Mount Airy, North Carolina officials are moving ahead with a plan to sell timber in the city-owned Westwood Industrial Park area.
After a recent presentation by a N.C. Forest Service representative, the board of commissioners is seeking to enlist the services of a consultant to facilitate the sale.
This is viewed as a way to inject more dollars into municipal coffers while also harvesting timber that will be lost otherwise.
“These trees are going to fall down and die eventually,” Ranger Brian Elam of the state Forest Service in Surry County told city officials of some of the timber involved. “Those trees aren’t going to live forever.”
Along with the age of trees, factors such as insects, fire and extreme weather conditions can hasten their demise, according to Elam, who said the dead wood on the ground then can increase fire dangers.
From The Mount Airy News: https://www.mtairynews.com/view/full_story/22971648/article-Consultant-sought-for-city-timber-sale