Last week, Rita Frost and I left the office for a two week Outreach Tour to meet with people across the South who are passionate about protecting our Southern forests. We are here to learn what issues are important to them in their communities, and how Dogwood Alliance can support them. We are here to understand what their relationships are to their local and global forests.
In November of 2011, Enviva, a major corporate wood pellet producer with international sales, began operations at a rebuilt, former Georgia Pacific sawmill in Ahoskie, NC. Residents close to the plant have faced 24/7 extreme noise and lights, dust that coats cars, buildings, and lungs in just a few minutes, along with dangerous heavy truck traffic. While European power plants seek huge shipments of wood pellets as supposedly “greener” fuel than the coal they burned in the past, eastern North Carolina has turned into the Southeast’s latest energy colony.
