As a young man, Tom Tidwell had a summer job with the Forest Service as a member of a Youth Conservation Corps crew. Today, he is Chief of the Forest Service, overseeing an agency of forty thousand employees that honors a mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.
Chief Tidwell’s story is not entirely unique. There are other leaders in the Forest Service who were introduced to the agency through Youth Conservation Corps, including National Forest System Deputy Chief Leslie Weldon and a host of other Forest Service employees.
