(SitNews) Juneau, Alaska - USDA Forest Service Interim Chief Vicki Christiansen announced Friday the appointment of David Schmid as acting regional forester for the Forest Service’s Alaska Region. As regional forester, Schmid will oversee management of more than 22 million acres of National Forest System lands in Southcentral and Southeast Alaska. 

Schmid replaces Beth Pendleton, who will retire in April after serving as Alaska Regional Forester for eight years. Pendleton served in several key positions in the Alaska Region, including Deputy Regional Forester for Operations and Director for Recreation, Lands, and Minerals. Pendleton also served as the Acting Associate Chief of the agency in Washington, DC, during the transition to the current administration.

“David’s more than 30 years of Forest Service experience make him exceptionally well qualified for this job,” Christiansen said. “His natural resources work and 23 years spent on the Chugach and Tongass National Forests make him especially well-suited for the Alaska region, and I am very pleased he is bringing that experience to this role.” 

Schmid joined the Forest Service first as a volunteer in Minnesota. After graduating from college, he worked as a fisheries and watershed program leader on the Chugach National Forest and as a district ranger on the Tongass National Forest. Following his time in Alaska, he served as the national fish program leader in Washington DC, and as the director of biological and physical resources in the Southern Region.  For the last four years he has served as the Deputy Regional Forester in the Northern Region based in Missoula, Montana.

Schmid will report to the Alaska Region in mid-April, and looks forward to working collaboratively with the Alaska Region’s diverse stakeholders and communities of interest, especially on issues related to forest management and strengthening rural community health.

Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Forest Service - Alaska Region
www.fs.fed.us

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2018
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.