Anthony Botello.
The newly-hired Flathead National Forest Supervisor said he's always admired the natural beauty and extensive wilderness of western Montana. Now he gets to oversee three district rangers across northwestern Montana.
Anthony Botello has been working in the Forest Service for the last 35 years, starting as a wilderness ranger. He said he worked his way up from his field job to a program manager position and said he enjoyed leading folks in natural resource issues.
Since 2010, he has worked as a high-level supervisor, most recently as the deputy supervisor for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in northeast Oregon.
In a short interview with the Pathfinder, he said he looks forward to continuing projects like the Good Neighborhood Authority and getting the public involved in the process.
"This is a challenging place, natural resource and public service always is," Botello said. "But this has always been a high performing forest, and I look forward to the work."
Botello said he has connections to western Montana. His wife Alexandra is from Missoula, and he has spent a bit of time exploring the area's forests.
Botello will oversee roughly 2.4 million acres of public land, including the Swan Lake Ranger District. He joined the district after previous Flathead Supervisor Kurt Steele left his role last June to the Forest Service Northern Region headquarters in Missoula.
Deputy Forest Supervisor Tammy MacKenzie has served as the interim supervisor until Botello was announced as the permanent replacement in November.
Steele's time ended during the controversy of the Holland Lake Lodge expansion, which drew criticism over the public process and the changes that an expansion could bring to the Upper Swan Valley.
The lodge is now up for sale with no expansion plan in place, the Pathfinder previously reported. Botello did not have much to say about the lodge, as he said he is still learning all the intricacies of the Flathead National Forest.
"I don't have much information on it, I understand that it was controversial," Botello said.
He added that many projects that have a strong public-government connection need to be handled correctly, and said one of his goals is to learn more from his district rangers to be better educated on local topics.
Botello spoke favorably of logging projects under the Good Neighbor Authority, which is a federal policy that allows for inter-agency cooperation for large projects. One GNA in progress is the Rumbling Owl Fuels reduction project, which would affect thousands of acres near Holland Lake.
"In my understanding, the GNA is very successful," Botello said. "It's a perfect venue for the Forest Service to work with state and local partners, often on important safety projects."
Botello started the job on Jan. 1, and hopes to get acquainted with as many Forest Service employees before work on projects and other assignments starts piling up.
Kira Powell, a public information officer with the Flathead National Forest, said Botello will join Swan Lake District Ranger Chris Dowling for community introductions at the Swan Valley Community Council next month.
Reader Comments(0)