Jack Ward Thomas (September 7, 1934 – May 26, 2016) was the thirteenth chief of the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

, serving during the Clinton administration years of 1993–1996. He was born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. His undergraduate education and degree (a BS in wildlife management in 1957) was from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He worked for the

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitat (ecology), habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state park, state's parks and historical ar ...

for ten years. Then while working as a USFS research biologist at

Morgantown, West Virginia Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Monongahela River in North Central West Virginia and is the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2 ...

, he received an MS in wildlife ecology from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

. He headed a Forest Service research unit at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He received his PhD in forestry there in 1972. In 1974, he moved to

La Grande, Oregon La Grande () is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Oregon, Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,082 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. The La Grande metro population ...

, working as the chief research wildlife biologist and program leader at the USFS Forestry and Range Sciences Laboratory. On December 1, 1993, he was appointed Chief of the U.S. Forest Service. During his time as head of the USFS, the Northwest Forest Plan was adopted. Jack became a member of the

Boone and Crockett Club The Boone and Crockett Club is an American nonprofit organization that advocates fair chase hunting in support of habitat conservation. The club is North America's oldest wildlife and habitat conservation organization, founded in the United S ...

in 1994. After retiring from the Forest Service, he accepted a position as the Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the School of Forestry of the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

in Missoula, Montana—a position he held until 2006 when he officially retired. He died on May 26, 2016, after a battle with cancer, at his home in Florence, Montana.

Publications

He has more than 60
publications
to his credit, including: * ''Jack Ward Thomas: The Journals of a Forest Service Chief'', edited by Harold K. Steen. UofWA Press, 2004, 417 pp. * ''North American Elk: Ecology and Management'', Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002, Thomas was co-editor. * ''Wildlife habitats in managed forests: the Blue Mountains of Oregon and Washington'', Agriculture Handbook No. 553, USDA, 1979. Thomas was editor. * ''Viability assessments and management considerations for species associated with late-successional and old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest'', USFS, 1993. * ''A Conservation Strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl'', 1990 * ''Wildlife habitats in managed rangelands: The Great Basin of southeastern Oregon : riparian zones'' (General technical report PNW), 1979 * ''Forks in the Trail: A Conservationist's Trek to the Pinnacles of Natural Resource Management'', Boone and Crockett Club, 2015 * ''Wilderness Journals: Wandering the High Lonesome'', Boone and Crockett Club, 2015 * ''Hunting Around the World: Fair Chase Pursuits from Backcountry Wilderness to the Scottish Highlands'', Boone and Crockett Club, 2015

References

External links

JackWardThomas.com

Boone & Crockett bio: Jack Ward Thomas

Oregon Encyclopedia

Jack Ward Thomas bio
(

Forest History Society The Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history."Forest History Society." Echo Project. Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. http://echo.gmu. ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jack Ward 1934 births 2016 deaths United States Forest Service officials American conservationists West Virginia University alumni People from Fort Worth, Texas Texas A&M University alumni University of Montana faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Natural Sciences alumni People from La Grande, Oregon Activists from Texas

Publications

See also

References

External links