Recently, the North Carolina Forest  Service’s District 2 office in Lenoir, NC hired Dan Ewing as a new service forester. He will serve 4 of the district’s 8 counties. As service forester, his duties will include writing forest management plans for local landowners, participating in wildfire suppression, and conducting forestry and wildfire educational events.

Originally from Burke County, Dan moved to Raleigh. While there he attained a degree in forest management at NC State University. During his school years at NC State he took the opportunity to intern with the US Forest Service. Also while in school, Dan served as a teacher’s assistant for dendrology, a class that teaches students about forest communities and how to identify individual trees by species.

The allure of the mountains beckoned him back, though, and he looked for an opportunity to return home.  That opportunity came when the service forester position became available. The counties he will service will be counties.

Dan’s favorite tree is the shortleaf pine. Though it occupies a smaller population of our mountainous forests, it has played an important role in providing lumber and flooring. It also plays an important role in wildlife habitat.

If you would like Dan to assist you with the management of your forest please contact your local county ranger by visiting ncforestservice.gov. On that webpage, look for ‘Contacts Us’ and choose your county from the dropdown box.