Mike Balboni new Kisatchie Forest Head By James Ronald Skains Mike Balboni, the new Kistachie National Forest Supervisor brings a world of experience from a variety of jobs with the US Forest Service. In his 30- year career with the US Forest Service, Balboni has served in four Forest Regions and on ten different national forests. One of nine previous national forest tours for Balboni was the Kisatchie. "I served on the Kisatchie in the Catahoula District when Clyde Todd was District Ranger," Balboni told the Piney Wood Journal. "In fact, my career almost got a little tarnish on it while I was working on the Catahoula district. One hot summer day, we were called out to put out a fire along a railroad track near Pollock that had been started by sparks from the train," Balboni recalled with a laugh. "I was on a three man pumping crew on this particular little fire. "It didn't take long to put out the fires but where we made our mistake was that we parked our truck to close to the railroad track leaving the doors open," Balboni explained. "All of a sudden we looked up and there was a train bearing down on us.There was no way that we could run to the truck and move it out of the way," Balboni remembered. "The best we could do was get to the truck, slam the door and jump down an embankment as the train roared past us. We just knew that the truck would be hit, but when we looked up after the train passed, the truck didn't even have a scratch on it," Balboni added. "Needless to say, we didn't broadcast our close call with the train." Balboni is a native of Ocala, Florida and grew up spending much time enjoying the recreational and hiking opportunities on the Ocala National Forest. He is a graduate of the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in Forest Resources and Conservation. "I want to make one thing clear. Although I am a graduate of the University of Florida, I am not a member of the `Gator Nation,'" Balboni stated. "The only reason that I went to the University of Florida was because Florida State did not offer a degree in forestry. I've always been a Seminole fan and always will be." Balboni came to the Kisatchie from the position of Deputy Forest Supervisor on the huge Bridger-Teton National Forest located in northwest Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park. He lived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for two and a half years while filling that position. This area is at an elevation of 6200 feet. Balboni reported to work as the Forest Supervisor of the Kisatchie on July 5, 2009. "Actually, coming back to the Kisatchie was almost like coming home," Balboni pointed out. "While I was working as a trainee on the Catahoula for Clyde Todd, I met my wife to be, Sylvia, who lived in the Tioga-Ball area." "We now live just two miles from Sylvia's Mom and Dad," Balboni noted. "We have two sons, who live in Bozeman, Montana. Both have ties to Montana State University. For them, Montana is home because I was stationed on the Kootenai National Forest as a District Ranger for twelve years," Balboni elaborated. "This was on the Three Rivers Range and we lived in the small community of Troy which had of population of 1,500 people at an elevation of 1700 feet." Jim Caldwell, Public Affairs officer for the Kisatchie, also set in on the interview with the Journal. Caldwell pointed out that he had been to Troy, Montana and the nearby community of Yaak on a forest fire. "I remember that about the only business in Yaak was the Dirty Shame Bar and Grill," Caldwell recalled. "Mike and I crossed paths a couple of times in fighting forest fires out west although I didn't get to really know him," Caldwell noted. "You are so busy doing your job in these high pressure Incidents that you don't have time for anything else." "We are extremely pleased to have Mike here on the Kisatchie," Caldwell stated. "I think that Mike has the most varied background in the most essential areas of the Forest Service of anyone that could have been chosen as Supervisor for the Kisatchie."\par }{\plain "He has worked as a field Biologist, in timber sales, in prescribed burning programs, a resource assistant, as a planner in a Supervisor's office, District Ranger and acting Forest Supervisor on the Kootenai National Forest," Caldwell pointed out. "I also had the in the field experience on the Payette National Forest in Central Idaho of doing a lot of vegetation and timber management in roadless back country areas of the Forest," Baldoni added. "We worked as a team of 12. We would pack in several miles off a back country road and set up camp. This was not Wilderness areas but just classified as road-less areas." "We didn't even have horses, it was just a hike to the camp and all the work in the surrounding areas," Balboni. "We did Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) for timber management and logging during the summer months and then in the winter months we would actually write the EIS reports. We did helicopter logging on our timber sales and some horse logging," Baldoni recalled. "Most of the saw mills in the area had closed but there was still a pretty good market for good lodge pine logs for use in building log homes." Baldoni was team leader on these expeditions into roadless Payette National Forest land. He also served as acting District Ranger on the Payette. "What we were doing at that time was highly controversial, managing and cutting timber in road less areas but we were able to do our jobs in an efficient manner," Balboni pointed out. "The controversy died down after the public saw that we could do timber sales and logging without making an negative environmental impact in the roadless areas." Balboni has been active in all phases of Forest Service education and training. He is a graduate of the Senior Leader Program, Class 2, served as Learning Coach for the Senior Leader Program Class 6 and 7. Balboni is a qualified Forest Safety Officer, Fire Safety Officer, Line Officer since 1994, and Agency Administrator on more than a dozen Type I and Type II incidents. Balboni also has operational experience with Stewardship Contracting and Agreements and as Division Group Supervisor. In addition, Balboni served on Grizzly Bear Control Committee. He was also active in community leadership programs when living in Troy, Montana where he served a term as President of the Troy Business Club. "Probably the most difficult Forest Service Incident that I was involved in was in 2006 when the Rainbows came to the Bridger-Teton for their annual summer outing," Balboni pointed out. "I don't think the Rainbow Coalition Group has ever come to the Kisatchie so you may not be familiar with this organization." "It started out many years ago as a radical environmental group but grew into a counter-culture movement," Balboni explained. "Now when ten to twenty thousand of these rainbows show up in National Forest it is an expensive nightmare." "The Rainbows are really now nothing more than a group of outlaws," Balboni noted. "They will begin to show up in a National Forest in early June with their big event around the 5th of July." "These gatherings severely strain the personnel and financial resources of not only the National Forest which they come to but also the local communities," Balboni elaborated. "The Rainbows are a law enforcement nightmares. Although most of the Rainbow events are held on National Forest in the West, they have come to Arkansas and Florida," Balboni acknowledged. In addition to the Kisatchie, the Bridger-Teton, the Kootenai, the Payette, and the Ocala National Forest, he has also served on the Ouachita, the Freemont, the Bankhead, and the Apalachicola National Forest. What are your plans for the Kisatchie? the Journal asked Supervisor Balboni. "The Kisatchie is actually in great shape," Balboni said. "We just want to do more of the same. Maybe some of my experiences at different job levels will allow me to have more direct input on specific issues that do come up." "As I understand it, the biggest issue on the Kisatchie that we have right now is the deer-dog scenario," Balboni acknowledged. "We have received over 1,200 comments from our public meetings on this issue. It not so much that the Kisatchie is opposed to deer-dog hunting, the problem arises from adjacent land owners who are always complaining to us about the deer dog hunters coming on their property from the Kisatchie chasing dogs and the deer," Balboni explained. "We will probably have some decisions on this issue by late January." |