About 30 people gathered in the Brickyard Tuesday afternoon for a student-organized rally to protest the sale of the Hofmann Forest and make sure the 79,000-acre tract is preserved.

A group of students, including Claudio Kriegel, a senior in psychology, Ezekiel Overbaugh, a senior in plant biology and Caroline Hansley, a senior in interdisciplinary studies, organized the event to share ideas and concerns among the student body, according to Overbaugh.

“No single person is responsible for the protest today, although Claudio and I discussed a Brickyard meeting previously. If it were not for the organizing efforts of Caroline the event would not have taken place the way it did,” Overbaugh said. “It was intended as a way to voice our opinion on [the Hofmann sale] and show solidarity with the foresters leading the cause.”

Currently, the contractual agreement between the N.C. State endowment board and the forest’s buyer, Hofmann Forest LLC., doesn’t guarantee the land won’t be developed into commercial or residential property. 

Protestors were concerned after a 2009 prospectus was released last week, which included detailed strategies for developing the forest. Though Hofmann Forest LLC. said it won’t follow through with these plans, the protestors demanded a clause be written into the Hofmann contract.

Ernie Averett, an N.C. State alumnus and owner of Flatwood Farms in Oxford, N.C., attened the rally and said he is pessimistic about trusting the buyer’s plans to preserve the land.

“When this sale is over, this buyer will do whatever he chooses with the land,” Averett said at the protest. “Mary Watzin and [Chancellor] Randy Woodson don’t care [about preserving the forest] now and they damn sure won’t care then.”

Overbaugh said he wrote a letter to Chancellor Woodson Monday afternoon, urging him to re-think the Hofmann Forest sale. 

Overbaugh also said the protest and continued efforts from the N.C. State community will result in an amended contract.

“I am proud of the cooperation students, faculty and the media are showing over this issue,” Overbaugh said. “I would like to see our efforts results in legally binding restrictions on the uses of Hofmann Forest.”

Fred Cubbage, professor in the College of Natural Resources, spoke at the protest and said selling the Hofmann forest seems contradictory because the sale would repudiate the principles of stewardship, sustainability and environmental protection taught by the College of Natural Resources.

“We should teach what we believe,” Cubbage said. “If we don’t believe in these things, we should give up and pursue other careers.”