AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL P. DOMBECK by Harold K. Steen May 15-18, 2003 Stevens Point, Wisconsin Forest History Society, Inc. Durham, North Carolina © 2004 © 2.004 by the Forest History Societyr Inc. 701 William Vickers Ave. Durhamr NC 2.7713 www.foresthistory.org All rights reserved. Photographs provided courtesy of Mike Dombeck. This interview was funded in part through a cooperative agreement between the Forest History Society and the USDA Forest Service Centennial Program. ii Figure 1: U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck (official Forest Service photo, 1997.) iii .... ....... ; Table of Contents List of Illustrations ...............................................................................................................vi Introduction ....................................................................................................................... vii Early Education .................................................................................................................... 2. Combat Biologists ................................................................................................................ 5 Taking the Ph.D ................................................................................................................... 9 California Assignment ..........................................................................................................12. Workforce Diversity .............................................................................................................16 National Fisheries Program Manager ..................................................................................... 2.0 Legislative Program .............................................................................................................2.4 The Bureau of Land Management.. ....................................................................................... 2.9 Forest Service in Agriculture ................................................................................................38 Clinton Administration .........................................................................................................40 Jamison Plan for the Spotted Owl .........................................................................................43 BLM Director ......................................................................................................................45 New World Mine ..................................................................................................................52. Grazing ..............................................................................................................................54 Columbia Basin Issue ..........................................................................................................56 Increasing Influence of Biologists .........................................................................................57 Forest Fires ........................................................................................................................57 The Tuesday Afternoon Club ................................................................................................62. Chief of the Forest Service ...................................................................................................63 BLM and Forest Service Cultures .......................................................................................... 67 Reynolds and Reimers Reassignment-A Broader Context ...................................................... 71 Changes in the Chiefs Office ...............................................................................................74 Chiefs Overviews ................................................................................................................78 Dealing with Congress .........................................................................................................79 Roadless Areas ...................................................................................................................80 Bad and Good Times ...........................................................................................................84 The White House ................................................................................................................85 Off-Road Vehicles ...............................................................................................................88 Wilderness and Protected Areas ........................................................................................... 89 Performance Measures ........................................................................................................95 Chiefs Summit at Grey Towers .......................................................................................... 100 How to Use the Chief Better ............................................................................................... 1 02. Alaska .............................................................................................................................. 104 Funding Mechanisms ......................................................................................................... 108 The Twenty-five Percent Fund ........................................................................................... 109 National Forest Values ....................................................................................................... 110 Oil on the National Forests ................................................................................................. 113 Public Hostility/Give the Land Back ..................................................................................... 115 Value of Public Land .......................................................................................................... 116 How to Develop New Policies ............................................................................................. 119 Interagency Coordination .................................................................................................. 12.1 Water as Centerpiece ........................................................................................................ 12.5 Typical Day as Chief .......................................................................................................... 12.6 President Tours a Forest Fire ............................................................................................. 12.9 Increased Fire Budget ....................................................................................................... 131 More on Workforce Diversity .............................................................................................. 134 Law Enforcement .............................................................................................................. 135 iv Restructure Lines of Authority ............................................................................................ 136 Reorganization of Government ........................................................................................... 138 Transition from Clinton to Bush .......................................................................................... 139 The Chiefs Personal Life .................................................................................................... 146 Selection of Dale Bosworth ................................................................................................ 149 Forest Service Leadership .................................................................................................. 150 Life After the Forest Service ............................................................................................... 153 Appendix 1: Dombeck Letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman re Suggestions for Resolving Longstanding Conservation Challenges (2001) ............................................ 158 Appendix 2: Dombeck Speech to U.S. Forest Service Employees re Conservation Leadership (1998) .......................................... ~ ............................................................. 163 Appendix 3: Dombeck Speech to U.S. Forest Service Employees re his Natural Resource Agenda as Chief (1998) .................................................................................. 165 Appendix 4: Dombeck Speech re Roadless Area Conservation in the National Forest System (2001) ............................................................................................................. 172 Appendix 5: Dombeck's First Speech as Chief to U.S. Forest Service Employees (1997) ........... 174 Appendix 6: Michael P. Dombeck Vita ................................................................................. 182 Appendix 7: Harold K. Steen Vita ........................................................................................ 189 v List of Illustrations Figure 1: U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck (official Forest Service photo, 1997.) ........... iii Figure 2: Mike Dombeck, Fisheries Biologist, U.S. Forest Service, Park Falls, Wisconsin (1985) ........................................................................................................... 4 Figure 3: Mike Dombeck, National Fisheries Program Manager, U.S. Forest Service, in office in Rosslyn, Virginia (1988) ............................................................................... 21 Figure 4: Rise to the Future logo ......................................................................................