Santa Fe National Forest gets new acting supervisor

Jul. 8—The U.S. Forest Service announced Friday that Carson National Forest supervisor James Duran will also serve as acting supervisor for the Santa Fe National Forest for the next four months.

Duran is filling in for SFNF supervisor Debbie Cress, who is temporarily assigned to the acting Deputy Chief of Staff role for U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore.

The two northern New Mexico forests have had an early and destructive fire season this year.

Cress acknowledged the "difficult timing" of the leadership change in the wake of the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire.

That blaze has grown to more than 340,000 acres across the two forests and is 93% contained.

"Working with multiple partners at the local, state and federal levels, we have a unified commitment to post-fire repair and healing of the landscape while meeting the needs of our communities for firewood, acequia repair, reseeding and eventual replanting," Cress said in a statement.

Duran was selected as the Carson National Forest supervisor in 2015.

He grew up in Cuba, New Mexico, and worked with the Youth Conservation Corps on the Santa Fe National Forest.

Duran studied range science at New Mexico State University. He worked on the Lewis and Clark hotshot crew in Montana and has also worked on New Mexico's Lincoln and Cibola National Forests.