A change is underway at the top of the agency in charge of about 3 million acres of northeastern Minnesota. Superior National Forest Supervisor Brenda Halter retires this month, and today it was announced that Connie Cummins will take the helm in August.
Halter had served as supervisor of the Superior since 2012 after a long career with the Forest Service. In her four years in northern Minnesota, she worked on topics like land exchanges, mining proposals, management of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and several wildfires.
Her replacement, Cummins, is returning to the forest from a two-year stint at the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Oregon. She had previously served as a district ranger on the Superior National Forest for nine years, working on the La Croix District. She spent much of the rest of her career at the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin.
In a statement, Cummins said, “While I have thoroughly enjoyed my short time in the west and its many opportunities and challenges, I am very excited to be returning to the Midwest and to a Forest which holds a special place in my heart.”
Returning to the Midwest also means being closer to family, with her daughter living in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and her son residing in Duluth.