| Contact Information | Date |
|---|---|
| For Immediate Release Contact: Gregg O’Donnell 434.220.9098 |
October 1, 2008 VDOF-08028 |
VDOF Realigns Agency Offices
The Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF) has consolidated its total number of regional offices, reducing the number from six to three. The agency has also realigned the counties and cities served by each region. VDOF will now serve the Commonwealth from its current offices in Charlottesville, Salem, and Tappahannock. VDOF foresters will continue to cover each county in Virginia.
“Shifting the location of these offices is essentially transparent to our staff, who will continue to work from their field locations,” said Ed Zimmer, central regional forester. “By restructuring the distribution of counties, we allow our assistant regional foresters to be more active in the field, and this activity helps increase our efficiency.”
State Forester Carl Garrison said, “Improving productivity and efficiency is an ongoing effort and concern within state government. Especially during periods of tight budget constraints, we must look for and implement efforts that enhance our efficiency while still maintaining services to citizens. This realignment accomplishes that goal.”
VDOF’s Eastern Region, under Regional Forester David Slack, is made up of the counties of Accomack, Brunswick, Caroline, Charles City, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Essex, Gloucester, Goochland Greensville, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, King & Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, New Kent, Northampton, Northumberland, Prince George, Richmond, Southampton, Surry, Sussex, Westmoreland, York, and the cities of Chesapeake, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.
The Central Region, under Regional Forester Ed Zimmer, comprises Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Arlington, Augusta, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Clarke, Culpeper, Cumberland, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Greene, Halifax, Loudoun, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mecklenburg, Nelson, Nottoway, Orange, Page, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince William, Rappahannock, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren counties.
Counties in the Western Region, under Regional Forester Ed Stoots, include Alleghany, Bath, Bedford, Bland, Botetourt, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Grayson, Henry, Highland, Lee, Montgomery, Patrick, Pulaski, Roanoke, Rockbridge, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise and Wythe.
The consolidation went into effect today.
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The Virginia Department of Forestry protects and develops healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians. Headquartered in Charlottesville, the Agency has forestry staff members assigned to every county to provide service to citizens of the Commonwealth. VDOF is an equal opportunity provider.
With nearly 16 million acres of forest land and more than 184,000 Virginians employed in forestry, forest products and related industries, Virginia forests provide more than $27 Billion annually in benefits to the Commonwealth.
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