A South Dakota native has returned home to serve as the Hell Canyon District Ranger for the Black Hills National Forest.

Lynn Kolund, who graduated from Chamberlain High School in 1970, began his duties at the Hell Canyon District office in Custer in March.

After high school, Kolund served four years in the U.S. Navy, attended one year at University of South Dakota, then graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in forest biology.

Kolund began his Forest Service career working at the Bearlodge Ranger District in Sundance, Wyo., then served the Gunnison National Forest and Grand Mesa National Forest in Colorado and the Tongass National Forest in Alaska before coming to the Black Hills.