Amy Sidener grew up in the Midwest (Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin) and attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, receiving a B.S. degree in Wildlife Management and Biology. While attending college, she worked summers at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in NM; the Flattops Wilderness Area for the USFS in Eagle, Colorado; and Great Smoky Mountains National Park in TN. After graduation, she got married and she and her husband, Lyle, spent their “honeymoon” working at Rocky Mountain National Park. That winter they became parents and moved to Idaho for a six month job with the Idaho Fish and Game. Lyle was hired full-time by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) the following summer and they moved to Colorado Springs. Amy worked part-time for the City Park and Recreation Department and the US Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (now the NRCS) and eventually was hired full-time by the SCS as a Soil Conservation Technician. After eight years she moved to Palisade due to her husband’s transfer and was able to continue working with the NRCS in the Delta Field Office as a Soil Conservationist. As a Conservationist, she wrote and administered EQIP cost-share contracts, administering up to 60 contracts amounting to over $1 million. Once again, after six years, her husband received a promotion and they relocated to the Middle Park area, where they currently reside, in 2005. Alas, this time there was no job for Amy with the NRCS, so she resigned her position and bided her time dispatching for Grand County until she was hired as a Natural Resource Management Specialist for the Grand County Division of Natural Resources. She has been there for a year now working for Jennifer Murray and assisting in the administration of the Noxious Weed program and Open Burning program. As you can tell, she is married and has a son, Drew, who will be graduating from high school this year, we hope! The family enjoys hunting, trap shooting, camping and skiing together when they can find the time.