Forester: Eric Strickland
Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee and Sarasota County Forester, Eric Strickland
I have been serving as the Cooperative Assistance Forester for the Florida Forest Service for just under three years. My previous position was Forester for Myakka State Forest. After graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Forestry from Auburn University, in May of2003, I started working immediately at Fort Gordon Army installation in Augusta Georgia as a contract forester for several different companies. After about six and a half years I accepted a position with the Alabama Forestry Commission as a County Forester in Madison County Alabama. After approximately two years and much uncertainty with cut backs with the state, I moved on to another stint with the Department of the Army as a Civil Service forester at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The cold winters got the best of us and that is what brought us to Florida.
I love forestry and knew what career path I wanted to take from my early days of hunting, fishing and camping in the white oak hills and hollers of West Central Alabama. The challenge was getting the funds to go to college and I accomplished this by serving four years in the United State Navy from 1993-1997.
I spend most of my off duty time with my wife and three children. They love to go to the park and play sports, fishing in the creek, and going to church. I also love to watch college football and basketball and I still do a little hunting when I get a chance.
It is a great pleasure for me to meet the many different landowners and to see what they are accomplishing and what they want to accomplish as stewards of their land.