Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver with his wife Susan will be living in Seeley Lake and look forward to becoming part of the community.
SEELEY LAKE –Acting District Ranger Quinn Carver will officially be Seeley Lake's new District Ranger June 9. Carver is excited to watch the projects he has started the past six months be completed as well as looks forward to continuing to build strong relationships with the community and surrounding agencies.
Carver started working permanently for the Forest Service as a wildlife biologist on the Helena National Forest, Townsend Ranger District in 1994. From there he worked as an Interdisciplinary Team Leader in Wrangell, Alaska and as the Krassel District Ranger on the Payette National Forest in Idaho before returning to Montana in 2006. He worked as a
Staff Officer for Natural Resources on the Kootenai National Forest in Libby, Mont. for the past 12 years.
Carver said because of this past experience, he has a good grasp of wilderness, backcountry management and recreation including snowmobiling, skiing and aviation. He's also been the timber and planning staff officer on the Kootenai for the last 12 years and is well versed in timber, wildland fire, wildlife, fish and threatened and endangered species including bull trout, grizzly bear and lynx.
"It is really kind of the perfect job at the perfect time for me," said Carver who was ready for a change from a position of recommend to one of implementation. "Now as ranger, it is let's go do this. I can really dig in because I know a little more this time around [as a ranger]. It is a very comfortable fit."
Carver was in Seeley Lake working with the District during the first several weeks of the Rice Ridge fire. His work on the Rice Ridge fire as well as personal travels through the area and the last six months have really tied him to the people and community of Seeley Lake.
"It is a great place, great location and has every kind of recreation the Forest Service deals with – even dog sledding," said Carver who eagerly put in for the Ranger position and readily accepted it.
Carver said it will be rewarding to see the things he started during his six months as acting ranger come to completion. Now he is looking forward to the continuing the forward momentum.
A question Carver was asked when he started as acting ranger was, "When do we get our Forest back?" He will continue to work towards getting access back to people through timely completion of projects.
"Getting past the fire closures, timber sale closures and getting the forest back to the people that live here is huge," said Carver. "That is a big deal."
Carver will prioritized the fuels mitigation projects around the town of Seeley Lake, the surrounding ranches and other private land to ensure those areas are more fire resilient.
He is looking forward to strengthening the partnerships with the Blackfoot Challenge, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. This will increase the amount of shared stewardship projects across the landscape and continue to blur the ownership boundaries from Kozy Korner to the Forest boundary.
Carver will also be collaborating with retired Ranger Tim Love to help provide UM Forestry students with hands-on opportunities on the District.
Carver expects that over the next decade Seeley Lake is going to grow and change a lot. He lived in McCall, Idaho when it transitioned from a sleepy little resort town to "off-the-wall craziness" in a few years. He was working in Libby when their mill shut down.
"I hope that if people need advice or experience, I can be a sounding board for people that live here," said Carver who hopes he can lead the District as a good partner and neighbor.
Because of his experience in Libby, Carver said keeping Pyramid Mountain Lumber running is essential. Even though the District is a small part of Pyramid's total volume, he will do what he can to keep them operational.
Carver thinks the new Lolo Forest Supervisor Carolyn Upton will be an excellent Forest supervisor and provide the leadership essential to continue moving forward.
"She is a get it done, figure it out type person," said Carver.
Carver is telling his staff at the District that they are turning the page from the tragedy and negativity, moving forward and not looking back.
Carver added, "The biggest thing to make sure is the District continues to be part of the community instead of separate from it - that really is the fun part."
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