Conference for region’s forest landowners scheduled for Oct. 25-26 in Rocky Mount

AULANDER, N.C., April 27, 2023 – Forest and farm owners in eastern North Carolina and southern Virginia have the opportunity in late October to learn about programs that can help them increase the health and asset value of their land and its habitats. The Forest Landowner Conference convened annually by Roanoke Cooperative’s Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project (SFLRP) will be held October 25-26 in Rocky Mount, N.C.

The conference is free to the public. It will be held in the Rocky Mount Event Center both days; exact meeting times and the conference agenda will be finalized in the coming months. Speakers and exhibitors from more than a dozen state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations and companies are expected to take part.

The Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project is celebrating a major milestone this year – its 10th year of service to landowners. The Project began in 2013 as a partnership between Roanoke Cooperative, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service and, more recently, the American Forest Foundation. The program works to restore and conserve threatened forestland in 13 North Carolina counties while increasing its economic viability so that woodland owners are better able to keep the property in their families for future generations.

The counties are: Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Gates, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Perquimans, Vance and Warren. All landowners owning at least one contiguous eight-acre parcel of woodland are eligible to participate. See www.recforestry.org for more information on the program, including presentations from prior Forest Landowner conferences.

Forest landowners do not have to live in these counties to participate in the conference.

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Contact: Alton Perry, SFLRP Director

aperry@roanokeelectric.com

252-539-4614