The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday that current USDA Forest Service (USFS) Pacific Southwest (Region 5) Regional Forester Randy Moore has been appointed to succeed USFS Chief Vicki Christensen upon her retirement on July 26, 2021. Moore will make history by becoming the first African-American to lead the USFS in its 116-year existence. Moore, who has served the Region 5 since 2007, has been with USDA since 1978 in various positions across the country and has tackled some of the most difficult national forest land issues in California during his tenure, including tree mortality and worsening impacts from climate change.
Moore has also worked to forge more productive partnerships with California’s state and local governments. Notably, Moore worked with RCRC and the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) to establish a memorandum of agreement for communication between the USFS and counties to help improve relationships between communities and officials at national forests.
Moore is set to be sworn in on July 26 immediately upon Christensen’s retirement, and will be working in tandem with the current Chief until then during the transition. Following the announcement of Moore, Senator Dianne Feinstein released a statement praising the choice, stating “I look forward to continuing to work with Chief Moore in his new capacity on this and many other important issues. California understands all too well the challenges facing our forests and I’m glad a Californian will head efforts to tackle them.”
For more information, see the USDA news release here.