The regional forester for the southern United States, Tony Tooke, is the new chief of the Forest Service, the USDA agency in charge of 154 national forests and 20 grasslands covering a combined 193 million acres (301,600 square miles) across the nation. Tooke is a lifelong employee of the Forest Service, joining at age 18, and was associate deputy chief of the agency before taking the job as regional forester.
In announcing the appointment, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Tooke’s knowledge of forestry “is unmatched. Tony has been preparing for this role for his whole professional life.” A farm boy from Detroit, Ala., Tooke has a forestry degree from Mississippi State University and worked in national forests in the South except for a stint, beginning in 2006, as associate deputy chief, with duties that included land, minerals, ecosystem management, wilderness areas and business administration.
Perdue announced the new chief three days after Tom Tidwell, Forest Service chief since June 17, 2009, announced his retirement, effective Sept. 1. Tidwell began a 40-year career with the Forest Service as a firefighter and served as a district ranger and a forest supervisor on his way to chief. During his tenure, the agency worked with states, local governments, tribes and private landowners “for landscape-scale conservation,” said USDA. “He was particularly dedicated to improving safety measures to better protect the lives and wellbeing of employees, especially firefighters.”