Kurt Winchester Selected as New Fire Management Officer

US Forest Service
San Bernardino National Forest
602 S. Tippecanoe Ave San Bernardino, CA 92408
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Valerie Baca (909) 382-2711

Kurt Winchester Selected as New Fire Management Officer on San Bernardino National Forest

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., March 24, 2009 — Kurt L. Winchester has been selected as the new Fire Management Officer (FMO) of the San Bernardino National Forest (NF). He is currently the District Ranger on the Mountaintop District of the Forest. “Kurt’s skills will be a valuable addition to the strong fire program already established here,” said Deputy Forest Supervisor Tom Gillett. “We're confident that Kurt will build on this momentum and keep the San Bernardino at the forefront of effective management of Forest, Regional and National fire related issues.”

Winchester, 54, received his Bachelor of Science degree in forest management from Utah State University in 1977. While still in school, he began working for the Forest Service as a temporary employee on a fire crew for three years on the Wasatch-Cache NF in Utah. He then moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where he worked on the Coconino NF and the Kaibab NF in timber and fire management. In 1986, he moved to the Carson NF in Taos, New Mexico, where over sixteen years he worked as a Silviculturist, a forester, a staff officer, a District Ranger, and an acting Deputy Forest Supervisor. He then worked on the Plumas NF for three years as a special assistant in implementing the special forest management legislation of the Quincy Library Group across three national forests. Winchester has been District Ranger on the Mountaintop District of the San Bernardino National Forest since May 2007. He is currently qualified as a Type 2 Incident Commander and Operations Section Chief and has served on an Interagency Incident Management Team in both capacities.

“I’m excited about my new role on the forest and I look forward to continuing the excellent work established under Chief Dietrich,” said Winchester.

Winchester reports on March 29, and fills behind Chief Michael Dietrich who will retire April 3.