Titled “next chapter,” an email sent by U.S. Forest Supervisor Russ Bacon last week announced he is retiring as supervisor of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grasslands following a 30-year career.

“This is a rather surreal message to be sending, and I’m filled with conflicting emotions,” Bacon said in his Feb. 25 retirement notification email.

The supervisor’s departure comes at a time when partnering agencies are reporting approximately 20 forest service employees across the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland received firing notices in mid-February.

“State and local government, partner organizations, permittees and other agencies are essential partners in helping deliver the USFS mission, and to each and every one of you I say thank you for being a part of that in my career,” Bacon wrote. “The work we have done together to find mutual benefit for our varied missions is so important for public lands, and I will miss it terribly.”

Bacon, who is based in Laramie, Wyoming, is the second major U.S. Forest Service supervisor in Colorado to announce that they are leaving their position in the last month. He was named the supervisor for the national forest area that includes Routt County in November 2017. His Forest Service professional career started in May 1995 as a seasonal employee on a timber marking crew on the Boise National Forest.

The news of Bacon’s departure comes less than one week after White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams gave notice of his forthcoming resignation.

Fitzwilliams, who had been in his role for more than 15 years, is among federal employees who have opted in for a deferred resignation early buyout program. White River Forest Deputy Supervisor Heather Noel is also taking deferred resignation, according to the Vail Daily, and no new White River supervisor has been named.

White River is the most visited forest in the country and has five districts and six offices in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale, Meeker, Silverthorne, Minturn and Rifle.

In a letter to White River employees and partners, Fitzwilliams said last week that it was “a very difficult decision for me given the challenges we are facing right now; but it’s the right thing for me to do at this point in my life.”

Both Fitzwilliams and Bacon wrote in their emails of long, rewarding careers.

“As a third generation Forest Service employee, this agency has been part of my entire life,” Bacon said in his retirement email. “At less than two weeks old, my parents brought me home to the Beaver Creek guard station on the Boise National Forest, and I’ve been part of public lands management ever since.”

Bacon was born in Boise, Idaho, and raised in a Forest Service family, as his father and grandfather both had long careers with the agency. He noted that until a more permanent solution can be implemented, Chad Stewart, forest supervisor on the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest, will do double duty and serve as forest supervisor for both units. Milton Stubbs will continue to fill the deputy forest supervisor role, added Bacon.

Throughout his career, Bacon worked in Wyoming, Idaho, South Dakota and Michigan, including a previous position for four years as deputy forest supervisor in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests in western Colorado.

The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland include nearly 2.9 million acres in northern Colorado and eastern Wyoming with six ranger district offices that include locations in Steamboat Springs, Yampa and Walden and three offices in Wyoming.