Page 12 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2021

Committed to Environmental Stewardship
Tony Doster, North Carolina Region Manager, Resource Management Service, LLC
BY AMANDA MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
In June, NCFA Business Manager Jill Bite and I, along with NCFA interns Abigail Ridge and Kristen Fontana, had the
opportunity to travel to eastern North Carolina to visit long-time NCFA member Tony Doster.
He has been with the NCFA since 1994 and originally decided to join so that he could receive important updates and trends regarding the North Carolina forestry industry. In addition, the Annual Meeting was a valuable opportunity to network and meet people in the business. As Doster said, “It’s all about the relationships. Forestry is very relationship- oriented, so having sound, solid long-term relationships is important for getting work done. The NCFA is a good vehicle for forming those relationships.”
Our visit began in the office with a virtual video tour of Resource Management Service, LLC (RMS), a firm founded in 1950 with a strong belief in stewardship of the land. Today, RMS manages $4.2 billion for globally diverse clients. The
company created the video during the COVID pandemic so that investors considering a timberland portfolio could easily understand its operations.
When I first heard of RMS, a timberland investment management organization (TIMO), I imagined suits, ties, and long cocktail lunches. The company’s investors are typically pension funds and endowments, but there are others too. RMS helps invest client capital in timberland asset classes. Some of a TIMO’s products are funds created by acquiring geographically diverse timberlands and managing that land on behalf of a variety of investors, and some products fit the needs of individual investors. RMS is unique because it is employee-owned and integrates investment management and forest management.
Little did I know that
this organization
includes foresters, land
managers, and quite a
bit of timber cruising.
Kristen Fontana, Abigail Ridge, Amanda Murphy, Tony Doster, and Jill Bite pose for a selfie on RMS-managed lands in eastern NC.
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ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2021