News Releases from the Southern Research Station

Southern Research Station Awards ARRA Grant to Land of Sky Regional Council

Asheville, NC -- Southern Research Station (SRS) Director Jim Reaves announced today that Land of Sky Regional Council (LOSRC) was awarded the grant to manage the $1.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds announced by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack on Sept. 9.  The funding will create a cooperative marketing network in Western North Carolina (WNC) to help stimulate the local forest products industry.

“SRS is proud to help implement the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and to play a role in building organizational networks that will position forest operators to be more prosperous as their markets recover,” said Reaves. “The project will create employment opportunities for individuals working with timber and non-timber forest products as well as marketing specialists, community organizers and forest products advisors.”

The Station released a Request for Proposals on Sept. 24, with an Oct. 23 deadline.  The Station received six proposals.  A panel of stakeholders reviewed the proposals based on selection criteria.  After the panel met, reviewed and ranked the proposals, the panel made a recommendation to the Station director for consideration. Director Reaves endorsed the panel’s recommendation and the Station awarded the grant to LOSRC on Nov. 6.

LOSRC is a voluntary association of local governments with 30 years of experience managing natural resource projects and providing services to its members and the region in the areas of natural resources planning, economic development and land management planning.

LOSRC has proposed several projects based on their experience and work with producer groups.  (1) A small diameter wood market development with a focus on forest health, (2) local production of woodland herbs for local processors, (3) certified and other green label timber production, (4) forest-based foods such as mushrooms, ramps, fruits, nuts and forest vegetables, (5) forest-based bio-fuel production for small and medium scale users and (6) high-value wood for the crafts industry and custom builders.  These are proposed projects and local forest producers and producer groups will discuss additional projects.

Ron Townley, LOSRC’s project manager of the Local Government Services Section will be responsible for project oversight.

“We propose to assemble groups of forest producers to improve their enterprises during the economic downturn and to help them be more efficient as demand for their products returns,” said Townley. “We hope to solve the production and marketing problems that forest producers believe need to be solved, particularly in the areas of more efficient production, more profitable products, and better marketing”

LOSRC will use the following “guiding principles” to administer all proposed projects:

• Provide short-term jobs to the forest industry in a way that generates lasting benefits to the industry.
• Use a ‘bottom-up” planning and economic development approach guided by forest producers and by forest product consumers.
• Look first to forest producers as staff to carry out this project.
• Use organizations within WNC to manage this project both to capitalize on their knowledge of local forest and market issues and also to strengthen long-term relationships between forest producers and their support organizations.
• Build the capacity of forest producers to sustainably pursue a variety of forest enterprises in a way that brings benefit to rural communities.

Visit http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/recoveryact.htm for additional information and project updates.