Bill Text: VA HR451 | 2017 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Virginia Department of Forestry tree seedling nurseries.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-02-24 - Bill text as passed House (HR451ER) [HR451 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-HR451-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, in 1607, the first permanent English settlement in North America was established in Jamestown, and those colonists harvested timber as the New World's first commercial export product; and
WHEREAS, Virginia's forests provided the lumber to build America's homes, barns, fences, and ships; and
WHEREAS, timber harvesting was conducted in an unsustainable manner for more than 300 years; and
WHEREAS, in 1914, the Commonwealth created the Office of the State Forester to "…ascertain the best methods of reforesting cut-over and denuded lands, foresting waste land, preventing the destruction of forests by fire, the administering of forests on forestry principles, the instruction and encouragement of private owners in preserving and growing timber for commercial and manufacturing purposes, and the general conservation of forest tracts around the headwaters on the watersheds of all water courses of the state"; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia Department of Forestry established its first tree seedling nursery in Charlottesville in December 1916; and
WHEREAS, the employees of the Virginia Department of Forestry tree seedling nurseries have planted, grown, harvested, and sold two billion tree seedlings since planting the first crop of seeds in the spring of 1917; and
WHEREAS, the trees grown at the Virginia Department of Forestry tree seedling nurseries and planted all across the state have provided the citizens of the Commonwealth with clean air, clean water, recreational opportunities, habitats for wildlife, and aesthetic beauty; and
WHEREAS, the tree seedling nurseries have enabled the Virginia Department of Forestry to be an effective steward of Virginia's 16 million acres of forestland through its protection and development of healthy, sustainable forest resources; and
WHEREAS, Virginia's forest resources generate an economic impact of more than $17 billion each year and employ more than 103,000 people in the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Virginia Department of Forestry tree seedling nurseries hereby be commended for their excellence in tree seedling production and reforestation; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the State Forester as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the Virginia Department of Forestry tree seedling nurseries' effective and efficient leadership in sustainable forest management and stewardship.
