Lincoln County Forester, Ed Levert, was recently honored by the Montana Section of the Society of American Forester’s with the Presidential Field Forester of the Year award. 

This award recognizes foresters who have dedicated their professional careers to the application of forestry on the ground using sound, scientific methods and adaptive management strategies. In addition, the award recognizes individuals who have displayed uncommon talent, skill, and innovative methods to achieve a record of excellence in the application of forest management

Levert is a certified forester, a tree farm inspector, conducts audits and certifies management plans under the Montana Forest Stewardship Program. He is currently the chair of the Montana Forest Stewardship Foundation, a group that seeks to find resource educational needs that are not currently covered by other organizations. 

Levert  also assists in teaching conservation easement workshops for interested landowners. 

Since 2001, Levert has been leading the county efforts in wildfire preparedness. In this capacity he secured more than $1.2 million in grant monies for fuels reduction projects, wrote the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, and conducts FireWise educational efforts with local fire suppression agencies and fire departments.   

He is also an active participant in the Kootenai National Forest Stakeholder Coalition, a collaborative group working to gain consensus on National Forest projects.

Not only did Levert receive this award for the entire state of Montana, this recognition is also for a 10-state area within the western, southwestern and intermountain region. 

Levert will be honored at the 2013 National SAF convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.