Utah state forester and director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, Jamie Barnes, will be the commissioner of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.
Barnes will step into the role on Aug. 31. Her appointment succeeds Commissioner Joel Ferry, who has led the department since June 2022.
Cox says Ferry helped secure record funding and water rights for the Great Salt Lake, helped turn the governor’s Operation Gigawatt initiative into action and strengthened the management and protection of Utah’s natural resources.
Barnes has served as the state forester and director of the division since August 2021. She joined the division in 2011 as a paralegal.
Barnes also managed the division’s sovereign lands program and has worked with state, local and federal agencies, landowners and other stakeholders to develop solutions to natural resource and land management issues.
