Thomas Tidwell

Official Portrait

Born

Boise, Idaho

Alma mater

Washington State University

Occupation

Forester

Predecessor

Gail Kimbell

Successor

Incumbent

Spouse(s)

Kim

Chief Tidwell's voice

Recorded on 31 March 2014.

Thomas L. "Tom" Tidwell is the 17th and Current Chief of the United States Forest Service (USFS) of the Department of Agriculture, and was appointed on July 17, 2009, succeeding Gail Kimbell.

Biography

Early life and education

Tom Tidwell grew up in Boise, Idaho, and graduated from Washington State University.

Forester

Tidwell began his Forest Service career on the Boise National Forest in fire, and has since worked on eight different national forests, in three regions. He has worked at all levels of the agency in a variety of positions, including District Ranger, Forest Supervisor, and Legislative Affairs Specialist in the Washington Office, where he worked on the planning rule, the 2001 roadless rule and the Secure Rural Schools County Payments Act. Tom served as the Deputy Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region (California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Islands) with primary responsibility for fire and aviation management, recreation, engineering, state and private forestry and tribal relations. Tidwell also served as Forest Supervisor during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. On June 17, 2009, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that Tidwell would serve as the new Chief for the United States Forest Service. "Tom Tidwell's 32 years of experience in our forests and impressive track record of collaboration and problem-solving will help us tackle the great challenges ahead," said Vilsack.

Personal

Tom is married to Kim, and they have one daughter, MacKenzie.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Tidwell.

Political offices
Preceded by Gail Kimbell	Chief of the United States Forest Service 2009–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 15, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.