Secretary Perdue Announces Tony Tooke as New Forest Service Chief

(Washington, D.C., August 21, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced Tony Tooke will serve as the new Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. Tooke has worked for the Forest Service since age 18 and currently is the Regional Forester for the Southern Region. Following the announcement, Secretary Perdue issued this statement:

“The Forest Service will be in good hands with the U.S. Forest Service’s own Tony Tooke whose knowledge of forestry is unmatched. Tony has been preparing for this role for his whole professional life, and at a time when we face active and growing fires, his transition into leadership will be seamless.  He will oversee efforts to get our forests working again, to make them more productive, and to create more jobs. His focus will be on ensuring we are good neighbors and are managing our forests effectively, efficiently, and responsibly, as well as working with states and local governments to ensure the utmost collaboration. No doubt, the stewardship of our forests is an awesome and sacred responsibility, and no one knows that better than Tony who has dedicated his career to this noble cause,” said Secretary Perdue.

Tony Tooke Biography:

Tony Tooke is the Regional Forester for the Southern Region of the USDA Forest Service. Tooke has worked for the Forest Service since age 18, including many assignments in Region 8 and the Washington Office (WO).

He is responsible for 3,100 employees, an annual budget exceeding $400 million, 14 national forests, and two managed areas, which encompass more than 13.3 million acres in 13 states and Puerto Rico.

His previous position in Washington, DC was Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System; with oversight of Lands and Realty, Minerals and Geology, Ecosystem Management Coordination, Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers, the National Partnership Office, and Business Administration and Support Services.

As Associate Deputy Chief, Tooke was the Forest Service Executive Lead for Environmental Justice; Farm Bill implementation; and implementation of the Inventory, Monitoring, and Assessment Improvement Strategy. Another priority included implementation of a new planning rule for the National Forest System.

Also in the WO, Tooke served as Director for Ecosystem Management Coordination, Deputy Director for Economic Recovery, and Assistant Director for Forest Management.

Prior to 2006, Tooke served as Deputy Forest Supervisor for the National Forests in Florida as well as District Ranger assignments at the Talladega NF in Alabama, the Oconee NF in Georgia, and the DeSoto NF in Mississippi. His other field assignments were Timber Management Assistant, Other Resource Assistant, Silviculturist, and Forester on six Ranger Districts in Mississippi and Kentucky.

Tooke grew up on a small 200-acre farm in Detroit, AL. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Mississippi State University. He was in the Forest Service’s inaugural class of the Senior Leadership Program, and he has completed the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.

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New paper from Dellasala, Ingalsbee, Hanson, et al: ACCOMMODATING MIXED-SEVERITY FIRE TO RESTORE AND MAINTAIN ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY WITH A FOCUS ON THE SIERRA NEVADA OF CALIFORNIA, USA.

Have not read it all yet. A focus: “managing for pyro-diversity through mixed-severity fires can promote ecosystem integrity in Sierran mixed conifer and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws) forests.” Seems well researched and presented, but IMHO, the proposition can’t really work in the Sierras, where so much fuel is present. You’ve got to reduce fuels and restore resilience, first and foremost. Would Californians accept more fire in the Sierras? I don’t think so.

Just got this from E&E News….

Tidwell retires after ‘lifelong love’ of public lands

Today’s Greenwire has an article on Chad Hanson, “Activists’ Quixote-like goal: No logging on public lands.” There is much to discuss here — the pros/cons of Hanson’s goal. However, I hope all of us will stick to the issues and avoid the usual snide remarks. I, for one, wonder why Greenwire produced this story. There’s no news here — Hanson’s stance hasn’t changed, and there’s no new study to back his views. At least the article aims for balance — for instance, by quoting Bill Imbergamo, executive director of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, a timber industry group.

My main disagreement with Hanson is his proposition that “the federal timber sales program must be ended in order for ecological management of our national forests and other federal forestlands to occur.” In other words, “let nature take its course.” But that ignores human influences of nature, such as fire exclusion, grazing, development, etc. The best example is the management of the giant sequoia groves in the Sierras. If one wants the giants to survive, some of the competing white fir will have to be cut — they’re too big to remove with a prescribed burn, now. So, either you conduct active forest management or watch as the giant sequoias weaken and die. To some degree, that applies to vast areas of federal forests.

