Meet your ranger: Rich Kehr enjoys the challenges of multiple projects

Rich Kehr is a man in the middle.

Kehr, 58, has been ranger of the Swan Lake Ranger District for over three years.

Kehr, who moved to the area in February 2010 with his wife, LInda, oversees a staff of 26 permanent and 25 or so part-time or seasonal employees from his Bigfork office on a hill overlooking Flathead Lake.

These projects stretch from the Island Unit west of Lakeside all the way down the Seeley/Swan valley.

“We’re in the middle of the great debate on how to best manage public lands,” Kehr said. The battle often is pitched between environmental groups who favor restrictions on the land and resource groups who want it opened up for more uses.

“It’s a challenge,” he said. “I have enjoyed the challenge. We have wonderful collaborative groups.”

Some of these groups include the Swan Eco System Center, Northwest Connections and the Swan Forest Stewardship Committee, to name a few. “Some groups are very organized and some are on the learning curve,” Kehr said. “My hope is that all the interests get engaged to make sure their interests are represented.”

This is Kehr’s first permanent ranger position. He came to northwest Montana from Klamath Falls, Ore. “It’s more intense here than Klamath Falls,” he said, when asked to describe the difference between the two areas.

Kehr graduated with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from North Carolina State University and later earned a master of science degree from Oregon State. He met his wife at OSU and then worked in the Black Hills of South Dakota before heading west to Packwood, Wash. and the Colville National Forest north of Spokane.

He and Linda enjoy hiking, picking huckleberries, gardening and other outdoor activities.

These give him a respite from the myriad projects he’s involved in at the office, some of which include: a forest restoration project in the Southwest Crown of the Continent; white bark tree planting in the Condon Mountain and Lost Creek fire areas; noxious weed abatement, and lake trout suppression in Swan Lake.

The Forest Service has an agreement with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to catch lake trout in Swan Lake with netting. That project has been going on for three years. The goal is the recovery of native bull trout. If successful, such a method could be used in Flathead Lake in the future.

“Last fall we noticed an increase in the red count in the Swan River tributaries,” he said, referring to the bull trout’s spawning locations.

In the Island Unit, the Forest Service is trying to get motorized trails built through a collaborative effort that started this spring.

The Glacier Loon Project by Lindbergh Lake could face a legal challenge after an environmental group served the Forest Service with intentions to sue after its record of decision was upheld on appeal.

Objectives of the Glacier Loon Project are to: reduce catastrophic fire and improve firefighter safety; improve forest health, and provide jobs and wood products. “We did a very thorough analysis,” Kehr said, holding a thick book containing the project’s record of decision.

“The legal challenges of Glacier Loon are part of a larger national debate that Congress is interested in,” Kehr said. Environmental groups are using the Endangered Species Act “to stop as much land management as possible,” he said. “We’re one of the players.”

It’s seemingly a never ending game.

Caleb Soptelean can be reached at reporter@bigforkeagle.com.