Walter L. Green, MD, FACEP, associate professor and emergency medicine residency director at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, started cultivating his interest in silviculture back in 1971 when he and his brother spent their days thinning trees at their parents’ farm in Mississippi. Fast-forward to 1992, when he and his wife decided to convert their 210 acres, some of which had been used as pastureland for their cattle farm, into a properly managed forest that could serve as a renewable resource. Now Dr. Green recharges his batteries out in the woods, under a canopy of pine and cypress. Forest management suits his lifestyle better than cattle farming because it requires more of a long-term plan rather than daily management. (“And no crazy cows!” he jokes.) When he’s not managing his farm, he’s teaching his grandkids the art of woodworking. They recently won an art competition by handcrafting a chess set out of magnolia and cherry tree wood from the farm. He sees commonalities between his work in the emergency department and his time in the woods: “Too many patients in one area is a really bad idea, just like too many trees.”