Page 28 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2023

COMMUNICATIONS CORNER
MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES
Common Forestry Misconceptions
By Kat Peters, former Communications Intern
I’ve been working with the NCFA as a communications intern for a year now. This is my first job adjacent to the forestry industry.
I grew up with a mother who was a self-proclaimed “tree-hugger” and who would make a face any time
we passed a truck with logs on it on the highway. That was
my introduction to the way the forestry industry works, as I’m sure many people outside the industry have experienced. I saw trees being cut and plots of land being left completely empty and wrecked from logging equipment and didn’t think twice about forming a negative opinion about forestry. As I grew up and started spending more time outside, I started becoming
a “tree-hugger” like my mother: anti-forestry without a good understanding of the forestry industry.
As someone looking in from the outside, I held some common forestry misconceptions that I have changed my perspective on since my time in a forestry industry-adjacent role.
Abigail Ridge, education coordinator, and former NCFA Intern Kat Peters visiting a sawmill tour during Kat’s internship experience.
26 ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2023