Last spring, College of Natural Resources Dean Mary Watzin announced the Natural Resources Foundation had found a prospective buyer for the Hofmann Forest. Almost exactly seven months later the same buyer Watzin alluded to in April signed an agreement to purchase the forest for $150 million.

The board of trustees of the University’s Endowment Fund announced Wednesday that Jerry Walker, manager of the newly formed Hofmann Forest LLC, has agreed to buy the forest. 

Walker, who is also currently the manager of Walker Ag Group, a farming operation based in Danville, Ill., signed the contract with the Endowment Fund on Friday. 

The proceeds of the sale, about $33 million, will be added to the University’s endowment in addition to the $117 million estimated value of the forest, which is already a part of the Endowment Fund.

Watzin said that all additional money generated by the sale, an estimated $6 million per year, will go to the CNR.  

However, Watzin said that in addition to money, one important part of the sale was ensuring that Hofmann Forest LLC will “continue to support the legacy of Doc Hofmann.” 

“This is a sale that protects the land going forward,” Watzin said. 

Walker echoed this sentiment in a press release. 

“Hofmann Forest is a wonderful property with a long and storied connection to the communities of Eastern North Carolina, and we are committed to preserving that legacy going forward,” Walker said.

However, despite Watzin and Walker’s reassuring words, relatively little is known about Hofmann Forest LLC or the company’s intentions for the land.

How the land will be used

The contract restricts the company from developing the land, however it doesn’t address specifically how Walker will use the 79,000 acres—a fact Watzin also made clear.

“His plans for the acreage in the future are not something we’ve gone into in detail,” Watzin said.

Watzin said the company may sell easements to the Department of Defense, allowing military helicopters to train over land, and that it may use the land for agricultural purposes, but students will be able to continue to use the land regardless. 

Though less than 2 percent of university-sponsored forestry research is conducted in the Hofmann Forest, according to a press release, Associate Vice Chancellor of University Communications Brad Bohlander confirmed that students will have access to the land after the sale.

“The contract indicates the buyer’s intent to maintain access for students and faculty to conduct research, preserving the legacy by keeping the Hofmann name, and maintaining a working forest on the property,” Bohlander said.

According to the contract, the purchaser must “allow the continuance of existing and future research activities by the University on the portions of the property which are designated and shown as research plots.” 

The Companies involved

The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State filed the Articles of Organization Limited Liability of Hofmann Forest LLC (then called Hoffman Forest LLC) on Jan. 30, 2013, thus officially recognizing the company’s existence. 

Since then, the company has filed two amendments, correcting its articles.

The first was on April 1, two months after the company’s official creation, and corrected the company’s name by fixing its spelling from Hoffman Forest LLC to Hofmann Forest LLC.

The second was on April 29, and changed the registered agent of the company from Brandon Turlington to Samuel Johnson, a lawyer with Rocky Mount law firm Poyenr & Spruill LLP, according to the Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce’s website.

Neither the creation filing nor any of the amendments that followed, however, listed any of the company’s officers other than Walker. 

Watzin declined to name anyone working with Walker at Hofmann Forest LLC.

Walker Ag Group declined to comment regarding the sale of the Hofmann Forest, requesting that all questions be directed to Tom Percival, a licensed real estate broker and the owner of Percival Land & Timber Consultants Inc.

Percival, an alumnus of N.C. State and the CNR who graduated with a degree in forestry in 1978, declined comment as well, directing all questions to the University’s press release.

Percival served as an advisor to the buyer during the sale, according to Bohlander.

Percival later confirmed this, saying that he worked with all parties involved but said “I think we’re going to stop short of anything else for now.”