The Southern Research Station serves 13 States, with a scientific workforce of about 135 researchers; supporting technical, professional, and administrative employees; and a system of laboratories and experimental forests stretching from eastern Texas to northern Virginia. We conduct research in collaboration with universities across the country and with partners in other government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, professional associations, and corporations.
Following a consolidation of the Southern and Southeastern Experimental Stations in the mid-1990s, we began a strategic combining and refocusing of research work units. This process included public involvement with our major customers and affected interests: the National Forest System, forest and recreation industries, universities, corporate and private forest landowners, and other public agencies. These contacts helped us to identify the major issues that needed to be a part of our current and future research programs.
In the years since our consolidation, new issues have emerged with escalating changes in land ownership, demographics, and biological and physical environments. These have combined with an aging workforce, flat budgets, and rising administrative costs as drivers for a new strategic framework aimed at preserving our commitment to sustainability but realigning our scientific workforce into fewer, larger research units that are organized into five focused science areas.