Greetings,  

I am Kristin Sleeper, and I am the new Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment. I’d like to take the time to celebrate and thank Chief Randy Moore.  

A lifelong career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service is a dream for many and an honor for those who can claim it. Chief Randy Moore is one who can claim it proudly with over 45 years of public service upon his retirement. Chief Moore started his career in 1978 with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and joined the Forest Service in 1981. The Chief served in a variety of roles across the country, including as forest supervisor on the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri, as regional forester in the Eastern Region based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as for the Pacific Southwest Region in California for 14 years before becoming Chief in 2021.

Being the Chief of the Forest Service is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs in public service. Overseeing 193 million acres of multiple-use public lands for the benefit of the American people comes with controversy and criticism, and also vast numbers of people and organizations that care deeply about these lands and want to help steward them for the nation’s benefit. Chief Moore led the Forest Service with expertise and knowledge from his many years of experience in doing the work of caring for these lands. And he led with passion for the people we serve, the communities we protect, and the critical natural resources we manage to ensure they are here for future generations.

It takes unyielding commitment to people, to public lands, and to public service to lead an agency that so many Americans depend on for lives and livelihoods and that provides so much to our nation. Chief Moore exemplified this as the agency faced some of its most challenging times in recent history with wildfires, hurricanes and other disasters that have affected our public lands, our communities and our neighbors, and the significant increase in use of our nation’s forests as more and more people find value spending time in nature. An organization’s posture and approach to its work in public service comes from the tone and tenor set by its leader—in Chief Moore, the Forest Service found the leader it needed at this moment in history.  

We thank you, Chief Moore, for your dedicated, compassionate and unwavering commitment to serving the American people through your over 45 years of public service.