By Jack M. Willis
Journal Correspondent

To have been born and raised in the relatively small rural town located on the Mississippi Delta, that fact shouldn't be used to imply that Marq Webb hasn't been around, because he is a much traveled graduate forester, having held a variety of positions, rankings and titles with the U.S. Forest Service all over the Deep South.

Marq was born on November 18th, 1949 and graduated from Ruleville High School, located in Ruleville, MS in 1967, and attended Delta State College for one year, before transferring to Mississippi State University, where he received a B.S. Degree in Forestry. While attending M.S.U. he interned during the summers with the U.S. Forest Service in Delta National Forest near Rolling Fork, MS. Upon graduation in January of 1972 he went to work full time with the U.S. Forest Service as a Forestry Aide on the Yazoo-Little Talahatchie Flood Prevention Project working out of two different locations in Batesville and Calhoun City.

The U.S. Forest Service at the time was divided into three different sectors- State and Private, National Forest Systems, and the Research Division, with Marq being hired in the State and Private segment, promoted to Forester and put in charge of Forest Management Practices.

Later, he was transferred to Nantahala National Forest, Highlands Ranger District in North Carolina as Timber Management Assistant and well as Assistant Ranger in that District.

In January of 1978 it was time to pack the bags and head for Glenwood Arkansas, and duty on the Caddo Ranger District of Ouachita National Forest where he assumed the role as Assistant Other Resources Manager.

Late in 1979 he was transferred to Poteau Mountain Young Adults Conversation Corps as Works Programs Administrator and Assistant Camp Director at a 140 person coed residential camp. It was Marq Webb's duty to rouse these 140 individuals out every morning for work details like camp trail maintenance, timber stand improvement and tree planting. This proved at times to be a very daunting task. Unfortunately, the accomplishments of this youth task force were not taken into account by the U.S. Congress, with the program being abolished in 1981 due to lack of funding.

Another transfer was in the offing with Marq being transferred to Cold Springs Ranger District near Booneville, Arkansas where he was appointed as District Silviculturist.

Then Webb was transferred and promoted to the rank of District Ranger at Sam Houston National Forest near New Waverly, TX where he remained until 1987.

Meanwhile the position of Timber Ranger and Wildlife Staff Officer came open in Kisatchie National Forest near Pineville, and when the recruiting officer asked him how he would like to be able to hunt Catahoula Lake every waterfowl season, he immediately knew he wanted the offered position and took it.

In 2002, the upgrading and reorganization of the Forest Service infrastructure caused Webb to change disciplines to Public Uses and Services which entailed timber sales in the District as well as Recreation, Engineering and monitoring of Heritage Resources. This brought about the hiring of graduate Archaeologists to help preserve and catalog Native America artifacts and relics among the newly created projects.

With a multiplicity of changes in operations on the horizon, it wasn't necessarily the "old dog, new tricks" syndrome, but Marq Webb decided to "hang it up" or retire on December 31, 2004--winding up 33 years, three months and three days of meritorious duty with the U.S. Forestry Service.

Marq laughed and said, "I didn't intentionally intend to have all of those 3's in my service time. It just worked out that way."

In retrospect, Marq mused that the United States Forest Service has been good to him, while providing a livelihood and a healthy environment, for the most part, for me to work in. When queried about changes he has observed over his tenure, he noted that the Forest Service has transitioned over the last few years from just producing timber, to emphasizing wildlife conservation and soil and water protection. College grads majoring in disciplines such as archaeology and wild life biology were employed to aid in better management of total resources. This new approach caused Forest Service personnel to spend more time in documentation of activities, resulting in better evaluation of end results of the newly enacted National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Just because Marq is retired this does not mean that he's just a-sitting and a-rockin'. He regularly bass fishes on the Red River, and goes on chartered fishing trips in the Gulf of Mexico, and this past year he helped fight forest fires out west in Oregon, Wyoming and Montana. He also hooked up with FEMA in 2005 and 2006 to help address the monumental job of salvaging downed timber after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Now, he's keeping an eye on water levels on Catahoula Lake and trying to figure out just how long the strings are going to have to be on his decoys.

Back