Governor-elect Ralph Northam recently announced his appointment of state forester Bettina Ring as Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry.
Ring was appointed state forester in 2014 by Gov. Terry McAuliffe. She previously served as senior vice president of family forests for the American Forest Foundation. While employed by the foundation she was responsible for overseeing its American Tree Farm System, the largest and oldest sustainable woodland program in America.
She also spent 14 years at the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF), leaving the agency in 2001 as deputy state forester.
Virginia Farm Bureau Federation president Wayne F. Pryor called Ring’s appointment an asset for Virginia’s agriculture and forestry sectors…