Smokey the Bear he is not.

Actually, he’s Smokey’s new boss.

Mike Dombeck, an Iowa State alumnus, was recently appointed the new chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service in Washington D.C.

Dombeck, who earned his Ph.D. in fisheries and biology from ISU in 1984, will oversee the nation’s 191 million acres of forests and grasslands.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, Dombeck said, “It is an essential task, an awesome obligation and a noble cause.”

Dombeck will continue to carry out the Forest Service’s mission of “caring for the land and serving people.”

Dombeck’s first priority as chief “is to build on the rich tradition of working closely with local communities to restore and maintain productive, healthy and diverse ecological systems.”

According to the U.S. Forest Service, Dombeck said, “We cannot meet the needs of the people if we do not first protect and restore the health of the land and natural resources. Failing this, nothing else really matters.”

Bruce Menzel, chair of ISU’s Animal Ecology Department, said the Forest Service has shifted from an emphasis on tree harvest and production to a more environmental, multiple-use focus.

Menzel, who was one of Dombeck’s professors, said Dombeck will continue this philosophy as Forest Service chief.

Prior to his appointment as chief, Dombeck held senior positions in the Department of Interior for seven years and later served as the acting director for the Bureau of Land Management.