Bekee Hotze is the District Ranger for the Salt Lake Ranger District, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. She has an undergraduate degree from Northland College in biology and a master’s degree in forestry from Michigan Tech. She has worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service where she eventually became the Branch Chief for the Terrestrial Endangered Species Branch and then moved to the Bureau of Land Management as the Field Manager for the Salt Lake Field Office.  She has now been the District Ranger for the Salt Lake Ranger District for the Forest Service for almost 5 years.  As District Ranger, Hotze oversees the management of 216,000 acres of National Forest System lands adjacent to the capital city of Salt Lake City, Utah. Management in this area includes balancing the needs to protect watersheds and those of the recreating public. Her district provides 60% of the culinary water to Salt Lake City and is her primary consideration when making land management decisions. The Ranger District also has over 6 million visitors per year, primarily in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood, and Mill Creek Canyons. Visitation occurs year-round and visitors enjoy a multitude of recreational experiences, such as downhill skiing, cross country skiing, camping, mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, wildflower and wildlife viewing, and motorized off-road recreation. In addition, the Wasatch Mountains bring in artists who capture nature's beauty in their preferred mediums.