Interim Forest Service chief named amid misconduct charges
BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s administration moved quickly Thursday to install a female wildland firefighter to lead the U.S. Forest Service after the agency’s former chief stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations.
The appointment of Vickie Christiansen as interim chief came as lawmakers from both parties called for more aggressive efforts to combat a culture of harassment and retaliation within the Forest Service. The problems mirror recent misconduct within the nation’s other major public lands agency, the Interior Department.
Christiansen has been with the Forest Service for seven years and became a deputy chief in 2016. Before joining the federal government she’d worked in forestry for 30 years at the state level, in Arizona and Washington.
She did not return an emailed message from The Associated Press seeking comment.