New Forest Chief Named

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman on 12/20 named Mike Dombeck as the new US Forest Service chief (Scott Sonner, AP/mult.). Dombeck, the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management, would become the second biologist in a row to head the agency, succeeding Jack Ward Thomas, who resigned in 11/96 (GREENWIRE, 10/11) (Doyle/Blumenthal, Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE).

A former USFS official who managed the agency's fisheries program, Dombeck said his priority would be to "build on the rich tradition of working closely with local communities to restore and maintain productive, healthy and diverse ecological systems."

Interior Sec'y Bruce Babbitt credited Dombeck with helping to shape Pres. Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan, implementing a strategy to protect and restore salmon and steelhead on public lands, and leading an interagency review of wildland fire policy.

Environmentalists generally praised the appointment, pointing to Dombeck's experience with fisheries work and grazing reform. (Scott Sonner, AP/mult.). Wilderness Society spokesperson Ben Beach: "Once again ... they're breaking the habit of always picking a timber guy, which I think is a positive thing" (Doyle/Blumenthal, Tacoma NEWS TRIBUNE).

Dombeck does not require Senate confirmation for the position. But Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Frank Murkowski (R-AK) said he was disappointed that the new chief did not come from within the USFS's forester ranks. Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), chair of the Energy and Natural Resources subcmte. on forestry, said that Dombeck had gotten "crossways with Congress" when he lobbied for grazing fee reforms in the last congressional session. Craig: "Barring a repeat of that unfortunate episode, I believe I would be able to work in a positive way with Mr. Dombeck (Sonner, AP/mult.).

Meanwhile, the Western Ancient Forest Campaign urged Dombeck to cancel all remaining timber sales under the salvage-logging law as his first act as chief (WAFC release). (All cites 12/20.)