Tom Schultz, former director of the Idaho Department of Lands, was named chief of the U.S. Forest Service to succeed Randy Moore, who announced his retirement Wednesday.
Schultz was appointed chief of staff for Natural Resources and Environment at the USDA in January before President Donald Trump's visit to survey California wildfire damages. He has been overseeing both the Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
As Forest Service chief, he will be responsible for leading the management of 154 national forests and 20 grasslands across 43 states, totaling 193 million acres of public land.
Moore cited the challenges from the 'significant transformation' of the federal government in a note of reflection to employees. Moore served the department for more than four decades.
“I have been silent these last few weeks because these decisions are being made at a level above our organization, and I was and am learning about the changes at the same time as many of you,” Moore wrote. “Our focus now is on how we respond and adapt to new priorities and continue delivering on our mission with the workforce we have.”
Probationary federal employee firings have impacted about 10% of the U.S. Forest Service's staff.
Moore’s final day will be Monday.
Schultz most recently worked as vice president of resources and government affairs at the Idaho Forest Group for seven years, overseeing timber procurement operations and managing the organization's relationships with government officials.
As director of the Idaho Department of Lands, Schultz oversaw the management of 2.4 million surface acres of endowment lands and 3.3 million acres of endowment minerals. He also previously held leadership roles in Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation managing the Trust Lands and Water Resources divisions.
Another Idahoan, Michael Boren, was nominated by President Donald Trump to be USDA undersecretary for natural resources and environment. The founder of Clearwater Analytics and five other companies, Boren would oversee the Forest Service.
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