Dr. James R. Grace was appointed deputy secretary for state parks and forestry in the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources this week.

In this new position, Grace will be responsible for the direction of the bureaus of State Parks and Forestry, as well as the Bureau of Facility Design and Construction.

With 117 state parks, Pennsylvania has one of the largest and most diverse park systems in the country. At 2.1 million acres of state forest land, the commonwealth also has one of the largest sustainable certified forests in the nation.

The Bureau of Facility Design and Construction designs and manages construction projects for bridges, water and sewage systems, swimming pools, beach areas and dams in the state parks and forests.

Grace has served as the state forester since 1994. He previously served in a deputy secretary role in the former Department of Environmental Resources from 1987 to 1993. During the early part of his career, he served on the faculty in forestry at Rutgers and Penn State universities.

Grace has a Ph.D. in forest ecology from Penn State. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Camp Hill.

3/9/2007