Center Overview
The Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC) and its sister unit, the Western Wildlands Environmental Threat Assessment Center (WWETAC) were created in 2005 in response to Congressional direction to establish two new Centers to help protect American forest and wildlands from emerging threats. The Centers represent a unique partnership among the three primary deputy areas within the Forest Service: Research and Development, the National Forest System, and State and Private Forestry. In the four short years since their inception, EFETAC and WWETAC have become leaders in developing knowledge and tools to help sustain and protect forests and rangelands throughout the United States. The Centers partner with other government agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations to improve the collective capacity to predict, detect, and assess environmental threats. The Centers actively pursue cutting-edge science relevant to emerging issues and high-priority initiatives such as wildland fire, climate change, invasive species, watershed protection, and land-use conversation. The Centers’ research and collaborative efforts are essential to ensuring that resource managers and stakeholders are equipped with the latest information and state-of the art technology to make sound land management decisions.
The following sections provide a brief overview of EFETAC. The Review Team developed a series of questions to help guide the review (Appendix 1). The summaries below and following attachments provide information useful for answering these questions.
EFETAC Charter and Relationship to FS Strategic Goals
EFETAC is administratively housed within the Southern Research Station (SRS) and has offices in Asheville, Research Triangle Park, and Raleigh, North Carolina. The multiple locations result from reorganization within SRS in 2006 that merged two previously existing research work units—Southern Global Change Program and Forest Health Monitoring into EFETAC. These existing programs joined the Threat Assessment team located in Asheville and immediately and substantially strengthened EFETAC’s capacity to fulfill its mission.
EFETAC efforts are guided by an expanded charter codified in the SRS reorganization, which explicitly incorporates the EFETAC mission, objectives, and governance structure established in the original charter signed in 2005 (page 10). EFETAC research and communication activities are organized by five problem areas identified in the expanded charter, nominally grouped as forest health monitoring, climate change, forest stresses, risk assessment, and science delivery. The EFETAC charter provides broad latitude for the Center to develop and implement research projects and science delivery efforts focused on threats to forest health.
The full range of EFETAC activities supports multiple Forest Service strategic goals and objectives (Appendix 2). Most EFETAC efforts fall under the following:
- GOAL 1: Restore, Sustain, and Enhance the Nation’s Forests and Grasslands
- GOAL 3: Conserve Open Space,
- GOAL 5: Maintain Basic Management Capabilities of the Forest Service, or
- GOAL 7: Provide Science-based Applications and Tools for Sustainable Natural Resources Management.
One could reasonably associate many EFETAC activities with goals 2, 4, or 6 as well.
Location
Asheville has proven to be an excellent headquarters location for EFETAC, allowing for effective and efficient research, program, and science delivery efforts. Being located within the same building as the SRS executive team and support staffs provides a direct link to forest science research in the South and beyond. The Asheville Field Office of Forest Health Protection is also located there, which further enhances opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Nearby are offices of the National Forests of North Carolina and the Blue Ridge National Parkway; several other national forests and parks are within a few hours drive. Access to Regional (Southern and Northern) and Washington Office partners is relatively efficient through the Asheville Regional Airport.
EFETAC has a strong Asheville federal partner in the National Climatic Data Center, which houses the world’s largest archive of climate data and internationally accomplished climate researchers. Also, the Center’s collaborative efforts with the University of North Carolina at Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center serve as the backbone for advanced technology used for integrated threat assessment tools. Other partners within a few hours drive are Oak Ridge National Laboratory, several major universities, and multiple state and local agencies.
Research teams located in Raleigh and Research Triangle Park similarly enjoy close proximity to major research universities, federal and state agencies, high-tech industries, and ready access to transportation facilities. North Carolina State University and the Environmental Protection Agency are two prominent partners in the Raleigh area.
The overall high quality of life in Asheville and the Raleigh area enhances EFETAC’s ability to recruit and retain top-quality talent.
Funding
EFETAC clearly has benefited from funding provided by all three deputy areas. A breakdown of funding received and expenditures over the history of the Center will be provided under separate cover. The general strategy adopted in building the EFETAC program has been to hire a small critical mass of new permanent employees and look to major partners to provide much of the expertise needed to rapidly build the infrastructure and tools required to accomplish Center objectives. EFETAC has tended to concentrate its external agreements on a smaller number of major partners rather than broadly distributing more modest amounts of funding. This concentration of funds has allowed EFETAC to build strong partnerships with institutions that have the requisite expertise and resources to tackle complex, broad-ranging problems. Major partners are not the only players, however, as EFETAC also has supported several smaller efforts and numerous conferences and workshops. A key consideration in all external funding agreements is the extent to which EFETAC funds are leveraged with other participants.
The success, productivity, and reputation of EFETAC researchers have allowed the Center to attract additional funding or compete effectively for competitive funds to support specific projects. In FY 2009, for example, EFETAC received an additional $470 thousand to support research on climate change, $200 thousand for research on wildfire risks in Eastern forests, $225 thousand for an effort linking climate change and wildland fire, and $60 thousand in competitive funds for forest health monitoring. EFETAC’s ability to secure additional resources is a direct result of the initial investment made by the three deputy areas and the high-quality research that the base level funding supports. Adequate funding to pursue challenging research and development ideas is vital to attracting and retaining the talent and expertise needed for success. More...
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