NWTF praises appointment of Moore as Forest Service Chief

EDGEFIELD, S.C.—The National Wild Turkey Federation applauds U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s appointment of Randy Moore as chief of the USDA Forest Service.

Moore has been serving as regional forester in the Pacific Southwest Region in California since 2007, where he was responsible for 20 million acres on 18 national forests. Additionally, he has overseen state and private forestry programs in Hawaii and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands.

Previously, he served as regional forester for the Eastern Region, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for five years. 

Moore started his career in conservation in 1978 with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota. His Forest Service career began on the Pike and San Isabel National Forests in Colorado and the Comanche and Cimarron National Grasslands in Kansas. He served as deputy forest supervisor on the national forests in North Carolina and the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri before working as forest supervisor of the Mark Twain National Forest. Moore also worked in Washington, D.C., as acting associate deputy chief for the National Forest System and as national deputy Soils Program manager.

“I want to congratulate Mr. Moore on this well-deserved appointment to lead the U.S. Forest Service,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “His experience with multiple regions across the country gives him a broad perspective of the varying needs to restore National Forest System lands, and his time in the West makes him particularly suited to quickly address the growing threat of catastrophic wildfire. The NWTF looks forward to continuing to work with the Forest Service to increase the health and resiliency of our national forest lands that support wildlife, source water, communities and recreational opportunities.”

Moore will take the helm of the Forest Service following Chief Vicki Christiansen’s retirement on July 26.

About the National Wild Turkey Federation

When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. Today, the NWTF is focused on the future of hunting and conservation through its Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative. Since 2012, this 10-year initiative has already eclipsed goals of conserving or enhancing more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruiting or retaining more than 1.5 million hunters and opening access to more than 500,000 acres for hunting and other recreation opportunities. This critical work will continue to impact wildlife habitat and our great outdoors in the final years of the initiative.