His love for trees is deeply rooted: Hurricane opened career door for Steve McEachron

By Chelsea Retherford | Living 50 Plus

When Steve McEachron was a child, he said his infatuation with Smokey the Bear and his fascination with big, red fire trucks drove his dreams to one day fight fires.

He had no idea those aspirations would come true through his work with the Alabama Forestry Commission.

However, as McEachron puts it in a piece he contributed to the Alabama’s Treasured Forests publication celebrating the State Forestry Commission’s 100th anniversary, he never actually got to drive the big, red fire truck.

Instead, it was a small, yellow John Deere dozer or a dark green International transport truck. Still, those small details haven’t dampened the passion McEachron has for the job.

Though he’s now retired, McEachron continues to serve as an advisor to the Florence Tree Commission — an organization he got off the ground in the early 1980s. He’s also on the boards for the Underwood-Petersville Volunteer Fire Department and the Lauderdale County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments.

When McEachron recounts the story of his career in forest management and fire prevention, it starts with his time as a student at the University of Illinois near his small hometown. Like most college students, he had a clear vision of what he hoped to do but lacked much direction on how to make those career goals happen.

“It just naturally evolved as time went on,” he said. “I went to school and got a degree in forestry production, and I kind of piddled around a little bit doing odd jobs until I decided it’s time to use my degree.”

Around this same time, Hurricane Frederic had struck the Alabama coast along Mobile Bay and the state was looking for foresters to assist with cleanup areas in Mobile, Choctaw, Washington, Clark and Baldwin counties.

“So, I applied,” McEachron said. “I was interviewed over the telephone by a gentleman by the name of Harold Taft. He hired me. I packed my stuff in my red pickup truck, and I drove down to Chunchula, Alabama, and I reported for duty at the fire tower.”

It was a temporary position through FEMA, which lasted about six months until federal funding ran out, McEachron said.

“A bunch of other people I was working with at the time all got laid off, or let go or whatever, except me,” he said. “I was the last one, and they had to do something with me, because the program was running out of money.”

McEachron began interviewing for a more permanent position with forestry commission officials and landed a job on the opposite end of the state in Lauderdale County. That position began in 1980.

“On the fire side of it, I got involved early on through the Alabama Forestry Commission because it’s a wildfire control and fire prevention agency,” McEachron said. “That got me involved in the volunteer fire departments. I mean, right away, I was thrown into it.”

Although McEachron lived in the Underwood community for more than 25 years, he said he didn’t join its board until after he retired from the Forestry Service in October 2017.

“I was really careful when I was working with the state. There are 14 volunteer fire departments in the county,” he said. “I didn’t feel right showing preference to any one of them.”

McEachron probably worked alongside volunteers from all 14 of those departments over the span of his career. One of the most memorable fires he remembers fighting as a manager with the Lauderdale Forestry Commission happened early in his career.

The Edmonds Hollow Fire, also known as the Stribling Ridge Fire, broke out near Waterloo in the summer of 1999 and blazed for days, McEachron recalled.

“That was the first really big fire I was on,” he said. “It was started by a power line that went down. Nobody got hurt. We had several near misses, but nobody got hurt. I think we had to evacuate a couple of houses just in case, but nobody lost their home.

“That was a week-long event, or just about. You have people that will bring you food or drinks. The fire departments are all really good people, all of them, and they all want to help.

“We thought we had that fire contained,” McEachron added, retelling his experience. “We were sitting down to lunch — somebody brought us lunch — and I remember opening up the carryout box, you know, then somebody looked up the hill and they saw smoke. A couple of us stood up and said, ‘Let’s go.’ It took off again. It just went on and on and on.”

Another memorable event from his career occurred just five years earlier and likely contributed to the lasting fire due to the number of dead and fallen trees left behind after the ice storm of 1994.

“That was about 10 days of chainsawing and opening the roads up,” McEachron said. “I think there were probably 20 in my crew. They came from all over. We had crews from Florida, North Carolina, and from all over Alabama. It was a big deal.”

