New forest supervisor back to where he started

By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter

Paul Bradford has come full circle.

The new supervisor for the Kootenai National Forest started his career 30 years ago with the Forest Service in Lincoln County. He spent a summer working on the Rexford Ranger District while studying natural resource management at Ohio State University.

The 51-year-old, who grew up in southern Ohio, went on to get his master's in forest management from Oregon State University in Corvallis. Over the years, his career with the Forest Service has taken him to northern California, eastern Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. He also has worked on all levels, including as a forester, in timber sales, recreation, budgets, plan revisions, and appeals and litigation.

Bradford arrived in Libby in late June to oversee the 2.2 million-acre Kootenai National Forest. He replaced Bob Castaneda, who retired on May 26 after 36 years with the forest service.

So far, Bradford is pleased with what he's seen.

"This is a great piece of America," Bradford said. "This is a very productive forest and I see a lot of work we need to do and would like to do."

"We need to work to reduce fuel loads," he continued. "We need to get it in the best possible condition so we don't have fires igniting near communities."

One of his immediate priorities will involve approving a management plan for the Kootenai. The Forest Service in May outlined the draft of a plan to guide management decisions over the next 15 years.

Bradford will make the final decision on that plan. He will depend on his staff and comments from the public in his decision-making.

"We have a great staff here on the Kootenai," Bradford said.

So far, about 200 individuals and organizations have submitted comments on the plan, said Willie Sykes, public affairs specialist for the Kootenai National Forest.

The deadline to file comments is Sept. 9.

Bradford plans to review each comment. Once he decides on the forest plan, the public will have 30 days to file objections. That's not likely to occur until early 2007. Bradford hopes to have the plan in place by spring.

Since coming to Libby, he has visited each of the five ranger districts in the Kootenai.

"I've been trying to see as much as possible," Bradford said. "I see a great forest with a lot of opportunity to do good things."

Before coming to Libby, he served as acting budget director for the national forest system and the assistant director for the national ecosystem management coordination staff in Washington, D.C. His 15 years working in forest service's national office also included a stint as acting deputy forest supervisor for the Angeles National Forest, which covers 650,000 acres and serves as a backyard playground to Los Angeles.

He also served as temporary forest supervisor for the nearly million-acre Huron-Manistee National Forest in 1999 and 2000.