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SOLVANG, Calif.— U.S. Forest Service officials announced the selection of Dr. Kimberly Winter as the new forest supervisor for Los Padres National Forest. Winter succeeds Christopher Stubbs, who departed last December to become forest supervisor on the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado.
Winter comes to Los Padres from the U.S. Forest Service’s National Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she served as Director of Conservation Education. Prior to that, she worked as the NatureWatch National Program Leader as well as Acting Assistant Director for the Biological & Physical Resources staff.
Winter has three decades of experience working in conservation beginning in the non-profit sector as Habitat Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation and International Coordinator for the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign. She began her federal service as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia in the early 1990s where she worked as an environmental educator overseeing a program charged with reforesting a town adjacent to the newly established Amboro National Park.
A native of Missouri, Winter earned her PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Management and an M.A in Ecological Anthropology from the University of Georgia. She also holds a B.S. in Fisheries & Wildlife from the University of Missouri.
“I am thrilled to join the staff of Los Padres and continue the important land management work alongside our partners and volunteers,” Winter said. “I look forward to learning more about the communities that surround Los Padres and explore opportunities to improve our public lands.”
Winter will begin her new role June 30.
