Justin Kania is the Senior Forester for the Madison County Florida Forest Services. He has been the Senior Forester for three and a half years. With his job, Kania helps people with all of the timber related needs in the county. He can help advise people about tree planting, harvesting and dealing with infestation. He also helps with cost share and management plans. Kania, who is from a town west of Chicago, Illinois, would go camping with his parents when growing up and loved being outside. He was originally interested in studying Wildlife Biology but after shadowing a forester, he changed paths. He loved that the forester he shadowed was able to take his dog with him and walk in the woods, for a job. With a new path in sight, he attended University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. He majored in Forestry Management and minored in Soil Science. Prior to coming to Madison, he worked in Colorado and Montana for the U.S. Forest Service. He did timber sale preparation work. His favorite part of his job in Madison is the varied jobs he is able to do. He is able to help at fires, educate people, help them with their timber needs and be outside. “Florida is kind of a hot spot of diversity,” said Kania. “There is a lot of wildlife and stuff that I’ve never seen before. In Chicago, we have so many people that there is not a lot of forest and wildlife. You guys don’t know how lucky you are to have all that kind of stuff down here.”
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1. Greene Publishing, Inc. Photo By Jessie R. Box, July 10, 2015. Justin Kania