USDA appoints Reggie Blackwell as supervisor of 1.2 million-acre Ozark National Forest and 23,000-acre St. Francis National Forest in Arkansas; Blackwell has served 30 years with US Forest Service, nine years with Natural Resources Conservation Service

Wendy Lisney

RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas , June 3, 2014 (U.S. Forest Service) – The Ozark-St. Francis National Forests will welcome a new Forest Supervisor with 39 years’ experience in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, June 8.

Reggie Blackwell will supervise approximately 200 Forest Service employees who work on over 1.2 million acres of the Ozark National Forest located mostly in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas and the 23,000-acre St. Francis National Forest in eastern Arkansas.

“I feel extremely honored to be selected as the Forest Supervisor for the Ozark-St. Francis National Forests,” Blackwell said. “I am very aware of the Forest’s long, outstanding history of important contributions to local and state communities and economies, and of the Forest’s nationally significant natural resources and scenic attractions. I am looking forward to working to maintain the great history of the Ozark-St. Francis with the many people, groups and organizations who share in the appreciation and uses of the National Forests.”

Over Blackwell’s 39 years with the USDA, he has served 30 years with the Forest Service and 9 years with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Blackwell comes to Arkansas after serving as a National Resources Specialist with the NRCS in Fort Worth, Texas.

Blackwell began his Forest Service career on the Ouachita National Forest and served for 15 years as a Forest Service District Ranger on the Black Kettle National Grassland in Oklahoma and Texas, as well as the Cibola National Forest in New Mexico.

A native of McKinney, Texas, Blackwell is married to the former Anita Smith of Garrett, Ind., and they have four grown children and 5 grandchildren. 

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