Inyo National Forest welcomes Lesley Yen as the Forest Supervisor, who will start in her new position on October 25th, 2020.
The Inyo National Forest welcomes Lesley Yen as the Forest Supervisor, who will start in her new position on October 25th, 2020.
Originally from Massachusetts, Lesley moved west to start her Forest Service career on the Inyo National Forest in 2010, working in various capacities on all four ranger districts over a four-year period.
Lesley is returning to the Inyo from the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona, where she is the Deputy Forest Supervisor. Prior to that, she served as the District Ranger on the Shasta Lake Ranger District and National Recreation Area on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California. She also has experience working on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Klamath National Forest.
Before coming to work for the Forest Service, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Dominica, a tiny island in the Caribbean that’s about 1/10th the size of the Inyo.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and dual master’s degrees from Yale University in environmental management and international relations.
Lesley and her husband Eric, a former employee with BLM’s Bishop Field Office, met and married in the Eastern Sierra; a place they both consider home. Together, they enjoy any activity that takes them outdoors with their energetic border collie mix, Sage. This includes hiking, backpacking, trail running and mountain biking.
“I’m truly excited to be coming back to the Inyo and the Eastern Sierra, a place that’s felt like home since I first moved out here after graduate school,” Lesley said. “I’m looking forward to connecting and reconnecting with these amazing landscapes as well as the people, tribes and partners who make this area and these communities so special.”
The Inyo National Forest would also like to thank Pancho Smith for his leadership as the Acting Forest Supervisor during a difficult summer and his assistance to help welcome and transition the forest leadership.
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Welcome back and best of luck in your new position.
Just to add, this year has been a bit of a free-for-all in the Inyo. Lots of illegal camping, illegal fires, along with all the discarded trash and human waste. Please push to get the funding you’ll need to address this in the coming year. Enforcement is sorely needed. Thank you.