Dale N. Bosworth (born 1945)

15th Chief of the Forest Service, 2001-2007

  Dale Bosworth, a second generation forester and Forest Service employee was born in Altadena, California and raised on ranger station compounds. He received his B.S. in forestry from the University of Idaho, in 1966 and began working for the agency on the St. Joe National Forest, in Idaho.

Just prior to becoming chief, Dale served as the regional forester for the Northern Region, where he developed a program of stewardship contracting, involving citizens in planning and land management activities.

Dale has had a breadth of experience on the ground, and in several leadership positions in the agency, including forest supervisor of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, regional forester for the Intermountain Region and deputy regional forester for the Pacific Southwest Region.

Dale Bosworth wrote: "..decisions need to be made at the lowest level that they can. We need to build better relationships with local communities and with states, tribes, and others. In my opinion, we've really constrained the decision space of the local managers and have seriously impaired their ability to work with communities. This is not about local control. To be effective, we need to find local solutions to real issues by working more collaboratively."

Source of quote: Speech for the National Capitol SAF luncheon, May 29, 2001.