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Registration is open for a free, two-day conference scheduled for late October in Rocky Mount that will educate forest and farm owners about sustainable forestry practices, the role of consulting foresters, and technical and financial assistance available through state and federal agencies.

The Forest Landowner Conference, set for Oct. 23-24 at the Rocky Mount Event Center, is being held by the nonprofit Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project (SFLRP) that Roanoke Cooperative helped establish in 2013. Speakers and exhibitors from more than a dozen state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations and companies are expected to take part.

The conference is held annually to provide forest and farm owners in North Carolina and Virginia with the opportunity to network with experts and peers and to learn about programs that can help them increase the health and asset value of their land and its habitats.

Advance registration is required. Interested parties can register via the SFLRP website (www.recforestry.org) or via the Eventbrite website (www.eventbrite.com).

The conference agenda is being finalized but is taking shape as follows:

Session 1. 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Oct. 23

Engagement with exhibitors, a presentation on the gnarly issue of heirs’ property and estate planning, and a panel discussion among woodland owners.

Session 2, 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Oct. 24

Presentations on the role of private consulting foresters and forest industry foresters, and presentations from a variety of forestry and conservation experts and agencies, including (tentatively) the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the USDA Farm Service Agency and the NC Forest Service.

The Sustainable Forestry and Land Retention Project was established as a partnership between the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service and, more recently, the American Forest Foundation. The program works to restore and conserve threatened forestland in 13 North Carolina counties by increasing forest-owner income and land asset values. The counties are: Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Gates, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Perquimans, Vance and Warren. All landowners owning at least one contiguous eight-acre parcel of woodland are eligible to participate.

Forest landowners do not have to live in these counties to participate in the conference. The registration deadline is October 14. See www.recforestry.org for more information on the program, including presentations from prior Forest Landowner conferences.