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Ian Anderson

Owner/Operator of Anderson Precision Forestry

  • North Carolina Registered Forester #1868

  • Masters of Science in Forest Resources - University of Maine

  • Bachelors of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology - University of Vermont

  • US Peace Corps - Philippines 2010-2012

    Ian was born on an Eastern Tennessee woodlot in the heart of Southern Appalachia. He grew up in the mountains and spent most of his time outside playing in streams and exploring forests around Roan Mountain. After high school, Ian headed north to the University of Vermont and begin his studies of forest ecosystems.

    While in college, Ian spent his summers working in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California working first for the Student Conservation Association and then for the USDA Forest Service. Following graduation, he continued working for the Forest Service in California and Idaho developing the skills needed to work in the forest.

    In 2010, Ian left the Forest Service to join the US Peace Corps as a Coastal Resource Management volunteer and served 2 years in the Philippines. During his time in the Philippines, he worked with local communities to conserve and manage their fisheries. Through this experience Ian realized the importance of working with local people to responsibly manage natural resources.

    Upon returning to the US, Ian decided it was time to return to the deciduous forest and build a career working with the mountain communities of Southern Appalachia. First, he attended the University of Maine to continue his forestry education. Then he moved to Boone, NC and worked for 3 years as a forester with EcoForesters. EcoForesters helped Ian hone his Ecological Forestry skills and knowledge in Western NC.

    While working as a forester, Ian saw a need to reduce the impact of ground based logging in the steep mountains of Western NC and East TN. He began looking for innovative new ways to reduce impacts of timber harvesting in mountainous terrain. Ian began harvesting timber with a skyline cable yarder. The yarder system is designed to lift logs off the ground and “fly” them up a slope reducing disturbance to the forest.

    Combining his skill and knowledge from college, the Forest Service, Peace Corps, and EcoForesters, Ian started Anderson Precision Forestry to provide forest landowners with Ecological Forestry and low impact logging services as an alternative to conventional ground based high impact forestry practices.