Leadership

Acting Regional Forester

Gordie Blum is the Eastern Region Acting Regional Forester.  Before this, he was the Washington Office Public Benefits Executive Director, overseeing Recreation, Engineering, Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers and the Great America’s Outdoors Act portfolio.  He served as Deputy Regional Forester for the Eastern Region from December 2019 to October 2021. 

Gordie has over 30 years of federal service.  After serving in the U.S. Army from 1991-1997, he began his career as a Community Involvement Specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago.  He joined the Forest Service in 2000 as the Communications Director for the Forest Products Laboratory.  He has also been a legislative affairs specialist in Washington, D.C., the Deputy and Acting Forest Supervisor on the Willamette National Forest in Eugene, OR;  Pacific Northwest Region Recreation, Lands and Minerals Director in Portland, and Eastern Region Recreation Director.  He has also served in many various acting leadership assignments over the years including NRE Chief of Staff, Deputy Director of Fire and Aviation Management, and multiple line officer assignments.

Gordie has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Arts from the State University of New York.  He is also a graduate of the Forest Service Senior Leader Program, the Federal Executive Institute, the USDA Senior Executive Service Development program, and Leadership through Collective Intelligence. He has been married to his wife Christine for 30 years, and has two children, Jovanna Rae and Caden Conrad. They enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities and doing restoration work on their property in southern Wisconsin.

Deputy Regional Forester 

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Jim Copeland serves as a Deputy Regional Forester for the Eastern Region.  Jim began his career with the Forest Service in 2008 at Schenck Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina as a Principal Teacher.  Jim served as Human Resources Chief of Staff prior to this position.

Copeland has served as Acting Washington Office Director of Grey Towers and Conservation Education.  He has also held roles as Center Director at Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center and Acting Assistant Director of Job Corps at the Forest Service Job Corps National Office.  He has also served in the Washington Office Civil Rights and Enterprise as well.  

Prior to coming to the US Forest Service, Jim served in the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons as a Special Education Coordinator and Regional Crisis Support Team leader.  Jim was a certified Special Education Teacher in Texas and North Carolina and is also an author.    Son of an Army Lt. Colonel, Copeland is a graduate of Texas A&M University Commerce with a Bachelor’s of Science in Speech Communication and Graduate Degree in Secondary Higher Education. He enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Acting Deputy Regional Forester 

Steve Miller serves the Eastern Region as an Acting Deputy Regional Forester. In his regular duty, he serves as Regional Director for Fire and Aviation Management. He joined the Forest Service in August of 2018 after a thirty-one-year career with the State of Florida. Prior to Joining the Forest Service, Steve served as the Chief of Land Management for the St Johns River Water Management District in Northeast Florida. 

Steve is committed to wise fire management and development of new employees and leaders. He serves on the cadre of the Interagency Prescribed Fire Training Center’s Agency Administrator Workshop and teaches at the Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship Academy. 

He is originally from Wisconsin and earned his BS in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and his MS in Ecological Restoration from the University of Florida. He enjoys paddling wild and scenic rivers with his wife and family.