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Last updated on Wednesday, June 8, 2016
(BEDFORD) - Katelyn Coner is back on the Hoosier National Forest.
Coner has begun her new assignment managing the Forest trail permit program and maintaining trails on the northern end of the Forest. She will work with vendors on the Forest to sell permits and patrol the trail system for visitor safety.
Coner has already received law enforcement training and is a red-carded fire-fighter. Coner worked with the Hoosier much of last year, so may already be a familiar face to many visitors.
She began work on the Forest as a volunteer, putting in time as a requirement for an Indiana University class. She truly enjoyed the work and the Forest staff she worked with. She graduated in May 2015 from Indiana University in Environmental Management and immediately went back to work with the Hoosier National Forest under a position with Mobilize Green - a partnership organization that works with the Forest Service. As a Mobilize Green Intern, Coner was the Youth Conservation Corp leader in 2015 and worked in the recreation program throughout the summer.
When the recreation detail ended, she was hired at the Hoosier National Forest, through the National Wild Turkey Federation, as an intern to work through the fall on wildlife projects. Coner asserts she loved it all, and didn't want to leave.
In 2015, Katelyn Coner won the award for the most outstanding Volunteer and Partner in Region 9 (a 15 state area in the northeastern United States) from the US Forest Service. Forest Supervisor Mike Chaveas noted that Coner is "truly an outstanding asset to the Forest and we feel very fortunate to be able to hire her back as a permanent employee."
Coner was very grateful to get the trail position and is looking forward to working with Forest staff, vendors, and the public. She said she was already familiar with the northern part of the Hoosier but looks forward to getting to know the southern part of the Hoosier National Forest as well. "I'm just happy to be here," said Coner.
Coner can be reached for questions regarding the trail program at the Bedford office of the Hoosier National Forest at (812) 275-5987.
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