EDGEFIELD, S.C.—The National Wild Turkey Federation congratulates USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen on her upcoming retirement in August.
For more than 40 years, the Forest Service has been the NWTF’s largest federal conservation partner, helping us to impact more than 20 million acres of wildlife habitat across public and private lands through stewardship agreements, Shared Stewardship and more. Christiansen has strengthened our relationship over her three years as the head of one of the largest federal land-management agencies in the U.S. and was instrumental in co-convening the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative with the NWTF in 2019.
“Chief Christiansen has been a staunch ally for public lands conservation and the Shared Stewardship principle of bringing together diverse groups to find solutions to the critical need to restore the resilience of our national forests and lands surrounding them,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “She embraced the collaborative efforts needed to accelerate the pace and scale of this work and has instilled this spirit within all levels of the Forest Service during her tenure. We are going to miss having her as part of the discussion, but the legacy she is leaving behind puts the Service on the right track to tackle this daunting task.”
Christiansen announced her retirement this week after serving more than 11 years with the Forest Service. Her career spanned more than 40 years as a professional forester, wildland firefighter and land manager.
“We thank the chief for her years of service to our national forests and wish her well in retirement,” Humphries said. “The NWTF looks forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with the Forest Service and working closely with her successor to restore our nation’s beautiful lands and watersheds to their full potential to support abundant and thriving wildlife populations, outdoor recreation and the communities and people that depend on them.”
About the National Wild Turkey Federation
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit a historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. Today, the NWTF is focused on the future of hunting and conservation through its Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative. Since 2012, this 10-year initiative has already eclipsed goals of conserving or enhancing more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruiting or retaining more than 1.5 million hunters and opening access to more than 500,000 acres for hunting and other recreation opportunities. This critical work will continue to impact wildlife habitat and our great outdoors in the final years of the initiative.
