Kara Chadwick, currently assistant director for forest management for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C., has been named supervisor of the San Juan National Forest.

She is expected to begin her new duties in April, Ann Bond, spokeswoman for the San Juan National Forest, said Tuesday.

After the retirement of Mark Stiles, who served as supervisor from May 2002 to December 2013, Ron Archuleta has been acting supervisor for the San Juan National Forest.

The search for a new permanent supervisor was handled by the regional office in Denver.

“I am excited to get back out to the field to work with agency employees and community partners to get work done on the ground,” Chadwick said in a news release from the San Juan National Forest. “On the personal side, I am looking forward to all the great outdoor experiences your part of the country has to offer.”

Chadwick began her U.S. Forest Service career in 1985 working on fire and timber crews in Montana and Idaho for the Kootenai National Forest. From 1988 to 2002, she held timber and fire positions on the Clearwater and Nez Perce national forests in Idaho and Kaibab National Forest in Arizona.

From 2004 to 2010, Chadwick served in district ranger positions on the George Washington and Jefferson national forests of Virginia and the Clearwater National Forest. In 2010, she moved to the U.S. Forest Service’s Washington office as a liaison in minerals and geology before being named as the agency’s assistant director for forest management in 2011.

Since 2008, she also has been a resource unit leader with the forest service’s Southern Area Type I Incident Management Team.

Chadwick holds a bachelor’s degree in natural resource management from the University of Montana and is a member of the Society of American Foresters.

johnp@durangoherald.com