Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest welcomes Molly Ryan and Helen Smith to Forest leadership

HELENA, Mont. August 19, 2022 – Molly Ryan and Helen Smith have both been selected to join the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest's leadership team; Ryan will serve as deputy forest supervi-sor and Smith as the Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs district ranger.

"Both Ryan and Smith have dedicated their careers to navigating challenging natural resource man-agement issues while prioritizing local communities," said Forest Supervisor Emily Platt. "I am ex-cited to welcome them to the forest and look forward to role they will play working with local communities and advancing the land management priorities of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest."

Molly Ryan is a third generation Forest Service employee from Dillon, MT. Growing up she found a connection to Montana hiking and fishing. She studied western U.S. history and rangeland man-agement at Montana State University. In 2009, she obtained her Master of Science in recreation management from the University of Montana. While at school in Missoula, and for two years after graduating, she worked for the USDA Forest Service's Region 1 Historic Preservation Team. The crew traveled all over the Region and county rehabilitating Forest Service structures in front and backcountry situations. In January 2012, Ryan moved to northeastern Utah where she spent five years on the Ashley National Forest's Flaming Gorge Ranger District working as the special use per-mit administrator, district recreation program manager, and deputy district ranger. She came back home to Montana in January 2017 as the district ranger for the Beaverhead – Deerlodge National Forest's Wisdom Ranger District. She will start as the deputy forest supervisor for the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest on August 29.

Helen Smith will become the permanent Belt Creek – White Sulphur Springs District Ranger in September after serving as the acting ranger since late May. Smith is a native of Great Falls, MT and developed her love of nature while roaming the forests and prairie on her family's homestead near Helena, MT. Smith holds a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology and a master's degree in resource conservation, both from The University of Montana. Smith has been the manager of the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest, west of Kings Hill, since 2012. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing maintenance of the facilities and collection of the long-term hydrology and forest ecol-ogy data. She has served as the primary liaison between the Rocky Mountain Research Station, uni-versity researchers and Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs National Forest decision makers. Prior to that role, Smith collected stand exam data on the Flathead National Forest's Glacier View and Hun-gry Horse ranger districts and served as an ecologist at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab for 17 years. In her spare time, Smith enjoys hiking, walking, ice fishing and hunting with her husband and their friends.

Visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/hlcnf to learn more about the Forest.