Intermountain Region

Regional Forester

Harv Forsgren - Regional Forest for the Intermountain Region

Welcome to the Intermountain Region!

The Intermountain Region encompasses nearly 34 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands in six states: western Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada and portions of Colorado and California. These diverse lands include parts of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the canyon country of southern Utah, the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and many beautiful landscapes in between. The forests and grasslands of the Intermountain Region are held in trust for America’s resources of timber, wildlife, water, range and recreation. The Forest Service provides stewardship of these resources today and wishes to ensure they are available for future generations.

Never before has the management of National Forests been so critical. As the population of the country grows, the demands on the Forest Service increase. For the past six years, the Forest Service has focused our efforts on combating four particular threats to forests: fire, invasive species, unmanaged recreation and loss of open space. We recognize the coming years will provide new challenges including global climate change, watershed health and a growing urbanized population who is unaware of the importance of the National Forest System in their lives.

I invite you to explore all that the National Forests of the Intermountain Region have to offer.

Harv Forsgren
Regional Forester

Harv Forsgren - Bio

Harv Forsgren is the Regional Forester for the U.S. Forest Service’s Intermountain Region based out of Ogden, Utah. He is responsible for the management of 13 National Forests encompassing more than 32 million acres in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, western Wyoming, and the east slope of the Sierra’s in California. As Regional Forester, Harv has indicated he will measure success by the results of Forest Service actions on the land and the quality of the relationships cultivated within the workplace and with communities.

He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Forsgren earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries Management from Utah State University in 1976, and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resource Management from Humboldt State University in 1980.

Forsgren began his career with the Forest Service as a volunteer in Wyoming in 1975. He joined the agency permanently in 1978, where he worked first to develop a vegetation classification system and later as a fisheries biologist on the Chugach National Forest in Anchorage, Alaska. Subsequently, he worked as a fisheries biologist on the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho, and on the Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon.

He became the fisheries program leader for the Intermountain Region in 1988. He served, beginning in 1991, as the National Fisheries Program Leader in Washington, D.C. for several years before being named Assistant Director of the Wildlife, Fish and Rare Plant Staff. In June of 1998, Forsgren was named National Director for that staff. As National Director, he had broad responsibilities for conservation of wildlife, fish, rare plants and threatened, endangered and sensitive species. While in that position he helped shape the national policy related to conservation of Pacific salmon and steelhead, fostered partnerships and helped develop changes to the national forest planning regulations.

In December 1999, he was named as Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region, where he served until named as the Regional Forester for the Southwestern Region in July 2002. In November 2007, he was tapped to lead the Intermountain Region – only the second person to serve as Regional Forester in three different Regions.

Forsgren, lives in North Ogden, Utah with his wife Julie. They have two grown daughters, Myrica and Hailey. He enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, and international travel.

US Forest Service - Intermountain Region
Last Modified: Monday, 10 March 2008 at 16:24:02 EDT