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Dombeck joins UW-SP faculty

By BRIAN LEAHY
of The Gazette
Former U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck is coming back to his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Dombeck has been hired as a faculty member in the College of Natural Resources, said UW-SP Chancellor Thomas George. He will hold the UW System title of "UW System fellow of global conservation" and the UW-SP title of "Global Environmental Management (GEM) pioneer professor."

He will help lead the development of the GEM Education Center - an initiative with a 10-year, $70 million development timeline - that will serve as an international model for training natural resources and environmental management leaders. He will also teach a graduate course on global conservation.

"I'm delighted to be coming back home, being closer to my family and friends, and spending more time in the woods and on the water," said Dombeck. "As I've traveled around the country dealing with conservation issues over the past couple of decades, it seems like I've met Stevens Point graduates almost every place I've gone. Wisconsin has a long legacy as a national and international leader in conservation of our precious natural resources. I look forward to doing what I can to continue to promote that legacy and help people live within the limits of the land."

Dombeck's ties to UW-SP began with bachelor's and master's degrees he earned in biology and education. From 1971-73 he taught zoology at UW-SP.

He was born in Stevens Point and later moved with his family to the Moose Lake area of Sawyer County, where he spent 11 summers working as a fishing guide. He still writes nature columns for the "Visitor," a Hayward-area tourist guide. He also has a master's from the University of Minnesota and doctorate in fisheries biology from Iowa State University.

Dombeck began working for the Forest Service in 1978 as a fisheries biologist.

Before being named chief of the Forest Service in January 1997 by President Bill Clinton, Dombeck served as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management for two-and-a-half years. The BLM is a Department of the Interior agency that manages 264 million acres of public lands located primarily in 12 Western states.

As chief of the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, Dombeck headed an agency that manages 191 million acres of national forests and grasslands.

"We are delighted Mike has chosen to return to his alma mater rather than pursue numerous other opportunities nationally and internationally, including Yale University, where he has served as an adjunct professor," said George. "Mike's experience is unprecedented. He is the first person ever to have headed the nation's two largest land management agencies, the USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The fact that a leader of his caliber has selected UW-SP is a clear testament to the excitement of the GEM initiative and to the national prominence of the curriculum and programs in our College of Natural Resources."

The GEM Education Center was established in March 2000. CNR Dean Victor Phillips plans for the center to be the college's integrating theme, with a 100,000 square foot, world-class facility equipped with leading-edge telecommunications technology allowing the classroom to be brought to the field and vice versa, both locally and globally.

"GEM will provide the educational framework for achieving a sustainable future by promoting curriculum and programs that embrace a global perspective for managing resources," Phillips said. "The center will build on the college's existing strengths to host and facilitate a variety of conferences, workshops, courses, tours and interactive learning experiences with institutional partners here and abroad that benefit UW-SP students and resource managers throughout Wisconsin."

GEM's early programming will focus on watersheds and land use.
Dombeck stepped down as Forest Service chief in March. In April, he spoke at a Forest Service symposium conducted by UW-SP biology students.

When asked at the symposium about what his legacy would be as Forest Service chief, Dombeck said the chief is just one person of 33,000 employed by the Forest Service. Resource managers in the field are often ahead of policy makers in Washington.

"I believe much of where we are today has evolved over a long, long series of time," Dombeck said.

As chief, he institutionalized landscape and watershed planning efforts. He has said, "The cleanest water in the United States is flowing off forested land," and, "It is my belief that the single most valuable commodity of the national forests is water."

Dombeck's tenure as Forest Service chief included a controversial order issued by the Clinton Administration banning road building on 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in national forests, including 69,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas in the 1.5 million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin.

Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman announced on May 4 the roadless rule would be implemented, but with adjustments. Eight lawsuits against the rule are currently pending in seven states, six federal districts and four federal circuits.

Of the 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas, less than two-tenths of 1 percent might be considered for road construction during the next five years, after an appropriate environmental review and documentation, said a USDA press release issued July 6. Eighty-four percent of inventoried roadless areas are not managed for timber production and 41 percent prohibit road construction.

Dombeck's successor as chief, Dale Bosworth, issued interim protections for inventoried roadless areas on June 7. Bosworth has reserved for himself the decision authority for all timber harvest and road construction in inventoried areas. He instructed Forest Service employees to complete their effort to identify and properly map existing classified roads in national forests. He instructed them to ensure forest plan amendments and revisions consider the long-term protection and management of unroaded portions of inventoried roadless areas, including possibly recommending some roadless areas receive permanent wilderness designation.



