U.S.D.A. forest chief to discuss forest restoration

Tom Tidwell, chief for the U.S. Forest Service, will discuss “Restoring Forest Health: We Need to Pick Up the Pace” on Wednesday, March 28, 4:30-6 p.m. in Burke Auditorium of Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect St. The event is free and open to the public.

Tidwell has spent 33 years in the Forest Service and has served in a variety of positions at all levels of the agency, including as district ranger, forest supervisor, and legislative affairs specialist in the Washington office. As deputy regional forester for the Pacific Southwest region, he facilitated collaborative approaches to wildland fire management, roadless area management, and other issues. As regional forester for the Northern region, he strongly supported community-based collaboration in the region, finding solutions based on mutual goals and thereby reducing the number of appeals and lawsuits.

After being named chief of the Forest Service in 2009, Tidwell set about implementing the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture’s vision for America’s forests. Under his leadership, the Forest Service is working to restore healthy, resilient forest and grassland ecosystems, including plentiful supplies of clean water, abundant habitat for wildlife and fish, renewable supplies of wood and energy, and more.

Under Tidwell’s leadership, the Forest Service has charted a national roadmap for addressing climate change through adaptation and mitigation. The Forest Service is taking steps to help ecosystems adapt to the effects of a changing climate while also taking action to mitigate climate change, partly by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Tidwell also leads the Forest Service in its work with states, Native American tribes, private landowners, and other partners in conservation efforts designed to restore ecosystems on a landscape scale.