January 19, 2010
Tuesday

Ketchikan, Alaska ­ The Tongass National Forest announced the new ranger for the Ketchikan-Misty Fiords Ranger District, Jeff DeFreest. Currently a manager for the Forest Service's economic stimulus projects based in Alaska, DeFreest will be starting as District Ranger in mid-February 2010.

As an engineering geologist, DeFreest first started with the Forest Service in 1990, working on road construction and design as well as fire crews in Oregon. A subsequent move took him to Utah managing coal, oil, gas, and other resources before coming to Alaska in 2001.

DeFreest's work in Alaska has focused primarily on permitting and administration for minerals development on the Tongass, including the Greens Creek Mine and the Kensington Mine. He has also worked on detail assignments as district ranger for the Thorne Bay and Admiralty Island National Monument Ranger Districts on the Tongass.

Since June 2009, DeFreest has been coordinating the Forest Service projects funded by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Outside of the Forest Service, DeFreest has worked in various capacities on scientific investigations as a field geologist and technician in Antarctica, Greenland, and Alaska; conducted hunter education, firearms training courses, and survival training; and has served as a senior mission pilot for the Civil Air Patrol throughout Southeast Alaska, and on Kodiak Island.

Source of News:

USDA: Forese Service - Tongass National Forest
www.fs.fed.us

SitNews ©2010
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska