New Gifford-Pinchot boss selected

Geologist Janine Clayton, a 25-year U.S. Forest Service veteran, will be the new supervisor of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Clayton currently is assistant director for minerals and geology in the agency’s Washington, D.C., office. She is expected to start at the GPNF’s headquarters in Orchards in December.

Her career has included jobs as a mining geologist in Corvallis, Ore., reclamation and energy minerals program leader in California, acting regional assistant director for natural resource management in Vallejo, Calif., and acting supervisor of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.

Clayton has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and geology and a master’s degree in geology.

She succeeds Claire Lavendel, Pinchot supervisor from 1999 to this year. Lavendel is now director of recreation, lands and minerals in the Forest Service’s regional office in Portland.

The Gifford Pinchot National Forest comprises 1.37 million acres straddling the crest of the Cascade Mountains from the Columbia River to Mount Rainier National Park.