This is from a June 18 press release from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund):

“The focus of efforts should shift from combating forest fires as they arise to preventing them from existing, through responsible long-term forest management. Responsible forest management is more effective and financially more efficient than financing the giant firefighting mechanisms that are employed every year.”

The press release was about recent fires in Portugal.

Aside from The Nature Conservancy, what environmental groups have called for “responsible long-term forest management”?

Letter in the Flathead Beacon supporting the Swan Forest Initiative, summarized on the project’s web page:

The approximately 60,000 acre forest would be established on the Flathead National Forest. All lands are within the LCCD boundaries and Lake County.

The Conservation Forest will be managed in trust by Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). The beneficiary of the trust is the LCCD.

The laws, rules and regulations governing the management of Montana’s State forest will be used by DNRC to manage the Conservation Forest.

All lands included in the Conservation Forest will continue to be owned by the United States Government. The people of the United States will continue to have the right to all lawful uses of these forest lands.
The Conservation Forest will revert to United States management 100 years after Congress approves establishment of the Conservation Forest.

All net revenues generated from proactively managing the Conservation Forest will be invested in conservation work in Lake County. The conservation work can occur on federal lands, State of Montana lands, private lands and tribal lands. Net revenues will most likely be invested in the Swan valley for a few decades.

This article in the Smokey Mountain News looks at the draft forest plan for the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest, which is “still nearly a year away.”

“I can’t commend the Forest Service enough on how they’ve rolled this out and how transparent they’ve been,” said David Whitmire, a hunter and outfitter who is also a member of the Stakeholders Forum for the Nantahala and Pisgah Plan Revision. “I think it’s fantastic.” …

The three main management types form a sort of gradient across the forest. Interface areas, generally about 1 mile wide, follow existing roads and are the places where human impact and population are likely to be the highest. The matrix area contains the most acreage and serves as a “connective tissue” between the interface and the backcountry. The backcountry, meanwhile, is managed to be remote and often roadless, with large blocks of relatively undisturbed forest.

More fodder for discussion. The article includes a link to an Interior memo on the topic.

The goals include finding “better ways” to partner federal land-use planning efforts with “state planning efforts,” seeking “opportunities to avoid delays caused by appeals and litigation” and developing a process to “right size” environmental review documents, “instead of defaulting to preparing an Environmental Impact Statement in circumstances when such a document is not absolutely needed,” according to the memo.

Russ Vaagen posted a video of a hearing of Alliance for the Wild Rockies vs. Jim Pena, the A to Z timber sale lawsuit. I haven’t listened to it all yet….

Article published today, June 28….

“Pointing to ‘significant dissatisfaction’ with the management of national forests, the Western Governors’ Association yesterday approved a resolution that calls in part for overhauling the Forest Service.

The seven-page policy resolution was adopted after a yearlong review of best practices and policies for forest and rangeland management in an effort spearheaded by current WGA Chairman and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D).”

….

Key paragraph from the resolution:

“Today, the Forest Service’s forest management program is primarily a byproduct of restoration projects intended to reduce wildfire risk and/or improve forest resilience, water quality, watershed health, key wildlife habitat, and/or intrinsic value. Western Governors recognize and support these forest values, but also believe it is reasonable to expect that some portion of the federal landscape will be focused on long-term, ecologically-sound forest management — where jobs, forest products, and revenues are priorities and generated through sound stewardship.”

Of course, “some portion” already is being managed as they describe, but….

“There is significant dissatisfaction in the West among many stakeholders with the current level of National Forest management. There is a general sense that the current level of forest management is not meeting anyone’s needs, whether it’s putting logs on trucks, protecting water quality, addressing fire risk, protecting key habitats and landscapes, providing for recreation, or other important community needs. Successful forest management reform will achieve a balance among all of these important objectives, and provide the opportunity for certainty such that diverse interests will be encouraged to work together to achieve shared outcomes.”