ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 21, 1996 TAG: 9612230073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Mike Dombeck, the acting head of the Bureau of Land Management who grew up near a national forest in Wisconsin and studied fisheries biology, was named Friday the next chief of the Forest Service.
``For someone that grew up 25 miles from a town of 1,500, working as a fishing guide and hunting and roaming through the woods in the Chequamegon National Forest in northern Wisconsin's beautiful lake country, this is a tremendous honor,'' Dombeck told reporters.
Dombeck, 48, who was born in Stevens Point, Wis., and grew up in Hayward, Wis., will become the 14th chief of the 91-year-old Forest Service effective Jan. 6, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said.
He succeeds Jack Ward Thomas, who resigned last month.
His appointment was welcomed by environmental groups who like his experience in fisheries work. The impact of logging and livestock grazing on fish populations is a growing environmental concern, especially in the West.
Dombeck said his first priority as chief will be to ``build on the rich tradition of working closely with local communities to restore and maintain productive, healthy and diverse ecological systems.
``As managers of the public trust, our job is to ensure that all who use the land - be they anglers, timber companies or hikers - support the land's conservation and restoration,'' he said.
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