2026 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year

The N.C. Tree Farm Program presented the 2026 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year award to Orange Water and Sewer Authority at its annual meeting on May 16 in White Oak. Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) purchased land in the 1970s and ’80s to build the Cane Creek Reservoir to provide drinking water for Carrboro and Chapel Hill. They later purchased additional land to protect the watershed surrounding the reservoir. In 2008, they sought advice on how to better steward their properties and began actively managing their woodlands in 2009. They certified their first property into the N.C. Tree Farm Program in 2013.

OWASA’s forest management practices demonstrate that active management is beneficial to the forest resource and can be done without negatively impacting water quality. Because water quality is their primary priority, OWASA implements Best Management Practices at the highest level. That involves wide riparian forest buffers, well designed roads and stream crossings as well as construction and maintenance of erosion control structures. OWASA notifies neighbors before land-disturbing events such as prescribe burning and timber harvesting and has developed aesthetic buffer recommendations based on public input. They host forestry students from N.C. State University and Duke University to teach about the silviculture techniques used on the property. Many visiting foresters and professors have said that OWASA’s forest management work is one of the finest examples of sustainable, ecologically responsible forestry they have seen.