The Work We Do

The Southern Research Station, with headquarters in Asheville, North Carolina, conducts forestry research that emphasizes measuring and monitoring forest resources; understanding ecosystem structure, function, and processes; managing resources for sustained and enhanced productivity; and protecting environmental quality. The Station conducts forestry research in the 13 Southern States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia although there are no research facilities located in Kentucky and Oklahoma.

Specific research activities are centered in research work units based in Forest Service laboratories and in experimental forests throughout the South. Many of the labs are on or near university campuses, where Station scientists exchange ideas with university scientists.

In the 1990s, the Station developed a Strategic Framework a plan for the future of our research in the South. The result is a strong science-based program designed to meet our customers' current needs while anticipating future resource issues.

Science is our business we are dedicated to scientific discovery, to developing and applying new techniques and technologies, and to meeting the needs of our customers. We believe that an emphasis on sustainability is the key to successful natural resource management and that human considerations are a part of every resource issue and opportunity.

Science Areas

	Forest Threats provides the knowledge and tools required to predict and avert or mitigate the impacts of forest health threats.
	Forest Values considers natural resources and humans are inextricably linked in the South. These linkages will only strengthen as increased urbanization, globalization, and shifting values influence and alter how people interact with forests.
	Forest Inventory and Monitoring Quantifies and monitors the condition of natural resources in the South is critical for determining ecosystem responses to forest health threats and improvements in natural resource condition resulting from management activities.
	Forest Restoration and Management creates and improves tools and technologies that are needed to successfully restore and manage ecosystems in this changing environment.
	Forested Watershed Science provides the knowledge and tools required to manage the full range of forest water resources in a dynamic and complex landscape.