The USFWS is responsible for monitoring and tracking changes in forest vegetation habitat and health across national wildlife refuges

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) awarded a $934,412.44 Cooperative Agreement to The Forest Stewards Guild under the National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements program (CFDA 15.654). The funding will support the Guild's efforts to install long-term forest vegetation monitoring plots across USFWS-managed national wildlife refuges in the Northern Forest region. Additionally, the award will assist the refuges with planning, assessing, preparing, and administering forest management actions to improve habitat health and resilience. The Guild's extensive network of forest management practitioners, administrative capabilities, and expertise in workforce development make it well-suited to address the USFWS's monitoring and forest management needs over the 5-year award period from November 2024 to December 2029.

Refuges in the northern forest are looking to install longterm monitoring plots across refuges but lack the capacity to perform this critical step. Additionally northern forest refuges need help with planning assessing preparing and administering management actions that work towards forest habitat health and resiliency goals. The guild is well suited to meet the USFWS monitoring and forest management needs for three reasons. First the guild has a broad network of forest practitioners focused on the types of management USFWS requires. Guild members are particularly attuned to the requirements of conversation landowners such as USFWS and able to accommodate wildlife and resilience concerns. Second the guild has the administrative systems in place to handle complex multiyear federal contracts. The guild has decades of successful partnership with the US forest service providing monitoring planning and forest management. In recent years the guild has expanded its work with the national park service and is working to remove invasive plants in close cooperation with NPS staff. Third the guild is actively addressing forestry workforce challenges through training and early career support. This workforce development is crucial because IT will help the USFWS fill stewardship positions in the longterm.