Horace H. White of Pineville is the 2011 Louisiana Outstanding Tree Farmer for his 95-acre tree farm located in Rapides Parish. The award was made during the annual convention of the Louisiana Forestry Association (LFA) Sept. 1 in Lake Charles.

            The Tree Farm has been in his family for years, inherited from his parents, Arial and Frieda White.

            “He’s very hands-on management,” said his forester Mike Lee, who nominated him for the award.  White is a retired chemical engineer with International Paper at the former Pineville mill.

 White is at the property nearly every day and is constantly improving it. He has added a stocked fishing lake, deer plots, a fenced garden for his wife Nancy and a cabin and equipment shed.

“One of my goals is to grow trophy bass,” White said.

In 2010 he thinned the property and clearcut the area for the lake. Over the years he has been a part of the American Tree Farm program, the Quality Deer Management Association and the Louisiana Stewardship Program.

             “Forestry is a $3.3 billion industry in Louisiana,” said C.A. “Buck” Vandersteen, LFA executive director. “Landowners like Horace White add to the economy of the state as well as the aesthetics that we have come to take for granted in our landscape.