About
“When people walk around this forest … at every step of the way, they’re encountering nature, some of which has been regenerated by the initiatives of those generations they know not—they know nothing about. And I think that that’s ultimately the greatest gift: that you’ve given to them beautiful, working landscapes and you don’t know where they came from.”
– Carl Alwin Schenck
Mission
The Forest Assets Team at NC State’s College of Natural Resources manages Schenck Forest as a multi-use working forest, meaning that it supports many uses while still operating for income through traditional forest management activities such as forest-use agreements, timber sales and more.
Schenck Forest primarily serves as an outdoor laboratory for teaching, research, student clubs and extension programs at the College of Natural Resources. The forest is also used by other departments, including Plant and Microbial Biology, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Mycology, Crop and Soil Science, Health and Exercise Studies and Military Science.
Through their coursework, NC State students regularly visit Schenck Forest to learn to identify plants and wildlife, perform water quality and soil tests, tend forestland, survey, measure and undertake a myriad of other scientific explorations.
Who We Are
The Forest Assets Team is a financially self-sustaining management group that strives to support academic and research programs at the College of Natural Resources, while also managing for recreational uses and maintaining a working forest with varying forms of income.
The operating and maintenance costs associated with all of the college’s forested properties (employee salaries, equipment, road and trail maintenance, pesticide application, site preparation, planting, forest tending, boundary line maintenance, facilities and grounds maintenance, prescribed fire, etc.) are paid for by the income generated from these forests.
Our Team
- Sam Cook, Executive Director of Forest Assets
- John Sanders, Forest Manager
- Garrett Sumner, Forest Manager
- Laxmi Parajuli, Program Associate
- Student Work Scholarship Crew