New forest conservation program to include Dinwiddie and Prince George counties

New forest conservation program to include Dinwiddie and Prince George counties
by Alex Trihias – The Progress-Index

Enviva Holdings LP, the world’s largest producer of wood pellets, has established the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, which is administered by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. This $5 million, 10-year program was designed to protect a large amount of acres of bottomland forests in northeast North Carolina and southeast Virginia.

The Enviva Forest Conservation Fund will award matching-fund grants to nonprofit organizations in an attempt to conserve working forests and permanently protect ecologically sensitive areas in the coastal plains of Virginia and North Carolina. There are three wood pellet production facilities in the coastal plains area, as well as a deep-water marine terminal that Enviva owns.

“With the launch of the Enviva Forest Conservation Fund, Enviva will work with leading conservation organizations to identify areas of special concern and provide grants to permanently conserve thousands of acres of this forestland,” said John Keppler, chairman and CEO of Enviva. “Enviva has always drawn bright lines regarding the special places in the forest that should remain so. For instance, we have never harvested nor have we accepted wood from old growth forests.”

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