Jack Sturgill of Petersburg and four others have been selected for induction into the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame. Sturgill was born in Norton, Va., where he attended school until his enlistment in the U.S. Navy. He served during the Korean War until his honorable discharge in 1955. After his service, he enrolled in the forestry program at North Carolina State University, where he earned membership in Phi Kappa Phi honorary and was elected president of both the Xi Sigma Pi honorary and the North Carolina State Forestry Club. While at NC State he joined the Society of American Foresters. He married Virginia Roberta Greene in 1958 and four years later settled in Petersburg working for the Westvaco Corporation at the Luke, Md., paper manufacturing facility. Sturgill encouraged and promoted safer harvesting practices, sustainable timber growth activities, and road construction that would meet landowner needs and future forest management goals. To that end, he established a Christmas tree operation near Durbin in Pocahontas County where he showcased the practices he actively encouraged. In 1994 he worked as an international consultant to Serbia, evaluating the possibility of acquiring lumber and establishing a sawmill in central Serbia as part of a joint venture involving West Virginia and Russian firms. He is a charter member and past president of the WV Forestry Association. He was also appointed by the governor to serve on the board of directors of the West Virginia Board of Registration for Foresters.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:53:17 +0000
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