We're meeting Garret Hamilton this week, one of AFF's staff foresters. You can often find him walking the trails with family forest owners in Pennsylvania. When you ask a landowner who they trust and go to to learn more about their woods, the frequent answer is their forester. Whether they are experienced stewards of their forest or just trying to figure out where to even begin, landowners go to foresters with their goals for their land and trust their forester to guide them along the process. 

“Forests provide everyone with the opportunity to view wildlife, take in the sights and smells and let their imaginations run wild.”

Before coming to the American Forest Foundation to work with the Family Forest Carbon Program, Garrett worked as a Park Ranger with the Army Corps of Engineers and most recently worked with the Bureau of Land Management in Helena, Montana. Through his work, Garrett often felt that family forest owners and their contributions get overlooked, which is why he was excited for the opportunity to join AFF, which focuses exclusively on creating opportunities for family forest owners to create conservation impact.

Garrett’s favorite part about his job continues to be working with family forest owners and hearing their unique stories and their firsthand accounts of the history of the land.  He hopes to one day himself become a family forest owner.