BIO
Troy Heithecker is the regional forester for the Rocky Mountain Region, where he leads more than 2,000 permanent and seasonal employees and shares stewardship of 22 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands with partners and forty-eight affiliated tribes in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Previously, Heithecker served as the Forest Service’s associate deputy chief for the National Forest System over national programs for forest and rangeland, vegetation, lands, minerals and geology, as well as the National Partnership Office and the NFS Equity/J40 Team. He has served in numerous leadership positions throughout his career with the Forest Service including forest supervisor of the Ouachita National Forest in Hot Springs, Arkansas; deputy forest supervisor and acting forest supervisor on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska; and acting deputy regional forester in the Rocky Mountain Region.
Heithecker started his career with the Forest Service in 1997 as a volunteer with the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Juneau, Alaska, working as a field technician in research silviculture. While in college, Heithecker spent his summers implementing research silviculture projects on the Tongass National Forest as well as on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Washington, where he learned the complex dynamics of managing public lands for multiple uses.
A native Texan, Heithecker earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in forest ecology from the University of Washington. He enjoys all things outdoors, playing music and spending time with his wife and two kids.