Richard Periman
Richard Periman is the new deputy forest supervisor of the Superior National Forest.
Periman grew up on a ranch homesteaded by his great-grandparents in western Montana. Of Choctaw and Scottish heritage, his grandfather was a hunting guide and seasonal Forest Service firefighter. The family ranch bordered national forest lands and the family depended on forest resources including grazing permits, timber, hunting, and fishing.
Periman worked in the family mill making split-rail cedar fence and roofing shakes. Later, living with his grandparents in Mexico, he became interested in different cultures and history and went on to earn degrees in anthropology at the University of Montana. In 1988, he began working for the USDA Forest Service on the Kootenai National Forest’s Rexford Ranger District, then on the Deerlodge National Forest, as forest archaeologist and tribal relations manager.
In 1995, Periman became a research archaeologist with Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Cultural Heritage Research Work Unit, in Albuquerque, N.M. He earned a Ph.D. in environmental science and technology from the University of New Mexico and was a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute.
In 2005, Periman became the Southwestern Region’s social science and economics coordinator in the Southwestern Regional Office for Ecosystem Analysis and Planning, Watershed, Soils, and Air.
“As deputy forest supervisor, I look forward to working with a great leadership team and the Superior National Forest supervisor, and I look forward to collaborating with and learning from other agency leaders and elected officials,” said Periman.
Periman will assist Forest Supervisor Brenda Halter to oversee management and activities across the 3-million-acre Superior National Forest.
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