Page 7 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - First Quarter 2024

NORTH CAROLINA FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
1600 Glenwood Ave., Suite I Raleigh, NC 27608
(919) 834-3943 ncforestry.org
BOARD CHAIR
Rob Elliot
PRESIDENT
Chris Charest
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
Election year is upon us.
Iimagine the sheer mention of elections may dissuade many of you from reading the entirety of this message. But like any other general election year, this year is no less important.
While neither of North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seats is up for election, all
170 members of the North Carolina General Assembly and 14 congressional members will appear on the ballot. Moreover, North Carolina’s council of state offices that were established by Article III of the Constitution of North Carolina are up for re-election. These offices include the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Attorney General, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Insurance, and Commissioner of Labor. For the first time in decades, six of the 10 council of state offices do not have an incumbent running.
I invite each of you to spend some time becoming informed about each candidate who is running during the primary and the general election this fall as well as how their views may impact our forestry-related businesses.
While neither the NCFA nor the members of the Friends of Forestry Political Action Committee formally endorse candidates, we will proceed with due diligence to identify candidates that exhibit a pro-business, free-enterprise philosophy and believe in a sensible regulatory and tax structure that will ensure healthy, productive, and sustainable forests for generations to come.
In Forestry,
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
NCFA Executive Director
BOARD MEMBERS
Todd Adams Tommy Adkins Matt Allen Jadie Andrews Scott Askew Blair Bishop Josh Bledsoe Jason Bowman Jay Boyette
Jim Brodie
Ben Burger Doug Burleson Kenneth Cain John Cecil
Will Coleman Clay Creed Chuck Daniels Tara Dickson Bill Dine
Tony Doster Ashley Faircloth David Gadd Brett Goulding George Hahn Pete Hancock Mike Harris Greg Hicks Daniel Hodge Perry Hunt Dylan Hurley
Alec Kearns
AJ Keating Kenneth Lin Jared Lucas Arturo Lumpkin Mike Marks James Mathis Boyd McLaurin Jeff Meacham Phil Mead Justin Moretz Russ Newton Blair Owen
Wib Owen Scott Page
Jess Parton
Will Reese
Greg Ricks Richard Sanders Phil Smith
Lori Spiece
Kim Stewart Richard Taylor Nancy Thompson Will Tulloss Cierra Ward
Seth Ward Allen Whitesell Jerry Williams Jocelyn Wilson
EXECUTIVE MESSAGE
ncforestry.org / FIRST QUARTER 2024 5