SALEM, Ore. – Two people newly hired by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) are now available to help Oregonians prepare for emerald ash borer (EAB) and mitigate its potentially devastating effects on their urban and natural area ash trees. Matt Mills comes to ODF from the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture where he has been coordinating that agency’s EAB response in Washington County. This included overseeing the state’s slow-the-spread work in and around Forest Grove. Mills has prior experience as a park ranger with Oregon State Parks and for many years worked as a zookeeper. He has a bachelor’s degree in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Oregon. Kat Bethea joins ODF from the City of Portland Urban Forestry. There, as a Botanic Specialist they worked on inventorying street trees. Bethea holds bachelor’s degrees in Biology and in Forensic Science from the University of Central Oklahoma. They then spent several field seasons as a field technician on projects ranging from specimen collection for museums to invasive insect surveys in Oregon. “We had a very competitive selection process with great candidates. We are pleased to have found two who are so well qualified and highly motivated to do this important work,” said Scott Altenhoff, ODF Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager. Mills and Bethea started on July 15. The two previous EAB Support Specialists – Lilah Gonen and Evan Elderbrock – have moved into permanent Community Assistance Forester positions in ODF’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. Gonen is now serving as overall coordinator for ODF’s EAB response. Mills and Bethea join a grants administrator and four new community assistance foresters hired since March – up from just one for the whole state. Altenhoff credits funding from the Oregon Legislature and the USDA Forest Service through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for helping ODF add staff to address many longstanding urban forestry issues as well as new concerns, such as helping cities adapt their urban forests to climate change and an onslaught of introduced pests and diseases. “I’m excited that with more staff we can now engage with more of Oregon’s 241 cities and towns spread over 90,000 square miles,” said Altenhoff. “We’ll be able to better help them plan and manage their urban trees in accordance with best practices and the latest scientific research. And Matt and Kat will play crucial roles in that effort.”
