2024 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year

The N.C. Tree Farm Program named Martha and B Townes of Boomer as the 2024 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year at the program’s annual meeting in Durham on June 15. The Townes’ Tree Farm, which has been in Martha’s family for more than 60 years, is actively managed with four goals in mind:

• providing quality habitat for a variety of wildlife including deer, turkey, small game and pollinators
• promoting water quality
• protecting soils and
• producing quality hardwood and pine sawtimber.

As a former horticulture professor, B uses his knowledge about plants to promote biodiversity and forest health on their property. Together, the Towneses enthusiastically promote forest stewardship in their community in a number of ways including hosting field tours on their Tree Farm, encouraging forest management on YMCA-owned woodlands, working with a local hunt club to improve wildlife habitat and leading a local bee keeping club.