News Release

Jay Lusher named Intermountain Region Fire Management Officer

Date: May 17, 2018
Contact: Vanessa Lacayo, 303-969-2062

Jay Lusher is the new regional fire management officer for NPS' Intermountain Region

USFS photo by Kari Greer

DENVER — Jay Lusher, a 15-year veteran of the National Park Service (NPS), has been named regional fire management officer of the NPS Intermountain Region by Regional Chief Ranger Mike Archer. Lusher is chief of fire and aviation of Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. He will begin his new assignment July 22, 2018.

“Jay is a leader in the interagency wildland fire community. He brings experience working with partners at Grand Canyon and providing leadership for the NPS Wildland Fire Management Program as a member of the NPS Fire Management Leadership Board,” Archer said. “His management and leadership background make him ideal for this key position.”

Lusher spent 15 years at Grand Canyon. He began working in the helicopter program in 2003 and eventually oversaw one of the most complex helicopter programs in the NPS. He became chief of fire and aviation in 2012 and continues to embrace the application of fire throughout the landscape of the park both with natural and prescribed fire.

“The NPS Intermountain Region fire management program is diverse and complex,” Lusher said. “I look forward to being part of the team and managing wildland fire to protect the public, park communities and maintain and restore natural ecosystem process.”

Lusher began his fire career in Wyoming in 1995 on a rural fire department. From 1996 through 2002 he worked for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management throughout Wyoming including a short stint as a structural firefighter for the City of Casper.

Lusher has been member of a national type one incident management team since 2006, working primarily in the southwest and California.

Lusher, a native of Wyoming, earned an associate’s degree in applied science from Casper College and a certificate in forestry from Northern Arizona University. He is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys mountain biking, skiing and fly fishing. He will move to Denver with his wife Robin, who currently serves as Chief of Chief of Planning, Environment and Projects at Grand Canyon.