HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) has appointed a new manager of Clear Creek State Forest District.
DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn announced on Wednesday the appointment of Nathan J. Fice, former assistant district forester of Pinchot Forest District, to the district forester position at Clear Creek Forest District, covering Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer, and part of Venango counties.
“A variety of assignments in public forestry sectors has proven Nate most capable of handling challenges, and we are confident of his success in his new leadership role,” said Dunn. “Intelligent, articulate, and well-versed in hands-on management, Clear Creek’s new manager is an excellent match to chart that district’s future.”
From headquarters in Clarion, Clarion County, Fice will oversee operations throughout the Clear Creek District, including management of Clear Creek State Forest, forest-growth management, personnel coordination, infrastructure maintenance, and wildland fire prevention and suppression. He also will manage service foresters who provide support, direction and technical assistance to private forest landowners.
The district’s state forest totals 16,229 acres in Jefferson, Clarion, Venango, Forest and Mercer counties. One of eight state forests located in the Pennsylvania Wilds, Clear Creek’s acreage of diverse hardwood species protects both the Clarion and Allegheny river watersheds.
“I am truly honored and humbled to join the Clear Creek Forest District and work with district staff in meeting the bureau’s mission, furthering conservation partnerships, and serving the citizens of Pennsylvania,” Fice said. “The unique relationships here with the Allegheny National Forest, Bureau of State Parks, private forest landowner associations, and many other natural resource organizations is an inspiration to me and a strong source of pride for district staff.”
Fice began his career with the Vermont Forestry Division as a state lands forest technician in 1988, served 14 years as a forester, and later became heavily involved in that state’s wildfire protection efforts with the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Compact. He relocated to Pennsylvania in 2010, first managing the Pennsylvania Sustainable Forestry Initiative Program before joining the Bureau of Forestry in 2012 as assistant district forester in Loyalsock Forest District. Six years later he transferred to Pinchot Forest District, where he served as assistant district forester.
The new district forester holds an associate’s degree in forestry from Unity College, Unity Maine, and a bachelor’s degree in environmental science/forestry from the same college. A native of Wellsboro, Tioga County, Fice is the father of two grown daughters. Fice, 53, succeeds Gary Frank, who retired.
For more information, contact the district office at 814-226-1901, or visit the DCNR website.
