General Session | HeartSong Salon BCD

“Forestry in Tennessee, 2024: Challenges and Solutions Carbon, Land Use, Low-Quality Wood Markets... Other Issues”

Heather Slayton is the 10th State Forester/Assistant Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Division of Forestry (TDA-DF). She is responsible for directing the activities of the Division of Forestry in state forest management, wildfire prevention and suppression, reforestation, landowner assistance programs, forest health initiatives, urban forestry programs and forest inventory.

Slayton began working at TDA-DF in 2012 as a forest health specialist and soon transitioned to the role of Forest Health and Sustainability Unit leader where she additionally administered all forest health, water quality, rural, and urban forest management programs. In 2018, Slayton was promoted to Assistant State Forester where she oversaw the major administrative functions of the Division and provided executive leadership to the State Forest Unit, Reforestation Unit, Forest Health and Sustainability Unit and the Forest Data and Analysis Unit. Prior to her state service, Slayton worked as a consulting forester in Virginia, North Carolina and east Tennessee.

Slayton was raised in Danville, Va. and earned a B.S. in Forestry from Virginia Tech and a M.S. in Forestry from University of Tennessee. In her spare time, she enjoys golfing, boxing, road biking, hanging with her pups, and working on her 10-acre farm in Rutherford County.

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