Leadership teams from Region 9, Northeastern Area, the Northern Research Station and the Forest Products Laboratory gathered last week for the Combined Eastern Leadership Team meeting at FPL to deepen the relationships between their units. This annual gathering is an opportunity to share information on ongoing collaborative action items such as our cross-Deputy efforts to steward natural resources from our major metropolitan areas like New York City and Chicago to our work protecting watersheds and revitalizing small town America.

Objectives of the meeting included finding common ground and increasing collaboration, developing leadership skills around inclusion, life-work balance and leading through times of transition. Presentations highlighted examples where we successfully leverage the strengths, expertise and authorities of State and Private Forestry, National Forest System and Research and Development within a common landscape. Specific examples included the Forest Service’s work related to clean water for the Chesapeake Bay, oak-hickory management in southeast Ohio, and our collective emphasis on reaching and serving urban areas through efforts like the urban field stations.

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This is the fifth consecutive year holding the CELT and MPL meetings at FPL.