For First Time, Woman Will Run Forest Service

By Rocky Barker, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Jan. 13–Gail Kimbell, the regional forester overseeing North Idaho’s national forests, will become the first woman to head the U.S. Forest Service.

Kimbell replaces Dale Bosworth, the University of Idaho graduate who has sought to shift the agency’s focus from logging to managing fuels and fires, protecting open space, preventing overgrowth of invasive plants and managing recreation. Kimbell will oversee 191 million acres of national forests with a staff of 30,000 employees and a $4 billion budget.

“She is well-respected both within the agency and by our stakeholders,” said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns Friday. “I’m confident she will do a terrific job as chief.”

The agency manages 20 million acres of forests and grasslands in Idaho including the Boise, Payette and Sawtooth national forests in Southwest Idaho. These are the most popular lands in the state for hunting, fishing, camping and both motorized and quiet outdoor recreation.

National forests include the 9.3 million acres of roadless lands that have been a center of controversy because of their value as fish and wildlife habitat, potential future wilderness, recreation destinations and a source for timber.

Kimbell, who would be the 16th chief of the agency, has been working with Idaho officials on the state’s petition to protect more than 8 million acres of roadless lands under a system proposed by former Gov. Jim Risch. As Forest Service chief she will oversee the review process and the effort to reconcile several lawsuits over the Bush and Clinton roadless plans.

She praised Risch’s efforts to reach out to competing interests.

“The Idaho petition does go a long way toward resolving the many-decades-long debate,” Kimbell said Friday.

Her experience as regional forester over North Idaho will be good for the state, said Jonathan Oppenheimer, who works on forest issues for the Idaho Conservation League.

“In general, we think she’s a good choice for the position,” Oppenheimer said.

Idaho Republican U.S. Sen. Larry Craig said Kimbell will continue to restore the agency’s return toward professionalism over politics that Bosworth guided as chief.

“She’s firmly rooted in her principles and knows how to foster collaboration to get work accomplished on the ground,” Craig said. “She has definitely earned her stripes.”

Kimbell holds a bachelor’s degree in forest management from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree in forest engineering from Oregon State University. She began her career in the federal government as a forester with the Bureau of Land Management in Medford, Ore.

She then worked her way up through the Forest Service, serving a forest supervisor in Colorado, Alaska and Wyoming before taking the regional forester job over Idaho, Montana and North Dakota.

Bosworth will retire from the Forest Service after 41 years.

“I decided this was the best time for me and the agency,” Bosworth said Friday.

He took over the agency at the beginning of Bush’s presidency, shifting the agency’s attention away from its embattled timber program gutted during the Clinton years. He placed “four threats:” fire, recreation, open space and controlling invasive plants as the top priority for the Forest Service.

The effort helped restore Forest Service employees’ morale and their historic perception as protectors of the land.

“I am proud of the work he has accomplished and believe he is leaving the Forest Service better off than he found it,” Craig said.

Bosworth will return to Missoula, Mont., where he has a home. Kimbell will leave Missoula, where she is now based, to take over in Washington in three weeks.

To offer story ideas or comments, contact Barker at rbarker@idahostatesman.com or 377-6484.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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