Casey KC

After a year-long search, Gov. Tina Kotek has chosen Nevada’s state forester to take the helm of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Kacey KC would be the first woman to permanently hold the director’s position in the 115-year-old agency’s history. The Oregon State Senate would need to confirm her appointment during the upcoming legislative session before she could take office on March 1. KC, from Nevada, most recently spent eight years as Nevada’s State Forester Firewarden and three years as president of the National Association of State Foresters. …The Oregon state forester reports to the governor and the forestry board, and oversees the management and protection of 745,000 acres of forestland owned by the state of Oregon, as well as wildfire protection for 16 million acres of forestland in the state. All of this requires negotiating the desires of environmentalists, logging companies, tribes and private property owners.

Additional coverage in Oregon Public Broadcasting: Gov. Tina Kotek taps Oregon’s next forest boss