The sale of a local, state owned forest will not continue as planned. North Carolina State University (NCSU) and the university’s board of trustees for their endowment fund announced in a release Friday the $150 million purchase agreement for the 79,000-acre Hofmann Forest in Onslow County was “terminated with the buyers unable to finalize the financial contingencies for the contract.”
The release said the property is still owned by university’s board of trustees and the Natural Resources Foundation (NRF), a not-for-profit forestry organization affiliated with the university.
The sale’s termination marks the end of a controversial business deal between the university and Hofmann Forest LLC, a group of investors led by Jerry Walker, an agri-businessman from Illinois and owner of Walker Ag Group. The deal was publicly announced in October 2013. The deal later included Alabama based Resource Management Service LLC.
Jessica Hult, owner of Hadnot Creek Kennels and opponent of the sale, said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the news. Opponents of the sale raised environmental and aesthetic concerns about the sale, including decreased water quality caused by increased levels of pollution from sediment from storm water runoff. They also filed lawsuits to stop the sale.
From the Jacksonville Daily News: https://www.jdnews.com/news/local/hofmann-forest-sale-nixed-1.410170