{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Michael Dombeck | office = 14th Chief of the United States Forest Service | term_start = 1997 | term_end = 2001 | president = Bill Clinton | predecessor = Jack Ward Thomas | successor = Dale N. Bosworth | image = DombeckMichael.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|09|21|mf=y}} | birth_place = Stevens Point, Wisconsin | education = University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (BS)<br>University of Minnesota (MS)<br>Iowa State University (PhD) }} '''Michael P. Dombeck''' is an American conservationist, educator, scientist, and outdoorsman. He served as acting director of the Bureau of Land Management from 1994 to 1997 and was the 14th Chief of the United States Forest Service from 1997 to 2001. Dombeck also served as UW System Fellow and Professor of Global Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 2001 to 2010. He was also the executive director of the David Smith Post-Doctoral Conservation Research Fellowship from 2005 to 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cedar Tree Foundation announces Smith Fellows Program Leadership Transition |url=https://cedartreefound.org/mike-dombeck |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=Cedar Tree Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Early career == Dombeck worked as a fishing guide for 11 summers near Hayward, Wisconsin, which informed the path his career would take. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and earned a B.S. in biology and general sciences and an M.S.T. in biology and education degrees. He attended the University of Minnesota, earning an M.S. in Zoology<ref>{{Cite web |title=Movement and behavior of the muskellunge determined by radio-telemetry - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ACEWGWFPNNL4JZ8L |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> and later earned a PhD from Iowa State University in 1984.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=DSpace Angular Universal |date=January 1984 |url=https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/entities/publication/d6530400-518f-4aed-8cbe-0c7c588190e0 |last1=Dombeck |first1=Michael |journal=Iowa State University}}</ref> His research included studies on the movement, behavior, reproduction, and early life ecology of the muskellunge, Wisconsin's state fish. His research led him to become Program Chairman of the 1st International Muskellunge Symposium held in 1984 with proceedings published by the American Fisheries Society.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck Papers : Forest Service early years, 1977-1989 (7 Documents) - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AVPQDOQXEBBUN28T/pages/AIZ4FKR6J3RYYF9D |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> After three years of teaching zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Dombeck joined the United States Forest Service (USFS) as a fisheries biologist on the Hiawatha National Forest. He held additional Forest Service assignments throughout the Midwest and California, focused on both aquatic research and fisheries management, after which he was promoted to National Fisheries Program Manager for the USFS where he led the integration of aquatic resources considerations into national forest management and the Rise to the Future Program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck Papers : Forest Service early years, 1977-1989 (7 Documents) - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AVPQDOQXEBBUN28T/pages/AV2KS3J2K5FLI48B |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> He spent a year in 1989 as a LEGIS Fellow working in the U.S. Senate on agriculture and appropriations issues.
== Federal Service ==
=== United States Forest Service—Fisheries === Dombeck worked in the United States Forest Service from 1978 until 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael P. Dombeck |url=https://wchf.org/michael-p-dombeck/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |website=Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> He joined as a fisheries scientist, then gradually climbed the ranks.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Goldfarb |first=Ben |title=Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of Our Planet |publisher=Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. |year=2023 |isbn=9781324005896 |language=en}}</ref> He described himself as a "combat biologist" due to his conflicting attitudes with the majority of other agency employees, who he saw as excessively concerned with road-building and engineering rather than environmental conservation.<ref name=":0" />
=== Bureau of Land Management (BLM)=== At the beginning of the George H. W. Bush administration, Dombeck was assigned as Special Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Land Management<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck Papers : Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, Sept. 1989-Dec. 1992, Feb. 1994-Jan. 1997 (12 Documents) - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6EIRSCPEMWQPQ8D/pages/AMJKOLTBBSUGMR8U |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> and later was named Science Advisor. At the beginning of the Clinton Administration, he was assigned Acting Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Lands and Minerals Management. In 1994 he was appointed acting director of the Bureau of Land Management by Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck Papers : Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, Sept. 1989-Dec. 1992, Feb. 1994-Jan. 1997 (12 Documents) - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A6EIRSCPEMWQPQ8D/pages/AULPIVALPHNUHK8M |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> Dombeck held that position until 1997 when Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman named him the 14th Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.<ref>{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=December 21, 1996 |title=A New Chief of the Forest Service Is Named |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/21/us/a-new-chief-of-the-forest-service-is-named.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Dombeck's time at the BLM was marked by a focus on wildlife protection, riparian and aquatic resources and [http://www.fs.usda.gov/r04 InFish]. Dombeck worked closely with then Forest Service Chief Jack Ward Thomas to increase the two agencies' accessibility to public land users, and to promote ecosystem-based management and watershed restoration on public land.
