New recreation staff selected for Seeley Lake Ranger District

SEELEY LAKE –District Ranger Rachel Feigley announced that Matthew Walter has been selected as the recreation staff on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. This position is responsible for developed and dispersed recreation, trails, Wilderness, recreation events, and outfitter/guides on the District. Walter will begin his new position Jan. 7, 2019 replacing Katie Knotek who took a position in Missoula this fall.

Walter began working for the Forest Service in 2000 in Leadville, Colorado on the Pike-San Isabel National Forest. His first permanent appointment was with the Shoshone National Forest in Lander, Wyoming in 2009. He is currently the recreation specialist for the Beaverhead-Dillon Ranger District on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and has been in that position since 2015.

Walter studied Natural Resources at Colorado State University, earning a Graduate Certificate in 2006. He earned a BA in Political Science / Public Administration from the University of Nebraska in 1992, and a post baccalaureate BA in Elementary Education from the University of New Mexico in 1998.

"Growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska – it has been my pleasure to work and live in all of the Rocky Mountain west...New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and now Montana," Walter said. "I've been a public servant my entire working life -- serving as an elementary teacher for a decade and now working for America's national forests. I feel honored to join the Seeley Lake Ranger District and I'm excited to meet my new colleagues, partners and start learning the country."