Mark Twain National Forest leadership transition

After more than five years serving as Forest Supervisor for Mark Twain National Forest, Sherri Schwenke is moving to New Mexico where she will continue her service as Deputy Regional Forester for the Forest Service Southwestern Region.

“I was honored to be asked to serve in this new role; and although I will miss everyone I worked with here, knowing that the team on this Forest will continue its great service to the public makes the transition easier,” stated Schwenke.

Schwenke’ s career with the Forest Service has spanned three decades across a variety of American landscapes.  Before coming to Mark Twain National Forest in 2016 she had served as the Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Boise National Forest, served as a district ranger on two other national forests and as a staff officer on a national grassland. She began her career as a landscape architect and now gets to take that ability to envision and plan positive change to an entire region of the Forest Service.

During her tenure as Mark Twain National Forest Supervisor, she led the Forest through many improvements; and she empowered employees to overcome many challenges to provide excellent stewardship of the land.  She led the Forest in building strong collaborative partnerships with its many stakeholders, and championed shared stewardship of natural resources.

Although Sherri will be missed as she takes her leadership to the next assignment, the Mark Twain National Forest will continue to be in good hands.  Deputy Forest Supervisor Tony Crump worked side-by-side with Schwenke for the last five years.

“Although I’ll miss Sherri, I’m excited for her; and we have already brought in an excellent Acting Forest Supervisor to ensure operational continuity,” stated Crump.

The new Acting Forest Supervisor is Ray Torres.  Ray brings a wealth of public land management experience with him to this leadership role.  He spent a lot of time on the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park in his youth, where he grew to appreciate public lands during his rock climbing and mountaineering adventures.  He started his conservation career with California State Parks and worked for them for eighteen years.  During his time with CA State Parks, he served in many roles in prescribed fire and law enforcement at multiple sites, and eventually served as Park Superintendent at Mount Diablo State Park. 

Ray then transitioned to the Forest Service where he started out as a staff officer on the Lassen National Forest.  He continued as a deputy ranger on the Klamath National Forest, then as a district ranger on the Modoc and Gila National Forest.  He then went on to serve as Deputy Forest Supervisor for Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia.

Ray’s initial focus is learning about Mark Twain National Forest and working with the many stakeholders that utilize and care for it.

Torres said, “After just a few days being here, I can already see that Mark Twain National Forest has a great group of employees and has many strong partnerships, and I look forward to continuing to maintain and build those partnerships.”

Ray Torres will be staying in Rolla during his time as Acting Forest Supervisor.  His wife, home, and two horses are in West Virginia, where his wife operates a quilting business.