Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Julie King is leaving that position after eight years and will be the new manager of the Wilderness Character monitoring program, based in Missoula. The new acting Bitterroot Forest Supervisor is Kurt Steele, who is Deputy Forest Supervisor at the adjacent Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in Idaho. The temporary assignment will begin the week of October 1st.

Steele began work in the Forest Service on a fire enginecrew in Oregon and was also a member of the Frazier Rappel Crew and the Rouge River Hotshot Crew in Oregon. Steele has been a forester at the Willamette National Forest, a silvercultuist in Georgia and a District Ranger in Minnesota. He has a BS degree in Natural Resources and minors in Forest Management and Fisheries and Wildlife.

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