RGS & AWS is expanding its team in the Southern Appalachians with the addition of two Forest Wildlife Specialists: Justin Ireland in Tennessee and Pan Tankersley in South Carolina.
Ireland is a Tennessee native and life-long hunter with a bachelor’s in wildlife from Tennessee Tech and master’s of science in forestry from the University of Tennessee. After serving five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Ireland worked as a field forester and consultant in Tennessee, and a wildlife research technician in Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.
Ireland’s role spans both private and public lands. On private lands, preparing Natural Resources Conservation Service-compliant forest management plans for eligible landowners and assisting with public outreach events, forest inventories and layout and marking of habitat improvement practices. On state-owned lands such as the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area and North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area, coordinating with state agency land managers on habitat treatments, forest inventories and forestry activities.
“On Cherokee National Forest lands, I’ll produce deliverables for RGS & AWS cooperative agreements, including leading the administration and inspections of commercial timber harvests and noncommercial treatments,” Ireland said. “I’m most excited about working with our numerous partners to increase the quality of habitat for ruffed grouse and American woodcock as well as other native forest wildlife.”
Tankersley is a recent graduate of Clemson University with a bachelor’s degree in forest resource management, and will be working within South Carolina. Pan is a South Carolina native with experience working with the USFS silvicultural team out in Idaho on the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest.
Tankersley will work directly with private landowners to create tailored forest management plans and connect them with Natural Resources Conservation Service programs to help realize their management goals and strengthen their forest habitat. The position will have Tankersley working to help undeveloped forests by connecting landowners with technical and financial assistance.
“A lot of forests in the northwestern part of South Carolina are about the same age, closed canopy, without a lot of forbs and herbaceous diversity in the understory,” said Tankersley. “I’ll focus on creating a mosaic of age classes, successional characteristics and resources within the forest. I’m most excited to accomplish creating management plans that protect the land.”
