Meacham Roger Melvin Justin Moretz Zack Myers Russ Newton Wib Owen
Jess Parton
Allen Plaster Henry Randolph Greg Ricks Bernard Rose Richard Sanders Scott Smearman Jimmy Stockton Alexander Storm Nancy Thompson Cierra Ward Allen Whitesell Jerry Williams Jocelyn Wilson Andy Wolgemuth
In December, the NCFA released “Truck Drivers – Forestry Essential”, a social media campaign that focuses on the importance of truck drivers to the forestry industry.
Planting for the Future
Across the southern U.S., over a million acres of trees are being replanted for future harvest.
Despite the risk associated with carrying trees for the duration of a rotation, landowners understand the value in planting now, even if the benefits are not realized during their lifetime. While both short- and long-term planning is critically important to the success of many industries, the forestry sector excels at the latter relative to most. Whether we are making management decisions, or tackling many of the issues our industry faces, we realize that overnight success is simply not the norm.
Last year, the NCFA started planning for several long-term initiatives and realized success on multiple fronts. On the state side, Governor Roy Cooper signed legislation strengthening our state’s timber theft statutes into law. At the federal level, the forest products industry in North Carolina scored a major victory with the passage of H.R. 3864 — Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. A key provision was included in the bill that preserves the 10,000 lb. weight tolerance on state highways transitioning into the federal interstate system, allowing producers to continue to transport raw forest products safely and efficiently to markets across our state.
Neither of these legislative victories occurred overnight, and they would not have been possible without the help of our member companies and other partnerships. There are many other examples throughout the NCFA’s history where it takes several years, if not more, to accomplish major goals for our membership.
Last year, the Executive Committee and Board of Directors echoed the importance of addressing our workforce challenges across the supply chain, especially the shortage of qualified truck drivers across the industry. Like other victories the NCFA has realized over the years, we will only be successful with the involvement and support of our members. I hope each of you will join us in planting for the future in 2022.
In Forestry,
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
NCFA Executive Director
EXECUTIVE MESSAGE
ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2022 5