Hardee Awarded Order of the Longleaf Pine

Shane Hardee of the N.C. Forest Service was awarded the state’s highest honor last week, the Order of the Longleaf Pine.

District Forest Michael Rhodes and Chris Meggs, who recently retired from the NCFS, presented Hardee with the framed award Friday at the Whiteville. The certificate was appropriately framed in longleaf pine.

The 28-year veteran began work for the N.C. Forest Service in 1997 as a service forester. He was promoted to Assistant District Forester Sept. 1, 2000, and became the youngest District Forester in the state on Jan. 14, 2003.

Hardee was in charge of NCFS District 8, which includes Columbus, Bladen, Brunswick and other counties. D8 is the largest geographically in the state, with more than 4,500 square miles.

In addition to wildfire suppression and control, the NCFS provides emergency response for tornadoes, hurricanes, ice storms and other disasters. Hardee has responded to incidents in 15 states, including North Carolina, traveling to Florida, California, Washington State, Oklahoma and elsewhere. Personnel assigned to such emergencies are generally gone for 14 to 18 days, sometimes living in tents in remote areas.

Hardee has spent time on the ground fighting fires and providing emergency response in virtually every capacity, but much of his career has been as an Operations Chief or Incident Commander, directing the response of both paid and volunteer personnel from across the country. Hardee was incident commander on the Simmons Road, Juniper Road, Sidbury, Brunswick Complex and Black Cove wildfires, among others. He also led response teams both in and out of North Carolina during hurricanes Floyd, Isabel, Katrina, Rita, Matthew, Harvey, Florence and Helene.

When he wasn’t fighting wildfires, Hardee was responsible for managing everything from seed gathering to planting efforts throughout the district.

The Columbus County native served ten years on the Columbus County Dixie Youth Softball Board, and led a group of citizens who urged the construction of the new athletic complex at Southeastern Community College. As a coach Hardee took county and travel softball teams to state tournaments, and coached with youth soccer. He is also an umpire in the county recreation league.

Hardee is also an avid outdoorsman, and said he donates most of the meat that he harvests. He was also a founding member of the Columbus County Beekeeper Association. Hardee and his family are members of Emerson Baptist Church.

In his retirement, Hardee has started a forest consulting business, providing timber sales and consultation, management plans, prescribed burns and other services.

The Order of the Longleaf Pine, named after the state tree, is the highest honor given to a civilian by the state of North Carolina. Recipients must make “exceptional accomplishments and serve their communities in a significant way,” according to the state. The honor was first awarded in 1963. Other recipients include Andy Griffith, Maya Angelou, Shirley Caesar and Dale Earnhardt.