The appointment of Dale Bosworth as Chief of the USDA Forest Service has won praise from the timber and forest industry, who anticipate a more traditional approach to forest management, balancing the economic value of national forests with conservation.

Clyde Todd of Alexandria, executive director of the Louisiana Loggers Council, and a retired U.S. Forest Service ranger, said he does not know Bosworth personally, but has spoken with people in the Service who do know him and who have worked with him.

"I think we will see a return to the traditional principles of forest management laid down by Gifford Pinchot," Todd said. "The reason the forests are what they are today is that we took care of them,"

(Gifford Pinchot was Chief of the U.S. Forest Service during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, and led in establishment of reforestation and forest management policies which were the basis for the Forest Service.)

Last year during public hearings on a proposed national ban on new road building in national forests, Todd made a statement critical of the policies under the administration of the retired Chief, Mike Dombeck, whose background is not in forestry, and whose policies were influenced by environmentalists who support a total ban on logging in national forests.

Lynn Neff, Supervisor of the 600,000 acre Kisatchie National Forest headquartered in Pineville, said he knows the new Chief, Bosworth, "but not well." Neff said he is "tickled to death" at his appointment. Bosworth is highly regarded in the Forest Service, Neff said, and "I really think his background will help."

Neff said he has a great deal of faith in the traditional decentralized management approach of the Forest Service, where decisions made "on the ground" are respected and usually work best.

In terms of policy changes, Neff said that with any proposed policy change, "there are some who want to do it, and some who don't."

Regulations require openness, with input from all who have an interest in use of the forests.

Retiring Chief Dombeck also praised Bosworth, saying he is "a great choice." Dombeck said "Dale was instrumental in developing key parts of the Forest Service's natural resource agenda, and led development of the roads rule." The rule addressed the maintenance of roads through the country's 192 million-acre national forests, as well as when to construct new ones. The policy was later followed by a sweeping ban on road building and logging on 58.5 million acres of national forest lands, except in rare circumstances. The ban made Chief Dombeck a "lightning rod" for Western Republicans, the timber industry, and recreation groups, who regarded the land management plan as unfair.

The industry and other groups are fighting the rule in court. The Bush administration has delayed its implementation as part of a review that should be completed next month, sources said. Mr. Bosworth has said he supports the policy.

Environmentalists generally welcomed Bosworth's appointment, but are worried about the Bush administration's environmental policies, which favor economic development along with recreational and other public uses of national land resources.