NATIONAL FORESTS -- Gayne (pronounced guy-na) Sears, a 25-year career Forest Service employee and former animal packer and wilderness ranger, has been named district ranger of the Newport and Sullivan Ranger Districts, based out of Newport.

Colville National Forest Supervisor Laura Jo West made the announcement last week.

Sears will be coming to Washington in September from Utah, where she is enrolled in the Masters of Natural Resources graduate degree program at Utah State University.

Read on for details on Sears' career.

Sears began her career in the Forest Service as an Animal Packer and Wilderness Ranger on the Sierra National Forest while attending the University of California at Davis. She went on to work as a District Wilderness Program Manager and a Forest Wilderness Coordinator and Planner on the Ashley National Forest (Roosevelt, UT) before moving on to positions in the private sector and state government.

Sears returned to the Forest Service as District Special Uses and Minerals Staff Officer on the Sierra National Forest (North Fork, CA) and added Recreation and Visitor Information Services to her District responsibilities.

In the past three years Sears has also worked on special assignments as the Forest Travel Management Interdisciplinary Team leader and in the National Headquarters of the Forest Service in Washington, D.C.

Sears will be joined in Newport by her husband, pets and visits from her three grandchildren. Shen said she enjoys hiking, backpacking, camping, travel, dogs, cowboy poetry and new adventures.

Sears is scheduled to start her new position Sept. 12.