Tim Dabney is the acting supervisor for Superior National Forest. He has been with the Superior National Forest since April 2011.
When Jim Sanders announced his retirement after 15 years as Forest Supervisor of the Superior National Forest in November 2011, one of the first questions was—who will replace the long-serving forester? That question is yet to be answered, however, in the interim, Tim Dabney will be serving as the acting forest supervisor.
Dabney already has his feet on the ground in the new position—he has been deputy forest supervisor since April 2011. And like Sanders, he came to Superior National Forest with an extensive background with the U.S. Forest Service.
As he prepared to become acting supervisor on January 1, 2012, Dabney said, “It has been great working with Jim Sanders. We have a great group of employees here that will continue to strengthen the administrative, fire and aviation, and natural and cultural resource programs that Jim helped lead for so many years. These programs will continue to be successful, in large part, due to the strong positive relationships that Jim helped build and improve over the years with our stakeholders. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our programs and relationships for the benefit of the land and the people we serve.”
Dabney received his bachelor of science in forestry from Mississippi State University in 1981. He has worked 33 years for the Forest Service, including 28 years at field locations in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Alaska, and California; four years in the national headquarters in Washington, D.C.; and now nearly a year on the Superior National Forest as deputy forest supervisor.
Dabney’s previous jobs include inventory forester, silviculturist, timber sale preparation and administration forester, timber sale contracting officer, and district ranger. While in Washington, D.C., he served as the national stewardship contracting coordinator.
Dabney’s personal interests include downhill skiing, biking, swimming, canoeing, exercising, scuba diving, cooking, coaching youth soccer, and traveling. He plans to add cross-country skiing and snow shoeing to his list of winter activities.
In a phone conversation on December 28, Dabney said the process of finding a new forest supervisor could take up to six months. He said the position has been advertised. The applicant pool will be assembled and reviewed in January and then interviews will be conducted. An offer will be made in March or April and the new supervisor— whoever he or she may be—will likely be on board in June.
The Superior National Forest is comprised of three million acres, one million being within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The forest headquarters is located in Duluth. There are five ranger districts on the Superior located at Ely, Grand Marais, Tofte, Aurora, and Cook, Minnesota.
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