WILMINGTON-- One group of conservationists is raising awareness about wood pellets being used for energy and how they say the growing industry is destroying southern forests.
On Sunday, Dogwood Alliance and local supporters held the "Save Our Southern Forests Fun Day" to educate the public about burning trees for electricity and the harmful impacts.
"The places in which prevent our coastal communities from storm surge and flood protection and, and provide habitat for our diverse ecosystems, our heritage hunting grounds. And those are the forests that are being used to be chopped up, chipped up, turned into wood pellets and burned," said Dogwood Alliance, Campaign Director Adam Macon.
The Port of Wilmington is home to a large dome filled with wood pellets, which will be shipped to Europe and burned for electricity.
Campaign supporter, Gary Brannen, said it's important to preserve our forests for generations to come.
"We're down here visiting some friends, and they've got a little boy, and it's kind of nice to know that maybe we'll leave something for them, instead of stripping the land as it is," said Brannen.
Macon encourages people to get involved with the "Our Forests Aren't Fuel" campaign and contact local elected officials to let them know that you don't support biomass fuel in the form of wood pellets.
"The southern United States is abundant with many different resources. But what we've seen over and over is large corporations coming in, extracting those resources for the benefit of a few and the detriment of the entire community," said Macon.
Community members showed their support for the campaign by writing a note to European policy-makers, letting them know they do not support using our forests for fuel.
For more information about Dogwood Alliance and the campaign, visit http://www.dogwoodalliance.org/.