Article Highlight: New SAF Working Group Serves DoD Foresters
June 2, 2021
This month, SAF is highlighting professional development opportunities for forestry and natural resource professionals. SAF working groups are "communities of interest that help members connect with others interested in enriching forest science and practice through the development of educational programs and participation in research."
The June edition of The Forestry Source highlights the new SAF working group B5-Department of Defense (DoD) Forestry. The group focuses on ecosystem management on military-owned lands and provides a community for engagement, lessons learned, and general discussion for professionals.
Learn more about the new working group with a sneak peek of the article below, featuring an insightful interview with Anne Jewell, the B5 chair.
New SAF Working Group Serves DoD Foresters
By Steve Wilent
SAF’s newest working group is B5–Department of Defense (DoD) Forestry. The group “Focuses on ecosystem management on military-owned lands while supporting the installation mission. This community provides active engagement in sharing successes, lessons learned, problem-solving unique challenges, research/technology innovations, and policy awareness/influence for foresters and natural resource professionals interested in managing diverse ecosystems on military lands.”
“There is a great deal of complexity in managing military property,” said B5 chair Anne Jewell, CF. “We resource managers support the military’s core mission of training personnel and testing equipment, and there are some unique challenges in what we do. We have to follow all of the federal guidelines and regulations—NEPA, for example—and on top of that we have some unique hazards, such as unexploded ordnance. And we often don’t use a typical forest management approach. We may need to clear lines of sight for weapons training when all of the trees are in a riparian area, or clear a landing zone in a wetland.”
Want to get involved? Join an SAF working group today!