Santa Fe National Forest supervisor temporarily assigned to D.C.

Jul. 7—A little more than a year ago, Debbie Cress said she had landed her dream job as the new supervisor of the Santa Fe National Forest.

But Cress is leaving her long-desired post for a temporary duty assignment in Washington, D.C., where she will serve as an assistant to U.S. Forest Service chief of staff Tony Scardina.

The news comes as the state continues to grapple with the aftershocks of the largest forest fire in New Mexico's history. The Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon blaze burned more than 341,000 acres and has lasted three months.

In an email Wednesday, Cress wrote the opportunity to become an assistant chief of staff to Scardina is "the culmination of a year working alongside leadership in our Washington office as part of my duties as Forest Supervisor."

She said the timing of the move leaves her with "a heavy heart."

"I carry with me the burdens and sadness of all affected by this tragic fire," she wrote. "I also carry a commitment to learning and better understanding our changing environment and the work ahead of us."

The fire, which has badly damaged land, watershed facilities and the infrastructure of many Northern New Mexico communities in addition to destroying hundreds of homes and structures, started after a pair of Forest Service prescribed burns escaped control.

A June analysis of the fire conducted by the Forest Service said those involved in the prescribed burns failed to consider how a changing climate could make the landscape more flammable, didn't correctly estimate the risk of a controlled fire escaping and used incomplete weather information.

The 85-page report — which did not name the personnel involved in the prescribed burns — said federal fire managers, under pressure to complete the prescribed burn while they had the available personnel, overlooked warning signs, such as the potential for erratic winds and large, dry fuel loads that could feed a growing fire.

Julie Anne Overton, spokeswoman for the Santa Fe National Forest, said Cress' four-month detail was in the planning stages since January and "isn't connected" to the fire.

"It looks like it is [connected] but it really isn't," Overton said, adding Cress will be back on the Santa Fe job at the end of her stint in Washington.

The news brought critical salvos from former forest rangers who say Cress should stay on her current job and work through the continuing aftershocks of the fire.

Frank Carroll, a wildfire forensics expert from Colorado who once served as a Santa Fe Hotshot crew member, said "this action just stinks."

He said Forest Service officials are sidelining Cress for a few months to make it difficult for her to answer questions about the historic blaze.

"It's a protection action for this person," Carroll said. "It's not protecting her from anything. She doesn't get to learn anything, she doesn't get to learn about conflict."

Retired Forest Service ranger Joe Reddan — who served as a ranger in the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District from 2002-08 — said while such temporary details are part of life in the agency, even if Cress had been working on the assignment for months, she should refrain from going.

"It's not going to help her out, and it's not going to help the credibility of the agency," he said.

Reddan said during his career he was brought in to succeed a forest supervisor involved in a major fire in Utah. That individual also was moved out on a temporary detail.

"It didn't help that forest supervisor I replaced [to] learn from what happened and how to deal with people impacted by these big, huge fires," he said.

Overton said the Forest Service has not yet chosen a temporary successor for Cress.

Overton said such details, as the temporary work assignments are called, are typical in the Forest Service. Reddan agreed the agency could not operate without them.

"It's a great way to fill a position that you need somebody in quickly while you look for the permanent appointee," Overton said.

A New Mexico State University graduate with a degree in range science, Cress oversees a 1.6 million-acre forest that attracts 1.3 million people a year. The forest has an annual budget of $18 million and employs close to 200 people.

Her appointment to the job in spring 2021 came as the forest received about $4 million in federal funding through the Great American Outdoors Act over a two-year period — money to help with conducting archaeological surveys on trails, dealing with deferred maintenance projects at recreational sites and replacing water and wastewater systems.

In an interview with The New Mexican in June 2021, Cress said she was always concerned about the threat of wildfires.

In her email Wednesday, Cress wrote: "It is clear we must continue to seek knowledge and apply sound practices if we are to restore the health and resiliency of landscapes the Forest Service is charged with managing. While on this assignment, I will have opportunities to gain perspective from a different view and share back with the practitioners who continue the work at hand."