The spring 2021 Sheridan College Museum of Discovery Science Lecture Series begins on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. with an online lecture titled “Your Local Drinking Water – Sheridan Municipal Watershed: Its Source, Threats, and Proposed Actions on the Bighorn National Forest” by Matt Enger, USFS hydrologist, and Jon Warder, USFS forest fire management officer for Bighorn National Forest. To attend via Zoom, go to www.sheridan.edu/lecture at the event time.
According to managers from Sheridan Area Water Supply Joint Powers Board and the Wyoming Water Development Office, the Sheridan Municipal Watershed, sourced almost entirely from lands managed by the Bighorn National Forest, is at risk. A study completed in 2019 has identified that wildfire can be a major source of sediment and other contaminants to the water supply, and that action is needed to reduce this threat. The Bighorn National Forest is proposing management actions to help reduce this threat. U.S. Forest Service employees Matt Enger and Jon Warder will explore this invaluable resource and the potential ramifications of wildfire as well as share ways for local residents to provide input to the proposed actions.
Enger is a hydrologist who has been with the Bighorn National Forest since 2016. An Illinois native, he attended college at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Forestry with concentrations in forest hydrology and soil science. As a hydrologist with the Forest Service, Enger has served on several Burned Area Emergency Response Teams with the Forest Service, tasked with assessing the post-fire effects following a wildfire.
Warder has been an employee of the Bighorn National Forest since 2001 and resides in Sheridan with his family. He has been the forest fire management officer since 2007 and was a wildlife biologist with the Forest Service beginning in 1989. He received a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resource Management from Colorado State University in 1991.
For more information about this or upcoming lectures, contact Dr. Scott Newbold at snewbold@sheridan.edu or 307-675-0770.