	Dombeck joins UW-SP faculty By BRIAN LEAHY of The Gazette Former U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck is coming back to his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Dombeck has been hired as a faculty member in the College of Natural Resources, said UW-SP Chancellor Thomas George. He will hold the UW System title of "UW System fellow of global conservation" and the UW-SP title of "Global Environmental Management (GEM) pioneer professor." He will help lead the development of the GEM Education Center - an initiative with a 10-year, $70 million development timeline - that will serve as an international model for training natural resources and environmental management leaders. He will also teach a graduate course on global conservation. "I'm delighted to be coming back home, being closer to my family and friends, and spending more time in the woods and on the water," said Dombeck. "As I've traveled around the country dealing with conservation issues over the past couple of decades, it seems like I've met Stevens Point graduates almost every place I've gone. Wisconsin has a long legacy as a national and international leader in conservation of our precious natural resources. I look forward to doing what I can to continue to promote that legacy and help people live within the limits of the land." Dombeck's ties to UW-SP began with bachelor's and master's degrees he earned in biology and education. From 1971-73 he taught zoology at UW-SP. He was born in Stevens Point and later moved with his family to the Moose Lake area of Sawyer County, where he spent 11 summers working as a fishing guide. He still writes nature columns for the "Visitor," a Hayward-area tourist guide. He also has a master's from the University of Minnesota and doctorate in fisheries biology from Iowa State University. Dombeck began working for the Forest Service in 1978 as a fisheries biologist. Before being named chief of the Forest Service in January 1997 by President Bill Clinton, Dombeck served as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management for two-and-a-half years. The BLM is a Department of the Interior agency that manages 264 million acres of public lands located primarily in 12 Western states. As chief of the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, Dombeck headed an agency that manages 191 million acres of national forests and grasslands. "We are delighted Mike has chosen to return to his alma mater rather than pursue numerous other opportunities nationally and internationally, including Yale University, where he has served as an adjunct professor," said George. "Mike's experience is unprecedented. He is the first person ever to have headed the nation's two largest land management agencies, the USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The fact that a leader of his caliber has selected UW-SP is a clear testament to the excitement of the GEM initiative and to the national prominence of the curriculum and programs in our College of Natural Resources." The GEM Education Center was established in March 2000. CNR Dean Victor Phillips plans for the center to be the college's integrating theme, with a 100,000 square foot, world-class facility equipped with leading-edge telecommunications technology allowing the classroom to be brought to the field and vice versa, both locally and globally. "GEM will provide the educational framework for achieving a sustainable future by promoting curriculum and programs that embrace a global perspective for managing resources," Phillips said. "The center will build on the college's existing strengths to host and facilitate a variety of conferences, workshops, courses, tours and interactive learning experiences with institutional partners here and abroad that benefit UW-SP students and resource managers throughout Wisconsin." GEM's early programming will focus on watersheds and land use. Dombeck stepped down as Forest Service chief in March. In April, he spoke at a Forest Service symposium conducted by UW-SP biology students. When asked at the symposium about what his legacy would be as Forest Service chief, Dombeck said the chief is just one person of 33,000 employed by the Forest Service. Resource managers in the field are often ahead of policy makers in Washington. "I believe much of where we are today has evolved over a long, long series of time," Dombeck said. As chief, he institutionalized landscape and watershed planning efforts. He has said, "The cleanest water in the United States is flowing off forested land," and, "It is my belief that the single most valuable commodity of the national forests is water." Dombeck's tenure as Forest Service chief included a controversial order issued by the Clinton Administration banning road building on 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in national forests, including 69,000 acres of inventoried roadless areas in the 1.5 million-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin. Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman announced on May 4 the roadless rule would be implemented, but with adjustments. Eight lawsuits against the rule are currently pending in seven states, six federal districts and four federal circuits. Of the 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas, less than two-tenths of 1 percent might be considered for road construction during the next five years, after an appropriate environmental review and documentation, said a USDA press release issued July 6. Eighty-four percent of inventoried roadless areas are not managed for timber production and 41 percent prohibit road construction. Dombeck's successor as chief, Dale Bosworth, issued interim protections for inventoried roadless areas on June 7. Bosworth has reserved for himself the decision authority for all timber harvest and road construction in inventoried areas. He instructed Forest Service employees to complete their effort to identify and properly map existing classified roads in national forests. He instructed them to ensure forest plan amendments and revisions consider the long-term protection and management of unroaded portions of inventoried roadless areas, including possibly recommending some roadless areas receive permanent wilderness designation.