Pamela Warhurst has been appointed as chair of the Forestry Commission.
Mrs Warhurst, from Todmorden in West Yorkshire, was until recently a member of the board of Natural England, where she was the lead non-executive member working on the Countryside & Rights of Way Bill.
She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts & Manufacturing, and chairs Pennine Prospects, a regeneration company for the South Pennines, and Incredible Edible Todmorden, a local food partnership.
Mrs Warhurst has previously been the leader of Calderdale Council, deputy chair and acting chair of the Countryside Agency, a board member of Yorkshire Forward, and chair of the National Countryside Access Forum and the Calderdale NHS Trust.
She was appointed CBE in 2005 for services to the environment.
