Page 8 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Fourth Quarter 2024

2024 ANNUAL
MEETING RECAP
FORESTRY HORIZONS:
Navigating Challenges,
Seizing Opportunities
Seizing Opportunities, was held in September at the Wilmington Convention
The NCFA’s largest event of the year, Forestry Horizons: Navigating Challenges,
Center in Wilmington, NC. Over the course of two days, about 200
attendees and exhibitors from across North Carolina gathered for engaging
presentations and panels, amazing food, activities, and networking. We are
grateful to all who participated in this year’s event and hope you made new connections
and gained valuable industry insights!
Day 1
The annual meeting kicked off with a welcome
address from NCFA Board President Chris
Charest, followed by a keynote presentation
delivered by Pete Stewart of ResourceWise.
Stewart gave an update on the state of the
forest products industry, which provided a
seamless segue into our forest management
panel moderated by NCFA Executive
Director Dr. John Hatcher. The panel was
led by industry experts Kent Fullbright
of GFR Consultants, Andrew Stewart of
PRT + IFCO Seedlings, and Cierra Ward
of Resource Management Service, LLC, and
focused on the outlook of forest management
in coastal NC, as well as the importance of
doing our part to educate and engage young
people about our industry.
The general session closed with a pre-
sentation by Stephen Zambo of The AGL
Group. Zambo provided a critical logistics
and freight update, a timely topic that coin-
cided with the port strike we all witnessed
just days later. Attendees were then invited
to a welcome reception followed by dinner,
which featured our annual Friends of For-
estry Political Action Committee (FFPAC)
reverse raffle. We thank everyone who
contributed to the raffle to raise $17,475!
Allen Whitesell sold the most raffle tickets
this year – 90! This year’s jackpot winners
included Tom Brantham, Jeremy Britt,
FFPAC
RAFFLE
Allen Whitesell, FFPAC raffle ticket
winner and keeper of the coveted belt, poses
with NCFA Board President Chris Charest.
John Cecil, Fred Taylor, and Will Tulloss.
Guests then ventured out to the river walk
to participate in a cornhole tournament,
which proved to be a great time!
6 ncforestry.org / FOURTH QUARTER 2024