A Vanderhoof man has won the 2012 Northern Interior Award of Excellence for Woodlot Management.

The award recognizes exemplary leadership and contribution to woodlot management in British Columbia.

Mark Churchill says the award came as a surprise, since he was unaware he had been nominated.

The award comes with $2,500, which Churchill has already invested back into his woodlot.

"Personally, my cash award is going right back into the woodlot.  I just finished a planting program on the woodlot and the cash will be going toward paying for the seedlings as well as some of the labour involved in putting trees in the ground."

Churchill has managed a woodlot in Vanderhoof since 1998 and is known for his focus on reforestation.

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