Robert Stegemann, Region 5 director for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, smiles at an I Love NY event in October 2019 at Whiteface Mountain Ski Center in Wilmington. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

RAY BROOK — Bob Stegemann, the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Region 5 director and representative to the state Adirondack Park Agency board, has announced that he will retire at the end of March.

Stegemann has held that position since 2011 and has recently been involved with some of the most pressing environmental issues in the area, including an increase of hiking in the High Peaks, a controversial rails-to-trail conversion, the finalization of the long-awaited Sentinel Range and Saranac Lake Wilderness Unit Management Plans, and the state purchasing huge chunks of land to add to the Adirondack Forest Preserve.

A job listing for Stegemann’s position has been posted on the DEC’s website, with a $135,179 to $170,030 salary and a starting date of April.

As Region 5 director Stegemann oversaw natural resource management programs, environmental quality programs, campground operations, Forest Preserve lands and state recreational resources.

Stegemann had environmental experience when he was hired, previously working as executive vice president of the Empire State Forests Products Association and as senior policy analyst for the Tug Hill Commission; volunteering with the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, the Adirondack Research Consortium, the Adirondack Nature Conservancy & Land Trust, the SUNY ESF College Foundation and the Northern Forest Lands Council; and holding a master’s degree from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

He had worked for International Paper as the company’s manager of sustainability for 18 years.

When he was hired in 2011, he replaced Betsy Lowe.

Region 5 includes Clinton, Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Fulton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties: It covers two-thirds of the Adirondack Park and more than 2 million acres of Adirondack Forest Preserve lands.

The job listing can be found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/101645.html.