USDA ANNOUNCES ABIGAIL KIMBELL AS THE 16TH CHIEF OF THE FOREST SERVICE The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced the selection of Abigail Kimbell as the 16th chief of the Forest Service. Kimbell succeeds Chief Dale Bosworth, who is retiring on Feb. 2 after 41 years with the Forest Service. "Abigail Kimbell is a veteran of the Forest Service who began as a seasonal worker and has since filled an impressive series of field assignments," said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. "Gail brings a wealth of knowledge to her new position. She is well respected both within the agency and by our stakeholders. I'm confident she will do a terrific job as chief." "I am grateful to Dale Bosworth for his 41 years of public service and especially for the tremendous leadership he provided during his six years as chief," Johanns continued. "I am struck by all that the Forest Service accomplished under his watch, from advancing the Healthy Forest Initiative to a four-fold increase in fuels treatment work. He also bolstered the agency's financial system, making it a source of pride government wide. I wish Dale all the best in retirement." Kimbell currently serves as Regional Forester for the Northern Region in Missoula, Montana, which includes northern Idaho, and North Dakota. As Forest Service Chief, Kimbell will oversee an organization of over 30,000 employees and a budget of just over $4 billion. Before becoming regional forester, Kimbell served in the Washington Office as Associate Deputy Chief for the National Forest System, with responsibility for assisting in the development of the Healthy Forest Restoration(sic).
Montana woman to head Forest Service Montana forester Gail Kimbell was named Friday to head the U.S. Forest Service and quickly came under fire from a Senate Democrat who represents her state. Kimbell, the first woman to hold the job, succeeds retiring chief Dale Bosworth. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Kimbell has shown she is ''inclined to raise fees, close campgrounds and otherwise make it harder for people to access their lands to raise revenue.'' Kimbell, who before her appointment supervised national forests through northern Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas, helped develop President Bush's ''healthy forests'' program widely criticized by environmentalists as a giveaway to logging companies. Signed into law in 2003 after wildfires swept the West, the program lets companies log large, commercially valuable trees in national forests in exchange for clearing smaller, more fire-prone trees and brush. By the end of next year, federal officials project the new law and other logging initiatives will have resulted in more than 21.5 million acres of forest cut since 2001....