Mark Stiles’ arrival in Durango as acting supervisor of the San Juan National Forest in May 2002 quickly became a baptism by fire.
A month later, Stiles was a frontline commander in combating the Missionary Ridge Fire, which spread across 72,000 acres and defied firefighters for 39 days.
Today, as he prepares for retirement on Dec. 2, Stiles remembers the fire, the third-largest by acreage in state history – exceeded only by the Hayman Fire southwest of Denver that started a day before the Missionary Ridge Fire and last year’s High Park Fire in Larimer County – as only one of many career highlights.
Stiles cited the repatriation and/or reburial of ancestral Puebloan remains and artifacts and the establishment of two national monuments – Canyon of the Ancients in 2000 and Chimney Rock this year – as significant memories.
“The importance of creating the national monuments is that you’re laying the foundation for management of the land for hundreds of years,” Stiles said.
San Juan Mountains Association leaders are sorry to see Stiles leave.
“He’s been incredibly supportive and a strong advocate of our work for 10 years,” said Executive Director Susan Bryson. “He was instrumental in our reaching our recent 25th anniversary.”
Kathe Hayes, director of the SJMA volunteer program, said Stiles has been a staunch backer of the work she does.
“We, volunteers, operate 13 national forest bookstores, run visitor information centers and help manage the wild horse program in Disappointment Valley,” Hayes said. “He’s been extremely supportive.”
National forest spokeswoman Ann Bond said the search for Stiles’ replacement will start at the regional level.
“The regional office will select an acting forest supervisor until a permanent replacement is named,” Bond said. “The process is just getting started.”
Stiles, who has 32 years with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, was born on the 44,000-acre Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in the Little Egypt delta region in southern Illinois. His father was the refuge manager.
“I knew I wanted to be a biologist when I was 5 years old,” said Stiles, who went on to earn a degree in wildlife biology and a master’s degree in economics from Colorado State University.
Stiles, 56, managed the Bureau of Land Management’s Western Slope Center from Montrose and Grand Junction immediately before coming to Durango.
From the ashes of the Missionary Ridge Fire, forestry officials began devising a different overall view of how to fight wildfires, Stiles said.
He remembers the Little Sand Fire of 2012 and the West Fork Complex Fire this summer as examples of the new approach.
“We didn’t try to confront those fires on all fronts, but chose the best ground on which to suppress them,” Stiles said. “San Juan National Forest officials were leaders in this thinking.”
Stiles said he has been impressed with the level and quality of public involvement in community, national forest and environmental issues. Agency officials must give community leaders a chance to lead, he said.
“From bouncing around and from my counterparts elsewhere, I know this level of involvement isn’t the same everywhere,” Stiles said.
Stiles said he’d be remiss if he didn’t credit the volunteer San Juan Mountains Association, the Mountain Studies Institute, Trails 2000, the Four Corners Back Country Horsemen and off-road vehicle groups for their contributions to forest-management decisions.
Retirement will allow him to ski and hike more, Stiles said. His wife, Bernie, will continue to work as a preschool director at Riverview Elementary School.
“I’ve been warned by retirees not to get too busy with too many volunteer projects,” Stiles said. “But in the long-term, I’d like to get involved in community and regional efforts.”
daler@durangoherald.com
