Pellet maker funds forest grants in NC

Maryland-based Enviva, criticized by environmentalists for mills that make wood pellets to be burned as fuel in European power plants, said Wednesday it is spending $295,000 for grants that will help two conservation groups protect bottomland forests in North Carolina.

The Triangle Land Conservancy will receive $100,000 to help acquire a conservation easement on 127 wooded acres near Beaverdam Lake and the Neuse River east of Raleigh. The Nature Conservancy North Carolina chapter will receive $195,000 toward the $935,000 purchase of 1,294 acres of forested wetlands on the Roanoke River in Washington County.

Enviva, which has pellet mills in eastern North Carolina and Virginia, established a nonprofit conservation fund to award the grants, to be administered by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. Two grants totaling $205,000 were awarded for similar programs in Virginia.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Pellet maker funds forest grants in NC."