New Head of Gifford Pinchot National Forest Named

A 25-year U.S. Forest Service veteran, Janine Clayton, has been named the new supervisor of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwestern Washington.

Claire Lavendel, who served as the Gifford Pinchot supervisor from 1999 to this year, will move into the position of director of recreation, lands and minerals in the Forest Service's regional office in Portland.

Clayton currently serves as the assistant director for minerals and geology in the agency's Washington, D.C., office. She is expected to start work at GPNF headquarters in December. Her career has included a variety of posts throughout the West: mining geologist in Corvallis, Oregon, reclamation and energy minerals program leader in California, acting regional assistant director for natural resource management in Vallejo, California, and acting supervisor of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

Washington Trails Association volunteers have devoted over 3,800 hours to trail maintenance in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest thus far in 2008. We look forward to working with Lavendel at the regional level and with Clayton on trail projects within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.