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SWETNAM -- Fred Raymond Swetnam, born in Trinidad, CO, February 8, 1925 died in Albuquerque on October 9, 2006. Fred Swetnam was a District Ranger with the U.S. Forest Service for 35 years. He served on the Lincoln, Carson, Santa Fe, and Coconino National Forests in New Mexico and Arizona. Swetnam was recognized by many service awards for his pioneering efforts to promote timber thinning projects using local contractors, and to collaboratively manage range resources with local ranchers. Prior to his Forest Service career, Swetnam served with the U.S. Army as a combat medic in the European Theater of World War II. He was awarded the Combat Medical Badge and the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster for heroism, including carrying wounded soldiers to safety while under heavy bombardment during and after the crossing of the Roer River into Germany in February 1945. Following retirement from the Forest Service, Swetnam taught ecology, range management, geology, and forestry for many years at the Northern New Mexico Community College. He was married for fifty-two years to the late Grace Mae Swetnam. He is survived by four children: James Raymond Swetnam, Michael Steven Swetnam, Sydney Mae Swetnam, and Thomas William Swetnam; as well as five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Interment will be at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 16, 2006 in the National Veterans cemetery in Santa Fe.
        Published on: Mon October 16, 2006