Letter from President

Welcome to the 2025 Tennessee Forestry Association Annual Meeting in Chattanooga.  As we come together to recognize the strength and vitality of Tennessee’s forest, TFA has put together a great program full of topics that we hope will be informative and educational for everyone.  The “Sun is Shining on Tennessee’s Forests” and we want to tell you why.

2025 has seen its share of challenges and as TFA works to help the forest industry meet those challenges we want to keep you informed and up to date on what we’re doing.  We hope this annual meeting provides a forum to learn, share knowledge, forge new partnerships, and find innovative approaches to solving the issues we face in the forest industry.

TFA has served as the voice of forestry in Tennessee for 75 years.  Candace and the TFA staff work hard every day searching for and developing ways to improve not only Tennessee’s forest industry but the forest resources that support it. Although TFA’s mission hasn’t changed over the years, the way we accomplished things has.  Here are some highlights of the programs and initiatives that TFA has implemented and promoted to help support our forest industry.

Tennessee Forestry Foundation:

The Tennessee Forestry Foundation began in 2023 and continues to grow.  The Foundation’s mission is to promote the three pillars of education, conservation, and workforce development.  It is being funded by grants from various governmental agencies, however, it is the goal of the Foundation to raise money from private donors to create an endowment which will provide the future resources needed to increase the Foundation’s ability to impact the three pillars.  The foundation’s effort is being led by Traci Middleton. 
Thank you, Traci.

Education Outreach Coordinator:

Caley Peyton leads this effort and is doing an amazing job.  Caley’s role includes working with Project Learning Tree, Conservation Education, supporting Workforce Development events, Forestry Camp, Job Camps with FFA, Teacher Conservation Workshops and several other educational outreach efforts.  Thank you, Caley.

ForestryWorks®:

Larry Pitts is the leader of our Workforce Development Program, Tennessee’s ForestryWorks®. Larry travels statewide, introducing students and adults to career opportunities in the forest industry. Larry is involved with TCAT schools, high school career days, Community Colleges and anywhere else we have room to set up a booth.  Thank you, Larry.

Social Media:

If you’re on social media, I’m sure you’ve noticed TFA’s exposure on several media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. While this content is for all of us, its primary focus is on younger people, especially in distressed and at-risk counties in the state. This campaign supports our ForestryWorks® program and other educational programs. Annelise Mucci, founder of Content Company, LLC, handles TFA’s content creation and social media management.  Thank you, Annelise.

White Oak/Shortleaf Pine Initiative:

Greg and Mary Pate lead this effort on behalf of TFA, ensuring landowners have all the information and materials needed to grow healthy White Oak and Shortleaf Pine forests across the state.  We appreciate their commitment to this project and the effort to restore and manage these species for the next generation.

Accredited Forester Program:

As TFA is focused on promoting good forestry and good foresters across the state, we are taking the lead to introduce this program and give landowners a resource they can use to help them with forest management decisions and services.

Bridge / Mat Program:

This cost share program has been extremely popular.  It is exciting to see how the logging industry has taken advantage of this program and there is no doubt it will have a positive impact on Tennessee’s water quality.  We appreciate everyone involved in getting this program off the ground and running.

I would like to thank all our partners for the work they are doing to help promote forestry and how they collaborate with TFA and its members. Our TFA staff and the great partnerships we have are the keys that make this association so successful. 

Finally, I would like to thank all the TFA members.  As you know, TFA is a non-profit organization primarily funded through membership dues.  Without those dues, TFA would not exist.  Thank you for your support and commitment to TFA as we strive to represent the forest industry at every level.

Thank you for letting me serve as TFA’s President and I as pass the torch to the next one, I’m excited for TFA’s future and what’s ahead for us.

Sincerely,

Neal Carson