Inyo National Forest welcomes Mount Whitney District Ranger
Bishop, Calif., October 12, 2023 — The Inyo National Forest is pleased to welcome Taro Pusina, the District Ranger for the Mount Whitney Ranger District. Taro fills the position behind Julie Hall, who retired earlier this year.
Taro is no stranger to the Inyo National Forest, as he served many years recreating here, and as the Interagency Fire Management Officer before retiring in 2021.
Taro was born and raised in Berkeley, California and after graduating with a degree in natural resources and forestry from U.C. Berkeley, he worked as a timber cruiser, then wildland firefighter and manager for 27 years at Yosemite National Park. He served on one of the first wildland fire use modules in the nation and continued his career using science-based interdisciplinary approaches to protect wildland urban interface communities at risk from catastrophic wildfire and restore and maintain fire-adapted landscapes.
Taro moved to Bishop in 2015 as the Bureau of Land Management Interagency Chief 2, eventually promoting to Interagency Chief 1.
“Since retiring I’ve been a consultant with Spatial Informatics Group, working on Forest Service post-wildfire recovery projects and compiling wildfire risk assessments for government and private entities, among other things,” said Taro. “I am excited to rejoin the Inyo National Forest and the Mount Whitney Ranger District in this new capacity.”
Forest Supervisor Lesley Yen is also grateful to have Taro re-joining the Inyo team. “I look forward to the experienced leadership he will provide to the Mount Whitney District and beyond,” she said.
