Take a guided hike with a Fort Drum forester

FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Oct. 26, 2023) -- There are few people who know Fort Drum’s natural environment better than Rodger Voss.

Since August 2009, Voss has worked as the installation forester in the Fort Drum Environmental Division’s Natural Resources Branch, and the great outdoors is basically the office space he occupies.

That makes him the perfect tour guide for a hike Nov. 9 in the new Bonaparte Area Trail Complex. Voss said the hike is roughly 5.6 miles, and the trails can be rugged and muddy at times. Attendees should plan on finishing the hike within four to five hours, with plenty of time to take in the sights and learn more about the trail system along the way.

Community members need a free Fort Drum recreation pass to attend, which is available at www.fortdrum.isportsman.net. The group will meet 8:30 a.m. at the Natural Resources Outreach Facility (next to the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum Museum) on Col. Reade Road. To register for the hike, email rodger.h.voss.civ@army.mil. Visit www.facebook.com/FortDrumNaturalResources for more information.

Voss and Jason Wagner, Fort Drum Natural Resources Branch chief, began paving the way for the new Bonaparte Area Trail Complex last fall to provide Soldiers a new land navigation option for field exercises in the training area. The trails also are open to anyone with a Fort Drum recreation pass. (See related story at www.dvidshub.net/news/449122/outdoor-enthusiasts-theres-lot-ground-cover-fort-drum)

Voss said that community members can take in the sites along the 5.6-mile guided trail hike and ask any questions they may have about natural resources management and what a forester does on an Army installation.

Meet a Fort Drum Forester

“As a forester, I manage the forest resource through manipulation of the vegetation,” Voss said. “This is through commercial timber harvesting operations (which generates revenue that supports the Army Forestry Programs) as well as timber stand improvement activities.”

The Forest Management / Natural Resources team is tasked with managing Fort Drum lands to ensure the natural areas are optimal and available to support mission requirements of the 10th Mountain Division (LI) and any unit visiting post for training activities, while also providing diverse and healthy ecosystems.

To conduct forest management in a scientifically based approach, Voss said it is necessary to understand the forest structure.

“We currently have a forest inventory of every forested area on Fort Drum,” he said. “This involved collecting tree data at over 11,000 locations across post. This information allows me to make informed decisions on vegetation management to achieve our mission support and stewardship goals. With this data in hand, I can manipulate these forests from my desk with software developed by the U.S. Forest Service.”

Voss can remove certain trees based on size, condition, or species, and see how it affects the forest structure without ever having to cut a tree.

“Once I determine the right recipe to meet our goals, I put it on the ground by marking the trees with paint for removal,” he said. “So, for example, in a 100-acre forested area, I will look at every tree there and make a decision on what stays and what goes.”

If the marked trees have value, the timber can be sold through the Army Corps of Engineers and the trees are harvested through logging contracts. Voss is on site during these logging operations to ensure that best management practices are followed to protect wetland and wildlife resources. Trees without value are removed either by in-house Public Works resources or through a contractor.

“In addition to my forest management-related requirements, I also assist the Natural Resources Branch with a multitude of projects,” Voss said. “This can include things like wildlife surveys, boat launch creation and maintenance, trail building, community outreach events (like Outdoor Adventure Days and Maple Days), wildlife habitat management projects, invasive species control, and just about anything else related to natural resources.”

Voss developed a love for the outdoors throughout his childhood, as he hunted, fished, and hiked with his father. He first arrived at Fort Drum in the summer of 1999 as a seasonal forest technician, while he was studying at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He attained an associate in applied science from SUNY Ranger School, and he returned to the seasonal position at Fort Drum in the spring of 2000 after earning a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management and forestry.

He remained at Fort Drum after receiving a full-time internship as a forest technician through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, and then as a research associate (forester) when he was employed by Colorado State University.

In 2006, Voss was hired as a permanent Fort Drum forester until he was promoted to his current position.

“I still can’t believe that I’ve been at Fort Drum for 23 years,” he said. “There are a lot of things I like about my job. I love working outside and being in the woods. I enjoy the process of forest management and watching how the forest changes over time and reacts to our management actions. I like working with other Natural Resources professionals, because we all have a passion of what we do and find reward in being the stewards of Fort Drum’s land and wildlife.”

Voss said that a good day at work is when he feels he has made a real difference.

“A good example of this is when I see units training in an area that we’ve managed with the intention of improving training opportunities,” he said. “When we established this new hiking trail network in Training Area 19C, the goal was to provide access into a unique area with both training and recreation in mind. When it was used for a training mission last year, I was told that the mission was a great success and that the trail network was a great asset to the mission. That made it all worth it.”

Voss also recalled a significant wildlife habitat project that involved the creation of a large open area of sand plains grassland habitat to support bird species such as the upland sand piper.

“To do this we had to clearcut a forested area in Training Area 7G that already had the right grass present, but there were too many trees to be optimal habitat,” he said. “The year after we harvested the trees, a pair of upland sand pipers nested in this area for the first time. Through annual mowing we’ve been able to improve the habitat even more and now have multiple nesting pairs as well as several other sand plains grassland bird species using the area on a regular basis."

“The icing on the cake for this project is that we also created an open space that gets used for military training operations on a regular basis that wasn’t possible before,” Voss continued. “So, we improved wildlife habitat and training lands at the same time, which to me is a win. That was a good day.”