In her absence, Russell Bacon, deputy forest supervisor for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests, is serving as the San Juan National Forest’s acting forest supervisor.
Bacon was born in Boise, Idaho, and his grandfather and father both had long Forest Service careers. Bacon spent his first 12 years in Forest Service compounds in Idaho and Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in forest resources management and held several seasonal jobs with the agency throughout college.
Bacon started his federal career in 1995 as a timber seasonal in the Boise National Forest and landed his first permanent job on the Black Hills National Forest in 1999 as a marking crew foreman, geographic information system specialist and fire restoration coordinator.
He went on to become assistant district ranger on the Huron-Manistee National Forest, then district ranger on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. After serving as district ranger on the Salmon-Challis National Forest, Bacon landed in his current position in 2013. He and wife, Darcie, a former Forest Service botanist, have two children.
