The National Wildlife Federation recently elected former U.S. Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck to its volunteer board of directors during its annual meeting in Stone Mountain, Ga.

Dombeck, a Global Environment Management (GEM) Pioneer Professor and UW System Fellow of Global Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, will serve a three-year term as an at-large director.

The NWF Board oversees the organization�s administrative affairs, ensuring that it delivers on its critical conservation mission. Board members are selected by representatives of the 46 independent conservation groups that form the ranks of NWF�s state affiliate organizations.

"With his profound commitment to safeguarding our nation�s natural resources, Mike�s expertise as a scientist and policy maker will make a valuable contribution to our board, said NWF president and CEO Mark Van Putten. "In his decades of public service, Mike worked tirelessly to advance the cause of conservation and we are privileged that he is offering that dedication and leadership to help the National Wildlife Federation.

"It is a great honor for me to accept this position on the National Wildlife Federation Board," said Dombeck. "It gives me the opportunity to extend my interests as a scientist and conservationist to help NWF protect the environmental health of the natural world."

Dombeck received the fourth Lady Bird Johnson Conservation Award from the LBJ Foundation in January. Last November, he received the 2001 Presidential Rank Award as a Distinguished Executive for his role as chief of the Forest Service from 1997 to 2001. A native of Stevens Point and a 1971 graduate of UWSP, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1997. He earned a master�s degree from the University of Minnesota and a doctoral degree from Iowa State University.

One of the most renowned and respected of contemporary conservationists, Dombeck dedicated a quarter of a century to managing federal lands and natural resources in the long-term public interest. His leadership in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and as former chief of the Forest Service impacted nearly 500 million acres. He is most noted for significant efforts toward watershed health and restoration, sustainable forest ecosystem management, sound forest roads and roadless area protection. He effected a moratorium on road building in 58.5 million acres of roadless forest acres and helped protect the threatened black-tailed prairie dog on forest service lands.

Dombeck�s journey on the path to conservation has been lifelong. From his summers as a fishing guide in Wisconsin�s lake country, through his advanced studies in biology and zoology, to his acclaimed career in natural resource management, Dombeck has made protecting wildlife and wild places a priority, both personally and within the organizations he has served.

The nation�s largest member-supported conservation group, the NWF unites people from all walks of life to protect nature, wildlife and the world we all share.

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