Longtime Superior National Forest chief retiring

The man who has run the Superior National Forest for 15 sometimes tumultuous years is retiring at the end of December.

Fifty-eight-year-old Jim Sanders is the longest-serving supervisor in the 102-year history of the 3 million acre forest that covers much of northeastern Minnesota. He tells the Duluth News Tribune it's time to let someone else take the lead.

His tenure has been marked by the ongoing debate between preservation and development. He's dealt with controversies over logging, overseen a half-dozen battles against major forest fires, and led the rescue and cleanup effort after a 1999 windstorm toppled millions of trees in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. He's also dealt heavily with mining issues in recent years.

Sanders made his announcement in an email to Forest Service employees last week.

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Information from: Duluth News Tribune

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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