The blizzard struck in north Alabama on Feb. 9, 1994, and impacted parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, with some areas reporting five and six inches of ice accumulation.

“We started (working) that night because we knew it was coming,” McEachron said. “This was another event where the city and the county came together, but we started with Hickory Hills because of all those pine trees. Those pine trees — when they got loaded with ice — you could just hear them come crashing down. Eventually, the mayor called and pulled us off about 9 o’clock that night because it was just too dangerous.”

McEachron said his crew returned to the area the next day and continued working in the city for eight or nine more days until they ventured out into Lauderdale County to assist in clearing roadways.

“The National Guard came to help us, Red Cross fed us, and some of the churches put us up at night,” he said. “You know, there’s a lot that goes into an event like that. You’ve got to feed people. They’ve got to get some rest. They’ve got to have the right tools and equipment for the job.”

While McEachron got into his line of work because he had an early desire to help fight fires and assist in disaster relief, he said he’s also always held a deeply rooted love for trees.

Although some might view his labors in forest management as counterintuitive to the aim of conservation, McEachron said that has always been the focus.

He argues that efforts like controlled burning in Alabama contribute to healthier forests by reducing risks of wildfires, encouraging native plant reproduction, controlling invasive species, minimizing the spread of pests and diseases, improving watershed conditions and reducing tree competition.

“You know, trees have a lifespan,” he said. “Eventually, they have to be cut, or they fall down and decay. You have to manage the forest.”

Coinciding with his efforts to manage forests in Lauderdale County, McEachron got involved with preservation efforts within the city of Florence soon after he moved into the area.

In the early 1980s, he proposed the establishment of a Florence Tree Commission. Though the idea didn’t go over well with city officials then, in July 1986, McEachron brought the issue back up after residents raised concerns about the removal of a 50-year-old oak tree on Wood Avenue.

“There was a meeting at Kennedy-Douglas Center to discuss doing a street tree survey for the three historical districts and Wilson Park,” McEachron said. “Neil Letson facilitated that meeting for us. He was a statewide urban forester at the time. So, I got picked or volun-told to conduct the survey.”

Released the following summer, that survey became the “stirrings of the creation of the Florence Tree Commission,” which was adopted on Oct. 6, 1987, McEachron said.

The first meeting was held on Dec. 7, 1987, with charter members Ron Blackwelder, who served as chair of the commission until 1988, Dr. Mitch Burford, Harriett Edwards, Audrey Parrish and Mike Carter. McEachron and District Forester Gerald Steeley served as advisors.

Before the Dec. 31 deadline, McEachron, Steeley and the commission members submitted their organization’s application to Tree City USA, a program that supports cities around the country that commit to planting and maintaining trees on public property.

In the 37 years of the Florence Tree Commission’s existence, McEachron said the commission has maintained its criteria and application status to be included in the Tree City USA program.

Over that time span, McEachron said members of the commission have helped grow and maintain green spaces and forested areas around the city.

In 1998, McEachron stepped down as urban forester for the City of Florence and was replaced by the late Leon Bates, who McEachron said was “passionate about conservation” and integral to the planning and development of Deibert Park.

Today, McEachron said Craig Thompson fills the position as manager of the Urban Forestry and Horticulture Department. Thompson serves alongside McEachron and Dustin Mason as advisors to the Florence Tree Commission.

“You know, urban forestry is almost like single-tree management. Rural forestry is acres and acres. I kind of grew to like the individual tree management aspect of my job,” McEachron said of his work with the Tree Commission.

“Of course, I enjoyed the rural forestry management too,” he added. “I’m having trouble getting it out of my system and staying away. You know, it’s kind of in your blood.”

Even in retirement, McEachron doesn’t see himself slowing down or separating himself from all the boards he continues to serve on.

“I know sometimes you have to give something up,” he said. “I’m a tree person, but I’m also a people person. I love people, and as long as I’m enjoying it, I’m not ready to hang that hat up. Not anytime soon.”