The North Carolina SFI State Implementation Committee approved a slate of grant requests during its August 10th meeting.? The NC SFI SIC maintains a grant program that accepts applications throughout the year with a July 1 annual deadline.? A grant subcommittee reviews the grants in a meeting in the middle of July and prepares?recommendation for the entire committee.? The NC SFI SIC typically awards over $100,000 in grants to projects that support the goals of the SFI program.? The following grants were awarded for 2017.

2017 Grants
Organization	Project	Granted
Roanoke Economic Dev. Inc (REDI)	Sustaining Forestry & African American Land Retention Program	$5,000.00
NC Tree Farm	Re-Inspection of Tree Farms	$13,750.00
NC Tree Farm	Landowner Educational Workshops	$10,000.00
NC Tree Farm	Forest Summit	$5,000.00
Wake Soil & Water Conservation District	Forest & Wildlife Enhancement Initiative	$2,400.00
Forest Education & Conservation Foundation	ProLogger Training Module 17-Log Deck Appearance & Oil Spills	$8,000.00
Forest Education & Conservation Foundation	ASK ROY	$5,000.00
Forest Education & Conservation Foundation	T-Shirts for Forestry & Environmental Camps	$2,000.00
NCSU	NC Project Learning Tree Facilitator Training	$3,000.00
Henderson County SWCD	Landowner Outreach/Training	$500.00
Forest Education & Conservation Foundation & Carolina Loggers Association	NC OSH Training	$3,200.00
		$57,850.00
Moved to NC SFI SIC Budget Line Items – Not Grants
NCFA – Goods from the Woods	$10,000.00
NCFA – Forestry & Environmental Camps	$10,000.00
NCFA – Teachers Experiences	$40,000.00
		$60,000.00
Total Grants + NCFA Budget Line Item Projects????????????????????		$117,850.00

In addition to the grants, the NC SFI SIC provides critical funding for the NCFA’s Teachers Experiences, the annual production of Goods from the Woods Boxes, and the Forestry & Environmental Camps.? These items are reflected as budget line items that will be approved in the fourth quarter meeting of the NC SFI SIC.

The committee also heard wrap up of the Sustainable Forestry Teachers Experience? (SFTE) by committee member Scott Smearman, who also serves on the NCFA’s Education Committee.? The SFTE took place in three locations this year and?hosted over 100 teachers.? Smearman?acknowledged and thanked?Hannah Thompson-Welch with the NCFS and Eddie Reese with the NCFA and all the volunteers for the SFTE for making the workshop a terrific success.? The SFTE reached more teachers than ever before in a given year.

The challenge now will be to continue to recruit teachers.? It is never too soon to promote this program in your area. If you need a voucher for a teacher or some promotional materials to share in your community, please contact Eddie Reese at ereese@ncforestry.org or (919) 834-3943 ext. 2.