Discover Your Forest announces Karen Oonagh Gentry as new executive director

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Discover Your Forest is pleased to announce that longtime employee Karen Oonagh Gentry is taking over as executive director for the organization.

Karen has been associated with the nonprofit since 2010 - two years before the official development of the nonprofit’s partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.

Karen brings graduate education, decades of experience in botany, nonprofit leadership, and land management partnership, as well as multiple awards celebrating her professional successes. As Executive Director, Karen will provide oversight regarding strategic goal setting, fiscal development, and collaborative community support.

The pillars of Discover Your Forest’s mission are to provide excellent visitor services to cultural and geological land sites throughout our region, convene and enhance stewardship on our landscape, take part in creating the next generation of environmental stewards, and work to create an outdoor sector that is more sustainable, more diverse, and more accessible for all types of users.

Karen brings unique expertise to this role, as she has had critical involvement in the pursuit and demonstration of these goals for more than a decade. Gentry also brings a phenomenal reputation for interpretation and volunteer management, both in our community and beyond.

Gentry began her relationship with local land management agencies in 2010 as a volunteer with the U.S. Forest Service. In 2011, the Deschutes National Forest began the process of looking for an official friends group, and shortly after, she was brought on to take part in developing what would later become Discover Your Forest.

Since then, Karen has served in nearly every capacity possible at the nonprofit. She is most known however, for serving as the Education and Interpretation Director for the last several years. While working in the Education and Volunteer departments, she has received numerous awards including the USFS Volunteer & Service Cultural Diversity Award for the Greenhouse to Greenscapes Program, USFS Region 6 Volunteer Coordinator of the year, Children’s Forest of Central Oregon Environmental Educator of the year, and is a long standing member of the National Association of Interpretation as a Certified Interpretive Guide and Trainer.

Karen has lived in Central Oregon for 13 years. Her respect and appreciation for our unique National Forests and Grassland come from a deep and life-long love of the natural world. She hikes our trails, standup paddle boards our rivers, gardens with our native plants, excitedly admires our wildlife, and gives back to the land with consistency and determination.

As she steps into the new role, she reflects, “I’m excited and looking forward to serving the organization, the Central Oregon community, and our partners in this new role. I am filled with gratitude and ready to do the vital work we have been entrusted to do.”

The Forest Service is equally excited with the selection. Alex Enna, Partnership Program Manager on the Deschutes National Forests says, “Karen has been a committed member of the Discover Your Forest team for over a decade. From developing and leading interpretive and conservation education programs to training volunteers, she has played a huge part in building the organization into what it is today. With several new and exciting Forest Service-DYF partnership opportunities on the horizon, I can’t think of anyone better suited than Karen to lead the organization into the future.”

To find out more about Discover Your Forest’s impact in our community and on our landscape, visit our website at www.discoveryourforest.org.