Kurt Steele steps down as Flathead Forest supervisor

Kurt Steele is leaving his position as supervisor of the Flathead National Forest for a post at the federal agency’s regional office in Missoula, U.S. Forest Service officials confirmed Monday.

Steele, who became the Flathead Forest supervisor in February 2020, will be taking up a deputy directorship position in ecosystem planning, according to agency spokesperson Dan Hottle. Steele could not be immediately reached for comment.

According to Tami MacKenzie, the Flathead Forest’s deputy supervisor, agency officials are determining the process to select Steele’s successor.

Hottle cautioned it may take time to find a permanent replacement for Steele. Officials likely will fill the job on an interim basis in the meantime, he said.

Steele oversaw the Flathead Forest during a three-and-a-half year stretch marked by contentious debates over use of the forest.

Hottle said those dustups played no role in Steele’s departure.

“This was just a position he was offered at the regional office,” Hottle said. “It was just an opportunity for him.”

Most recently, Steele’s role in efforts to expand the historic Holland Lake Lodge in the Swan Valley, which operates on public land through a special-use permit, earned criticism from opponents of the project.

Critics accused the public scoping process for the development plan of containing flaws. Forest Service officials have acknowledged missteps in the process, according to reporting from Daily Montanan. Although Steele eventually rejected the original expansion proposal by POWDR — the private company behind the project — the Forest Service welcomed the submission of a new plan, earning more public criticism.

Steele was also in charge in 2022 when a group of residents filed suit against the Forest Service over the Blankenship Bridge river access. The lawsuit alleged the federal agency violated the Wild Scenic and Rivers Act, The Forest Service Organic Act and the Administrative Procedures Act for allowing people to camp unfettered on a gravel bar along the Flathead River near the bridge.

A federal judge ruled against the group in July of that year. The case was dismissed the following month.

Steele, a graduate of Oregon State University with a bachelor’s degree in natural resources, focused on forest ecosystems, began working for the Forest Service when he got a job as a forester at Oregon’s Willamette National Forest after college.

He has also served as district ranger on the Superior National Forest in Minnesota, three supervisor assignments on the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois, the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana and the Nez-Perce-Clearwater National Forest in Idaho.