AG SEC VILSACK NAMES NEW FOREST SERVICE CHIEF

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Tom Tidwell, left, to serve as the new Chief for the U.S. Forest Service. Tidwell has spent 32 years with the Forest Service in a variety of positions. He began his Forest Service career on the Boise National Forest, and has since worked in eight different national forests, across 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.

Tidwell's field experience includes working from the rural areas of Nevada and Idaho all the way to the urban forests in California and the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah, where he served as Forest Supervisor during the 2002 Winter Olympics. He also has extensive fire experience, beginning as a firefighter, and accumulating nineteen years as an agency administrator responsible for fire suppression decisions. Tom grew up in Boise, Idaho and attended classes at both Washington State University and the University of Idaho. (Forest Service NewsLog)