BIO
Ken has served with the USDA Forest Service and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Department of Agriculture – Division of Forestry. He was Deputy Regional Forester – State and Private Forestry for the Forest Service in the 13-state Southern Region for 17 years before being named Regional Forester in December of 2018.
As Regional Forester he has responsibility for the management of 13 million acres of forestland on 14 National Forests, Land between the Lakes National Recreation Area in Tennessee and Kentucky, and the Savannah River Department of Energy forestland in South Carolina. He also has responsibility for a State and Private Forestry program that works with all 13 State Forestry Agencies in the programs of Fire, Forest Health, and Cooperative Forestry.
Ken has been a champion of large-scale protection and restoration efforts like America’s Longleaf Pine Restoration Initiative and Shortleaf Pine Restoration Initiative.
Ken served as State Forester for Tennessee from 1994 to 2001. Ken is a member of the Society of American Foresters, Past Chairman of the Southern Group of State Foresters, and Past President of Brentwood/Nashville Rotary Club.
Ken is a native of Tennessee and grew up on a family farm that his family still manages. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from the University of Tennessee.