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

E X E C U T I V E M E S S A G E
NORTH CAROLINA
FORESTRY ASSOCIATION
1600 Glenwood Ave., Suite I
Raleigh, NC 27608
(919) 834-3943
ncforestry.org
BOARD CHAIR
Rob Elliot
A year of resiliency 2024
PRESIDENT
Chris Charest
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
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
As I look back on the year and think about everything we have
accomplished in the name of North Carolina forestry, I feel immense
pride and gratitude. Our team has done a tremendous job living out
our mission and vision — getting youth involved in our industry,
cultivating future foresters, fostering relationships with our industry
counterparts, and increasing awareness by educating the public about what we do.
We’ve only scratched the surface and are excited to continue to innovate these efforts
as we enter a new year.
The year also brought us industry challenges, mill closures, and unprecedented
natural disasters. It is challenges such as these that present an opportunity for
individuals to show up for each other and demonstrate what being a community is all
about. I’ve witnessed resiliency and unity within our membership and our industry
at a time when it was needed most. Amidst the troubles and the unknowns, you’ve all
banded together to lift each other up when the other was down. I couldn’t be prouder
to lead an organization representing an industry that is truly a family.
In closing, I’d like to thank everyone who was able to come out to our annual
meeting in Wilmington. Our theme, Forestry Horizons: Navigating Challenges, Seizing
Opportunities, poetically summed up the year’s events. Though there were challenges,
there were also opportunities for innovation to take hold and play a huge role in
our industry’s future. We look forward to the ongoing developments in the cross-
laminated timber space and continue to be encouraged by the growing commercial
and residential use of mass timber across the U.S. and internationally.
Cheers to a productive and energizing year, and to a hopeful and engaging 2025.
We wish you and your families the best this holiday season.
In Forestry,
John E. Hatcher, Jr., Ph.D., CF
John E Hatcher Jr Ph D CF
NCFA Executive Director
ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2024 5