BETHEL – A ranger who began her forestry career as a summer employee at International Paper has taken charge of about 194,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest.

Katie Stuart was hired last month as the forest’s district ranger for the Androscoggin Ranger District. She will work out of the Gorham, N.H., office and the district’s office and visitor center in Bethel.

“I love the White Mountains, and I’ve always wanted to come here,” said Stuart, a native of Grand Isle, N.Y.

“I’ve been coming here all my life, because my family has property here, so it’s fun now to come here and work.”

In her youth, Stuart said she spent time each year at her family’s home near Sandwich, N.H., a home that has been in her family for four generations.

But the idea of becoming a ranger didn’t happen until the pre-med major’s curiosity got the best of her at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

“I was in pre-med until my junior year when I took a course in woodlot management, and a beekeeping course, and decided that was it. Working in the woods was what I wanted to do, and I never looked back,” Stuart said.

Her B.S. degree at Cornell was followed by an M.S. degree in forest science at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.

“Pre-med is a very noble goal, but once you find what you really want to do, you go with it. I still really like medicine, but more so now, the interplay between national forest and health issues,” she added.

Twenty-six years ago, Stuart began her career with a summer forestry job at International Paper in Rumford and Stratton.
To Pacific and back
Prior to joining the White Mountain National Forest, Stuart held positions on national forests in the Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest and most, recently, on the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri where she was a district ranger.

“I wanted to be a forester all along, but I wanted to embrace the bigger picture, and that’s why I stepped up to be a ranger,” she said.

In her 20 years with the U.S. Forest Service, Stuart has served as a firefighter, forester, volunteer coordinator, recreation forester and silviculturist.

“Katie brings to us a diverse background in public land management, and great experience as a district ranger,” said White Mountain National Forest supervisor Tom Wagner.

“She will serve the land and the public well, and will carry on the New England tradition of community involvement in managing the White Mountain National Forest,” he added.

As district ranger, Stuart is responsible for overseeing all activities on the district, and joins the leadership team that guides the management of the entire 780,000-acre White Mountain National Forest, Wagner said.

Stuart’s husband, Tim Buxton, also a Forest Service employee, oversees planning for abandoned mines in national forests throughout the East and Midwest.

Stuart said he’s continuing that work, but is now based out of the ranger station in Gorham. His recent focus has included plans for the abandoned Ore Hill Mine near Warren, N.H.

“My husband and I are both honored to be asked to serve in northern New Hampshire and Maine, and excited about getting to know the local people and communities that help manage this special forest,” she added.

They are in the process of buying a home in Shelburne, N.H.
[email protected]