Andrea HIlle

Born Sept. 4, 1965, Andrea grew up in Boulder, CO, and earned a BS in Forest Management from University of Colorado in 1987. Shortly after graduation Andrea began her career with the US Forest Service, serving Alaska, New Mexico, and California before transferring to the Allegheny National Forest in 1992. On the ANF, she served as a forester, district and then forest silviculturist, and as the Forest’s Ecosystem Staff Officer.

Andrea received numerous local, regional, and national awards, especially for her work to combine forest management with efforts to sustain and improve forest health. She was a leader of the Hemlock Initiative, which brought the region’s forest managers together to coordinate identification of the most important hemlock groves and strategies to protect them from hemlock woolly adelgid and other threats. She was also a leader in the Forest’s efforts to conserve beech that showed resistance to beech bark disease. She was a co-founder of the Allegheny Forest Health Collaborative. Andrea worked regularly with scientists and was a coauthor on several papers about forests of the region. She was recognized for her insight and knowledge about the forest, for her natural leadership, and for her care and mentorship of all she worked with. She retired in 2022 but continued to contribute through her participation in the Allegheny National Forest’s Centennial Celebration in 2023.

Andrea loved everything about The Great Outdoors and deeply appreciated the beauty of the natural world. She enjoyed years of outdoor activities in all seasons with her partner of 29 years, Rose Gustafson, including skiing, hunting, fishing, ice fishing, boating on the Allegheny Reservoir and River, and camping. Andrea liked sharing walks, talks, meals, campfires, music, and outdoor adventures with those she loved.

Left to cherish Andrea’s memory are Rose and Trevor, parents Jerry and Irma Hille, sister Monica, the Gustafson siblings, numerous nephews and nieces, and her friends in the Forest Service and the wider forestry community. Andrea was beloved and she will be missed in ways big and small.

Family memorial services will be private. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made in Andrea’s memory to the Warren Cancer Care Center (1 Lee St., Warren, PA 16365) or to Hospice of Warren County (1 Main Ave., Warren, PA 1635) or by planting a seedling tree in a meaningful place.

The Nelson Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 314 N. Main St., in Youngsville, have been entrusted with all arrangements. Condolences to the family may made at nelsonfuneralhome.net.