US Forest Services

In 1933, the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station and the State of New Jersey signed a cooperative agreement for an experimental forest, the Lebanon Experimental Forest, “for the purpose of conducting studies, experiments, and demonstrations in silvics and silviculture.” The Northeastern Research Station has maintained the lease agreement from New Jersey for the use of this 239-ha site for regional forest research.
In 1937, Dr. Silas Little was assigned to the Lebanon and worked there until 1979, most of that time as the research project leader. This experimental forest was renamed in his honor after his retirement. In 2002, the Northeastern Research Station reestablished active fire research at the Silas Little with a 5-year National Fire Plan grant for regional climate and fire danger modeling specific to the Pine Barrens. The research employs prescribed burns and the use of portable and fixed flux towers to monitor vegetation, soil, and atmospheric conditions before and after prescribed burns.