Gov. Jared Polis and Dan Gibbs, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, named their official panel of advisers on forest health Tuesday afternoon.

The members of the Colorado Forest Health Council is made up of:

• Scott Jones, vice president of the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition, in Livermore.
• Aaron Kimple, program director of the Mountain States Institute in Durango.
• Paige Lewis, deputy state director and director of conservation programs for The Nature Conservancy in Colorado.
• Mark Morgan, owner of Morgan Timber Products in Wellington.
• Ouray County Commissioner, Ben Tisdel.
• Larimer County Commissioner Jody Shadduck-McNally.
• Samantha Albert, deputy director of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office.
• Christy Belton, a rancher from Steamboat Springs.
• Ethan Bucholz, academic liaison and experiential learning specialist for the Colorado State Forest Service.
• Christina Burri, a watershed scientist for Denver Water.
• San Miguel County Commissioner Hilary Cooper.
• Patricia Dorsey, director of conservation operations for the Mountain West for the National Wild Turkey Federation.
• Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon.
• Amy Moyer, director of strategic partnerships for the Colorado River District.
• Julie Stencel, assistant general counsel for Xcel Energy.
• Carole Walker, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.
• Selwyn Whiteskunk, vice chair of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council.
• Brett Wolk, assistant director, of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.

Ex-Officio members or their designees represent the executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, who will chair the council; the Colorado state forester; the director of the Division of Fire Prevention and Control; the regional forester or deputy regional forester for the U.S. Forest Service; the forestry program lead for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management; and the state conservationist in the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The council, is expected to apply integrated, science-based approaches fostering collaboration among federal, state and local governments, as well as private and nonprofit partners. The goal is to mitigate wildfires, restore ecological health, safeguard communities and water supplies, mitigate and adapt to climate change, support local economies and protect recreation amenities across jurisdictions, according to the governor’s office.

“Colorado’s forests face unprecedented challenges from climate change, year-round wildfire risk, and population growth,” Gibbs said in a statement. “Last year our state saw the three largest wildfires on record and Colorado needs a more robust and diverse advisory body to rise to the challenge of current forest health and wildfire mitigation realities.

“This newly elevated, cabinet level Forest Health Council will help guide and shape our renewed and refocused forest health and wildfire mitigation priorities across Colorado. I look forward to getting to work with our newly appointed council members, who represent the diversity and complexity of forest health entities collaborating everyday and who now will have the opportunity to shape our state’s forest management and wildfire risk management policies and priorities for the future.”