LEGENDS OF FMIC Paul Davis
Former Board Member FMIC
In May of this year, Forestry Mutual Insurance announced at its board of directors meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, the creation of the Paul Davis Distinguished Service Award. Forestry Mutual created this award to bring focus and thanks to the individuals who made a lasting contribution to the industry and Forestry Mutual.
Paul Davis received his award from Michael Walters, Chairman, and Keith Biggs, President of Forestry Mutual.
Our Legends of FMIC articles will focus on Paul Davis and the first recipient of his award, Jim Sitts, for their lifetime of dedication and superior service on our board. Paul Davis was born in Southern Cleveland County, North Carolina, in 1937 and growing up with his two brothers and two sisters on a 130-acre cotton
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farm. Their family farmed, like many family farms during the Great Depression, were self-sufficient. Paul remembers clearly, “we had eight mules, three milk cows, three or four hogs, and usually twenty to 30 chickens. We grew cotton, which was the cash crop, but also corn, oats, and hay for the mules”. Leaving home for college, Paul graduated from NC State in 1959 with a degree in forest management. Like most who took forestry in college, you intern with the US Forest Service during the summers. Paul worked in Cherokee National Forest in Etowah, Tennessee, and Robbinsville, North Carolina, for the Nantahala National Forest. Paul says, “he always liked being in the woods. Working in the woods. As a kid, what time I had when not farming, I went into the forest for any reason”. Paul accepted a position in 1960 working with the NC Forest Service. For the next four years, Paul spent his time creating management plans and marking timber. “We did a lot of timber marking back then,” Paul says, “which we don’t do much anymore because it’s time-consuming to mark every tree you’re going to take out.” He continues, “but we did back then, and we wrote a lot of management plans for the landowners.” In 1964 Paul left and started South Mountain Pulpwood company.
I could have listened to Paul tell stories about how logging was done 60+ years ago all afternoon. One continued on page 18
