The man who apparently drowned in Whiskeytown Lake on Monday afternoon was an off-duty Forest Service employee. 25-year-old Zanard Choice of Redding was a Forest Landscape Architect. Originally from South Carolina, Choice was well known after working in the planning and construction of many recreation and restoration projects in the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service. Shasta-Trinity National Forest Supervisor Scott Russell says his contributions to his profession and to our public lands were vast. On Monday Choice was with a friend swimming on the east side of Whiskeytown Lake near the Shasta Divide Nature Trail. After swimming across a cove and resting on the other side, Choice made the return swim and was within 20 or 30 feet of the shore when he called out to his friend and went underwater. His friend was able to reach him and pull him up and nearby paddle boarders helped bring him to shore. Help was called and first responders were on scene within 10 minutes, but Choice could not be resuscitated.