Leadership

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Michiko Martin brings more than 30 years of federal government career experience to the Southwestern Region. She leads more than 2,000 employees and oversees 20.6 million acres of national forests in grasslands in Arizona and New Mexico. Additional assignments include serving as the Forest Service's Acting Director of Engineering, Technology and Geospatial Services and the Director of Conservation Education and served as a commissioned naval officer at various locations for over a decade each.

An indigenous Uchinānchu of the Ryukyu Islands, Michiko earned a bachelor’s degree in oceanography at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; she later earned a master’s degree in Ocean Engineering jointly awarded from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution located in Cape Cod, Massachusetts; she also earned a master’s degree in education leadership from Troy University, based in Troy, Alabama, while attending the branch on Kadena Air Base in the Pacific.

As of November 2, 2025, Michiko is also serving as the acting regional forester for the Intermountain Region. 

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Ben Newburn serves as the Acting Intermountain Regional Forester. Ben  was the Intermountain Region director of Fire & Aviation Management (FAM). Prior to this, he was the Forest Fire Staff Officer on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest since 2014.

He recently served as an Acting Deputy Forest Supervisor and previously as the Acting Deputy Director of FAM in the Pacific Southwest Region. He was a member of the Senior Leader Program's Cohort 11 and participates in a number of national cadres and committees, including regular involvement with You Will Not Stand Alone, L-580 Leadership in Action, and the National M-581 Course Management Sub-Committee.

During Ben’s tenure as Fire Staff Officer, he participated with incident management teams as an operations section chief, planning section chief, and incident commander, chaired the Pacific Southwest Region’s Safety FIRST committee, and was an active member of the region’s Work Environment Committee.

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Christopher Campbell serves as a Deputy Regional Forester for the Intermountain Region. Chris began his career with the Forest Service in 2012 at the National Forest System in Washington, D.C. Chris has been serving as the Director of Engineering in the Intermountain Region office.

Campbell was previously a Legislative Affairs Specialist and the State, Private and Tribal Forestry Chief of Staff. Prior to his time in the Forest Service, Campbell served in the U.S. Air Force as an Engineering Officer and Director of Operations at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Originally from Washington, Campbell graduated from the University of Portland with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical engineering. He enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and friends.

Since 1907, there have been 19 Regional Foresters in the region.

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