forest service chief retires

Earlier this week Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck announced his retirement from the US Forest Service, effective March 31, 2001.

Dombeck, 52, a native of Wisconsin, became the 14th Chief of the Forest Service on January 7, 1997. His retirement caps more than a quarter century of service as a federal employee, college professor, and high school teacher. Prior to his arrival at the Forest Service, Dombeck served as Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

Phil Janik, Chief Operating Officer for the USDA Forest Service will serve as acting chief until a successor is named.

This may come as a sigh of relief to snowmobilers. Dombeck's main issues while he was Chief were: watershed health and restoration, sustainable forest management, sound forest roads and roadless area protection and recreation.