Nicole Branton, who had served as District Ranger for Coconino’s Red Rock Ranger District since 2013, accepted a deputy forest supervisor position in northern Washington state’s Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest earlier this month. She began the new job on Aug. 5.
Amy Tinderholt, who was brought on to serve as Acting Red Rock District Ranger while Coconino National Forest considered permanent replacements, was named the permanent District Ranger last week.
“The Coconino really moved fast on filling this position,” Branton said by phone from Washington. “I think everybody knew how important that position is and how much continuity was needed for all of the partnerships and all of the undertakings we have going on … My boss, the [Coconino] forest supervisor, had me prepare an outreach for it the day that I got the offer.”
Branton says she was not necessarily looking to leave the Red Rock District, but the opportunity in Mt. Baker- Snoqualmie compelled her to apply for the job, which represents a promotion in the agency.
“It’s really about the job that came up,” Branton said. “[Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie] was really a forest that was kind of everything I was thinking about for my next move career-wise — in terms of being a big, complex recreation forest with lots of ecosystem challenges and tribal partnership and community partnerships. So, I really wasn’t looking to move per se, but this opportunity came up and I applied for it.”
During her time in the Red Rock District, Branton oversaw several significant efforts in the district: Helping coordinate the response to the Slide Fire and its aftermath, implementing a permit system for Fossil Creek Wilderness that significantly reduced impacts, and forging several new partnerships with the community.
Tinderholt was serving as a deputy district ranger in Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest when she was tapped to step in as Acting District Ranger until a permanent ranger was selected. She was also an applicant for the permanent gig. Tinderholt could have served in the acting ranger capacity for as long as 120 days, but Coconino National Forest awarded Tinderholt the permanent job a short time after she began as the temporary ranger.
Tinderholt, who grew up in Las Vegas and graduated from the University of Arizona, had never been in the Red Rock District before she began working earlier this month. She was drawn to the area, she said, in large part because of its national reputation for collaboration between the Forest and volunteer groups like Friends of the Forest and the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund.
“The [volunteer] program here in this district is known nationwide … last year the volunteer program got the Chief’s Award, which is the highest recognition in the forest service,” Tinderholt said. “They not only accomplish amazing work, everything that they do creates capacity for Forest Service staff to do more work … I think that all of those volunteers are giving their precious time because they really care about these areas.”
Craig Swanson, president of the Friends of the Forest, is pleased with the Forest’s choice and is eager to work with Tinderholt on the organization’s extensive projects assisting the Red Rock District. Swanson and other members of the organization met Tinderholt recently.
“She’s going to be absolutely a pleasure to work with, just like her predecessor was,” Swanson said. “She appreciates and understands the value that all of the volunteers bring to the Forest Service. She’s looking forward to continuing the partnership.”
Swanson says Sedona’s national reputation for an active and skilled volunteer community is the real deal. According to Swanson, at any given time about half of Friends of the Forest’s 550-person membership is actively volunteering time to the Forest on a variety of projects. Volunteers from Friends of the Forest, for example, staff the information desks at the Red Rock Visitor Center and help operate the Palatki and V-Bar-V cultural sites.
“The only way the Forest Service could keep those sites [Palatki and V-Bar- V] open for the public is through volunteer assistance,” he said. “They simply don’t have the staff to protect them. It’s incumbent on the Forest Service to make sure that there always is somebody there making certain that the site is secure, that the visitors are secure, and that’s the kind of thing that Friends of the Forest brings.”
The involvement of the Verde Valley community in the District allows the Forest Service to dramatically extend the capabilities of its constrained budget, and this is something that makes Tinderholt, whose background is in recreation management, excited about her new assignment.
“My passion is for the partnership side of what the forest service does. This is just an epic location for that,” she said.
Scott Shumaker can be reached at 282-7795, ext 117 or email at sshumaker@larsonnewspapers.com
