Spring 2024 7 Bluegrass band, Brothers Young, performed on Wednesday evening during the Welcome Reception. Executive Director Corey Connors reports on the association’s activities and initiatives at the VFA membership meeting that was held during the Forestry Summit. Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Matt Lohr addressed the crowd during the Forestry Summit’s Awards Banquet on Wednesday evening. Matt Lohr, followed by the enthusiastic auctioneering and bidding for items featured in the live auction and a celebration of all those who were recognized with awards. For details about this year’s award winners, see page 12. Canfor Southern Pine helped offset bus travel to tours at CHIPS Inc. and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello as part of their sponsorship. Pinecrest Timber Company sponsored the lanyard for this year’s event. In addition to these sponsors, the Forestry Summit continues to rely on dedicated supporters and exhibitors whose participation is essential to maintaining the event as a premier experience for guests and participants. VFA Taps into the Power of a Visionary, Engaged Membership One of the important meetings that is held during the Forestry Summit is the Virginia Forestry Association membership meeting. This year VFA Executive Director Corey Connors offered updates on the work conducted by the new Stakeholder Segement Interest Councils. This new leadership engagement structure was approved at the 2023 VFA membership meeting. These councils, comprised of related VFA membership types, were formed with the hope of tapping into the pulse of our forestry community and allowing the association to be more responsive to the needs of VFA’s members. During the past year, several of the councils convened with the objective of looking ahead at the biggest challenges and opportunities facing their specific area of interest in the next three to five years. These councils included Forest Products and Wood Manufacturing, Forest Harvesting & Transportation, Forest Management & Consulting, Forest Land Ownership Council. Their thoughtful and frank assessments will help build a pathway for steering the association in a positive direction for the future. At a time of considerable uncertainty, VFA received clarity on what is most needed by our community at this moment. Specifically, VFA’s Stakeholder Councils offered these insights: Our Forest Products and Wood Manufacturing Council described conditions as “mixed,” and “volatile,” noting that prices were soft. They identified labor as their top concern and advocacy to combat new regulatory burdens as our best opportunity. Perceiving themselves as the most threatened link in Virginia’s forest supply chain, our Forest Harvesting & Transportation Council cited a lack of competitive markets as its biggest challenge while urging work on the creation of new and expansion of existing markets. Our Forest Management & Consulting Council believed that conditions were “unstable” and “uncertain,” echoing the Harvesting Council with respect to market challenges and overwhelmingly suggesting that we educate the next generation on the need for and importance of what we do. “Muddled,” and “stagnant” were two of the adjectives used to describe the state of play for members of the Forest Land Ownership Council. The uncertainty caused by a lack of markets and ever-increasing costs of ownership are forcing landowners to
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