FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Kevin Hyde, 360.819.3045, kevin.hyde@psp.wa.gov
OLYMPIA — Governor Jay Inslee has appointed Victoria Christiansen to the Puget Sound Partnership's Leadership Council, the governing body of the Puget Sound Partnership. Christiansen retired in 2021 as chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, a role in which she had served since 2018.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Vicki Christiansen joining the Leadership Council,” said Dennis McLerran, chair of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to the Council from her previous work as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and joins us at a very opportune time with the recent adoption of a new Puget Sound Action Agenda. We are all looking forward to working with Vicki and learning from her unique set of experiences.”
As chief of the Forest Service, Christiansen led a workforce of about 40,000 employees who worked to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands for the benefit of current and future generations. Over her 40-year career, she accumulated a wealth of experience in natural resource and wildland fire management. Her commitment to the core values of the Forest Service (conservation, service, interdependence, diversity, and safety) was evident in the priorities she set for the agency. As Forest Service chief, she led agency efforts to improve the conditions of America’s forests and grasslands by modernizing how the Forest Service delivers landscape conservation through shared stewardship with local, state, and national partners and tribes. Her focus on relationships inside and outside the agency is reflected in the Forest Service’s dedication to caring for the land, communities, and the people they serve.
Christiansen joined the Forest Service in 2010 as the deputy director of fire and aviation management. Prior to serving as chief, she was deputy chief for state and private forestry overseeing Forest Service wildland fire and working with partners to sustain the health and productivity of non-federal forest lands. Prior to joining the Forest Service, she was the Arizona State forester and director of the Arizona Division of Forestry, responsible for the protection of 22 million acres of state and private lands.
Christiansen also served as the Washington State forester, where she had a 26-year career with Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). She started as a wildland firefighter while still in college. She held many different positions at DNR, with a strong emphasis in operations, managing state trust lands, and regulating forest practices on state and private lands. In her first permanent position as a forester, she was responsible for the reforestation of state trust lands in the Mt. Saint Helens' blast zone. In all, she was a wildland firefighter and fire manager for 40 years. She has numerous credentials in the wildland fire program with a special expertise in fire line explosives. Christiansen has a Bachelor of Science in forest management from the University of Washington (cum laude 1983).
“As a native of the Puget Sound region, growing up in the forests of Olalla, my sincere honor of being selected to serve on the Leadership Council for the Puget Sound Partnership can only be earned by advancing meaningful progress in the long-term viability of the Puget Sound to ensure we have thriving natural systems and communities for all people," Christiansen said.
"I am thrilled that Vicki is joining the Leadership Council" said Laura Blackmore, executive director of the Puget Sound Partnership. “She will bring with her decades of experience in natural resources management and relationship building, and a proven ability to lead organizational change to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in government. I look forward to working with and learning from Vicki.”
Christiansen’s term on the Leadership Council runs through June 25, 2026.
About the Leadership Council
The Leadership Council is the governing body of the Puget Sound Partnership. Its seven members are leading citizens chosen from around the Sound and appointed by the Governor to serve four-year terms. Dennis McLerran currently chairs the Leadership Council.
About the Puget Sound Partnership
The Puget Sound Partnership is the state agency formed to lead the region’s collective effort to restore and protect Puget Sound. Working with hundreds of government agencies, tribes, scientists, businesses, and nonprofits, the Partnership mobilizes partner action around a common agenda, advances Sound investments, and tracks progress to optimize recovery.
For more information, go to www.psp.wa.gov.
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