Matthew Shepherd
Forestry Technician
Matthew joined the Kansas Forest Service at the end of 2023. Matthew was born and raised in Michigan. He enjoyed outdoor activities with a passion for shooting sports as a child. He also participated in Boy Scouts achieving the rank of Eagle. Later as a teen, he enjoyed passing those same skills on to younger generations. Matthew moved to Kansas in 2014, at the age of 17. Where he volunteered with a disaster relief organization, traveling as far as Puerto Rico. After 4 years of volunteering, Matt became a Wildland Fire Fighter and joined a forestry contractor based in Oregon as a forestry technician. He spent most of his time on a type 2 IA hand crew and a little time spent on an engine crew on his fourth fire season was injured on a fire. Matthew returned back to Kansas with his family to recover has since joined his local Volunteer Fire Department and enjoys being a first responder.