Chiefs

Though the U.S. Forest Service was established in 1905, in 1876 the Department of Agriculture hired Franklin Hough to investigate and report on forest conditions in the United States. In 1881, Congress created the U.S. Division of Forestry. Twenty years later, it became the Bureau of Forestry, and four years after that, following the transfer of the federal forest reserves from the Department of the Interior to Agriculture, it was reconstituted as the U.S. Forest Service. The head administrator was called “Chief” until 1898, when Gifford Pinchot changed the title to “Forester.” In 1935, it was changed back to "Chief."

hough_portrait

Franklin B. Hough

1881 - 1883

Egleston_portrait

Nathaniel H. Egleston

1883 - 1886

Bernhard E. Fernow

Bernhard E. Fernow

1886 - 1898

Gifford Pinchot

Gifford Pinchot

1898 - 1910

Henry S. Graves

Henry S. Graves

1910 - 1920

William B. Greeley

William B. Greeley

1920 - 1928

Robert Y. Stuart

Robert Y. Stuart

1928 - 1933

Chief Ferdinand Silcox.

Ferdinand A. Silcox

1933 - 1939

Earle H. Clapp

Earle H. Clapp (Acting)

1939 - 1943

Lyle F. Watts

Lyle F. Watts

1943 - 1952

Richard E. McArdle

Richard E. McArdle

1952 - 1962

Edward P. Cliff

Edward P. Cliff

1962 - 1972

John R. McGuire (1916 - 2002)

John R. McGuire

1972 - 1979

R. Max Peterson

R. Max Peterson

1979 - 1987

Dale Robertson

F. Dale Robertson

1987 - 1993

Jack Ward Thomas

Jack Ward Thomas

1993 - 1996

Mike Dombeck

Mike Dombeck

1996 - 2001

Dale N. Bosworth

Dale N. Bosworth

2001 - 2007

Abigail Kimbell

Abigail Kimbell

2007 - 2009

Thomas Tidwell
Tony Tooke
vicki christiansen
Randy Moore, 20th chief

Thomas Tidwell

2009 - 2017

Tony Tooke

2017 - 2018

Vicki Christiansen

2018 - 2021

Randy Moore

2021 - Present