An ideas — and solutions — man

Gary Keating is thankful to his mother-in-law for a lot of things. Among them is his job.

It was in June 2014, following the birth of his son and he was living in Centralia, Wash., he became interested in working for the Forest Service.

“At that time, my wife’s mom worked at the Three Rivers district in Kettle Falls, Wash.” Keating recalled. “She was sending me job announcements for the Colville National Forest. I got the hint that she wanted to be closer to her last grandchild and spend some time with him before he grows up."

In May 2016, Keating accepted a position with the Colville National Forest and his family packed up, sold the house in Centralia, and moved to Kettle Falls. He started his current engineering role with the Forest Service in June 2016.

“What I value of my role with the Forest Service is that I am part of close-knit team that really cares about you," he said. "This office and my boss really listen to me about ideas and or solutions of a project. I work with great people."

Those people say great things about him.

The USDA Forest Service recently selected Gary Keating as the agency’s National Engineering Technician of the Year for 2023, a press release said.

Keating is a Post Falls native and graduated from Post Falls High School in 1986. After high school, Keating attended Spokane Community College, and graduated in 2001 with an associate degree in civil engineering technologies. 

Keating has family and friends that still live in Post Falls.

He was nominated for the national award after receiving the regional level honor in March 2024 from the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region, which encompasses Oregon and Washington. 

Keating will be officially recognized by the agency for his national award mid-April in Washington, D.C.

“Gary is a leader, leading by example with diligence and reliability to effectively execute projects in all phases including design, contract preparation and contract administration,” said Josh White, Colville National Forest supervisor. “He creates camaraderie in the work environment by taking time to mentor employees, even with his own heavy workload, and never misses an opportunity to enhance relationships.”

Keating’s initiative to try innovative approaches to project design by using Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR, data, have been groundbreaking, the release said. 

"By using this cutting-edge remote sensing method in project design work, Keating has strengthened Colville National Forest’s capacity to tackle the extra workload associated with the current Wildfire Crisis," the release said.

Prior to his current role, Keating worked for 14 years as a civil engineering technician supporting project contract preparation and administration for Lewis County out of Centralia, Wash.

Keating is also a veteran, having served in the U.S. Navy for five years, working as a jet mechanic and serving a tour of duty in Desert Storm.

Keating works on projects across the forest landscape that require detailed collaboration with colleagues and partners to meet multiple forest management objectives. 

His role includes project design, contract preparation and management for building or repairing key infrastructure such as roads, bridges and culverts, recreation facilities and trails.

“I love working for the Forest Service," he said.