Terrance J. “Terry” Lasher has taken over as the Virginia Department of Forestry’s regional forester for the Eastern Region — a 32-county area that covers the eastern third of Virginia.

He replaces Toni Noreika, who retired April 1 after more than 30 years with the agency.

Lasher had been the senior area forester in Northern Virginia but is no stranger to the Eastern Region, as he began his VDOF career as a resource conservation and development forester there and also served as an area forester in King William and King and Queen counties.

The 15-year VDOF veteran holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and an associate degree from the New York State Ranger School. His office is in Providence Forge, New Kent County.

The Virginia Department of Forestry protects and develops healthy, sustainable forest resources for Virginians. Headquartered in Charlottesville, the agency has forestry staff members assigned to every county to provide citizen service and public safety protection across the commonwealth.

With nearly 16 million acres of forestland and more than 103,000 Virginians employed in forestry, forest products and related industries, Virginia forests provide an overall economic output of more than $17 billion annually.