Dana Taylor—2018 Managerial Engineer of the Year
Dana Taylor is the assistant forest engineer on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in eastern Oregon. In addition to managing the transportation program and budget for the engineering group, her influence extends to all forest programs. She oversees contracts, agreements, interagency cooperation, timber sales, burned area emergency response (BAER), emergency relief for federally owned roads (ERFO), and small- and large-scale planning work critical to all forest areas, including watershed health, aquatics and fisheries, wildlife, timber, range, and recreation. While supervising six full-time and two seasonal employees, Dana has maintained her Level III contracting officer’s representative (COR) certification, National Construction Certification Program (NCCP) certification in 12 categories, operated for more than 4 years as the single qualified engineering representative (ER) for timber sales, and prepared and overseen all timber road work on the forest. At the same time, she has worked to train and qualify two junior engineers to support the program.
Dana is proactive in managing engineering employees and assisting in career development. She encourages cross-training, career-enhancement opportunities, and personal development. She empowers all engineers and road managers on the forest to make decisions, respond to issues, and improve their skills. She emphasizes self-reliance and empowerment; giving each person space to grow and excel, while providing support to ensure success. She allows flexibility for employees managing each portion of the budget, empowering them to better allocate resources they need to do their jobs. She is always available for technical support, background information, and policy guidance, but encourages initiative and individual accomplishment.
Dana is recognized for her focus on project delivery and stewardship of the land. She has provided long-term leadership and working solutions to many of the challenges facing the forest’s transportation infrastructure. She consistently coordinates with timber, wildlife, range, watershed, and other disciplines on the forest to ensure that engineering support and objectives are integrated with forest needs. Her multi-disciplinary methods for providing engineering support require constant interaction with budget and finance, fleet, human resources, acquisition management (AQM), and multiple partners and external agencies.
Dana attended Oregon State University and Eastern Oregon University, graduating during 1982 with a bachelor’s of science degree in physics, with minors in chemistry and education. After working in Wyoming logging oil wells, she returned to Baker City, OR, where she worked for the Baker County Road Department before beginning her Forest Service career during 1988. She started as a student trainee engineering technician and converted to the civil engineer series 6 months later. Dana served on the Powder Valley school board for 9 years, with the board of directors for the Blue Mountain Translator District for more than 5 years, and coached softball for 8 years. She enjoys camping, hiking, skiing, kayaking, bowling, and spending time with friends and family.
