While Kara is not an employee of the Middle Park Conservation District, she works closely with the District and is a familiar face in the office.

Kara was born and raised in Southeast Michigan where she did NOT grow up hiking, hunting, or truly loving the outdoors. Kara discovered her love of hiking in 2005 when she went on her first backpacking trip to Rocky Mountain National Park where she climbed Longs Peak. Everything about that experience was incredibly challenging, but she says the views and the experience were worth every second. Kara went back to RMNP again in 2007 and came across a National Park Service ranger while hiking down a trail on the west side of the park. Right then, a seed was planted, and she went back to school in 2008 to pursue a B.S. in Environmental Science with a specialty in Natural Resource Management.

For the last 4 years, Kara has worked as a Soil Conservationist for NRCS in Lenawee County, Michigan. For 3 years prior to that, she worked for the Conservation District. While working for NRCS in Michigan, Kara mostly worked with row crop farmers and forest landowners, but she is excited to work with and learn from ranchers here. Kara says that it has truly been a long time dream of hers to live and work in CO, so she is incredibly grateful to be here, especially in Grand County.