Mike Dombeck is the new Forest Service Chief and thus a very important person to our industry. One of his first acts was to appoint a chief of staff, who turned out to be none other than Francis Pandolfi, known to the ski world as the former CEO of Times Mirror Magazines, and thus in charge of that company’s several ski and snowboarding publications. It is good that the Chief will have a person that knowledgeable about our sport and industry at his elbow.
We wish them both well as they walk an extraordinary tightrope. Their congressional handlers are about as black-hatted environmentally as any group of politicians could be, and are ideologically committed to the timber/mining/grazing priority for the Forest Service. Dombeck talks about his strong commitment to environmental sensitivity and Pandolfi is a committed conservationist. And it was Pandolfi’s commissioning of Roper research that established the strong pro-environment feelings of active skiers. Interesting times ahead!