=== United States Forest Service—Leadership ===
Dombeck returned to USFS in 1997 as its chief, appointed by Bill Clinton.<ref name=":0" />
In 1997, Dombeck and the Forest Service Leadership team crafted a four-point agenda, known as The Natural Resource Agenda.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck Papers : Forest Service, 1997-2001 (89 Documents) - Full view - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ANO3IJUD56QWLR8G/pages/APU4DD4S5ARFGR82 |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> It emphasized four major topics; watershed health and restoration, ecologically sustainable forest and grasslands management, recreation and a long-term forest roads policy. Dombeck emphasized the importance of clean water as a forest a product, appointing a task force of scientists and economists to the quantity and value of water flowing from the National Forests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sedell |first1=James |last2=Sharpe |first2=Maitland |last3=Apple |first3=Daina Dravnieks |last4=Copenhagen |first4=Max |last5=Furniss |first5=Mike |date=2000 |title=Water and the Forest Service |url=https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/45417 |journal=FS Publication |language=en}}</ref> He staunchly defended land conservation and science-based management in speeches delivered to U.S. Congress and congressional committees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Increased Protection of Forest Lands {{!}} C-SPAN.org |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?153304-1/increased-protection-forest-lands |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=www.c-span.org}}</ref>
Under Dombeck's leadership, the roadless rule was developed, which protected 58 million acres of the most remote national forest lands. The rule began as an 18-month moratorium on road construction, then was made permanent as a result of activism and email campaigns by environmental advocates.<ref name=":0" /> This provided the groundwork for enhancing and increasing Americans’ experiences in the nation's forests by protecting million acres of the remaining wildest places for outdoor recreation and protecting the health and quality of watersheds and ecosystems.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dombeck|first1=Michael|title=Roadless Area Conservation|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2001-01-12/pdf/01-726.pdf|publisher=Federal Register|accessdate=March 27, 2015}}</ref> Dombeck also had at least 3500 miles of logging roads destroyed, including in the Clearwater National Forest, where the road network had contributed to a series of hundreds of landslides.<ref name=":0" />
His career in public service was recognized with the highest award in career federal service, the Presidential Rank-Distinguished Executive Award by President George W. Bush in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/opinion/the-forgotten-forest-product-water.html|title=Opinion {{!}} The Forgotten Forest Product: Water|last=Dombeck|first=Mike|date=January 3, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 2, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was the only person to have led the nation's two largest public land management agencies.
== Post Federal Service == After retiring from federal service, Dombeck took a position as Professor of Global Conservation at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and was later named UW System Fellow, where he served from 2001 to 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 7, 2004 |title=UW System honors 100 'Wisconsin Idea Fellows' for public service to state |url=https://www.wisconsin.edu/news/archive/uw-system-honors-100-wisconsin-idea-fellows-for-public-service-to-state/ |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=News |language=en-US}}</ref> He also served as executive director of the David Smith Post Doctoral Fellowship in conservation biology from 2005 to 2022, as a trustee of the Johnson Foundation at Wingspread (since 2002),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Johnson Foundation - Prod |url=https://www.johnsonfdn.org/our-leadership/board-of-directors |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=www.johnsonfdn.org}}</ref> and is a former trustee for Trout Unlimited<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trout Unlimited Adds to its Board of Trustees {{!}} SGB Media Online |url=https://sgbonline.com/trout-unlimited-adds-to-its-board-of-trustees/ |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=sgbonline.com}}</ref> and the Wisconsin chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
== Awards == For his efforts in land conservation, Dombeck was awarded the Ansel Adams Award in 2010,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ansel Adams Award {{!}} The Wilderness Society |url=https://www.wilderness.org/ansel-adams-award |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=www.wilderness.org |language=en}}</ref> the Aldo Leopold Restoration Award in 2009, an honorary doctorate from Haverford University in 2007,<ref>https://www.haverford.edu/sites/default/files/Office/Commencement/Honorary-Degree-Recipients.pdf RECIPIENTS OF HONORARY DEGREES</ref> Conservation Hero of the Year by the Wilderness Society in 2001,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilderness Society Conservation Hero of the Year - UWDC - UW-Madison Libraries |url=https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AHAJOJIQ52YYC29E |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=search.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> US-IALE Distinguished Landscape Practitioner in 2019,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Dombeck |url=https://www.ialena.org/michael-dombeck.html |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=IALE-NORTH AMERICA |language=en}}</ref> and numerous other awards. In 2023, he was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael P. Dombeck |url=https://wchf.org/michael-p-dombeck/ |access-date=May 12, 2023 |website=Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * [https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/people/chiefs/mike-dombeck-born-1948/ Michael Dombeck biography] (Forest History Society) *[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/EcoNatRes.Dombeck Michael Dombeck UW Stevens Point Archival Photos] *[https://search.library.wisc.edu/search/digital?filter%5Bfacets%5D%5Bdocument_types_facet~Text%5D=yes&q=michael+dombeck. Michael Dombeck UW Stevens Point Archival Documents] *[https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/solr-search?q=dombeck Michael Dombeck Clinton Library Archival Papers] *[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6ejXyRwbhL8-F-cL5o0-F46VMQSB8Y7 Michael Dombeck YouTube Playlist]
{{s-start}} {{s-off|us}} {{Succession box | title = Chief of the United States Forest Service | before = Jack Ward Thomas | years = 1996–2001 | after = Dale N. Bosworth }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dombeck, Michael}} Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American biologists Category:American conservationists Category:University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences alumni Category:People from Sawyer County, Wisconsin Category:People from Stevens Point, Wisconsin Category:United States Forest Service officials