Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Leadership

Regional Forester

The Regional Forester is responsible for managing and providing oversight for more than 24 million acres across 16 National Forests, two National Scenic Areas, and one National Grassland in the Pacific Northwest. This includes coordinating activities between National Forests, monitoring activities on those lands to ensure quality operations, providing guidance for forest plans, and allocating budgets to each Forest.

Jacque Buchanan

Regional Forester, Pacific  Northwest Region

Jacqueline “Jacque” Buchanan is the Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region. She leads the management of 16 National Forests, two National Scenic Areas, a National Grassland, and two National Volcanic Monuments within the states of Oregon and Washington. 

Jacque has served with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the USDA Forest Service for more than 30 years. Prior to assuming her role as Regional Forester on January 14, 2024, she served as a Deputy Regional Forester for the Rocky Mountain Region for 8 years in Lakewood, CO.

Jacque’s career in the Forest Service has been diverse.  She has worked extensively in the area of resource management focusing on overall forest health, fire management, range, wildlife, wilderness and Wildfire Crisis Response. She has also worked in International Forestry and has traveled to Brazil, Guyana, and India teaching Fire Leadership courses and helping those countries to establish both Fire and Wilderness management programs.

She has also served as the Director for Renewable Resource in the Rocky Mountain Region, the Forest Supervisor on the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Jackson Hole, WY and was the Deputy and Forest Supervisor on the Lincoln National Forest in the Southern part of New Mexico.

Jacque holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Resources from Pennsylvania State University.

 

Deputy Regional Foresters

The Deputy Regional Foresters are responsible for working alongside the Regional Forester to assist with the management and protection of more than 24 million acres across 17 National Forests and one National Grassland in the Pacific Northwest. Each Forest Supervisor is supervised by the Regional Forester but assigned a deputy forester for oversight and regular communications. Deputy Regional Foresters are also responsible for oversight of specific regional program areas as assigned.

Merv George

Deputy Regional Forester

Merv George has been serving as Deputy Regional Forester for the Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region since July 2023. Prior to his current position, George served as the Forest Supervisor for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (2018-2023). Before joining the Pacific Northwest, George worked for the Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region in a variety of leadership roles for about seven years. George was the Forest Supervisor for the Six Rivers National Forest (2014-2018), and during this timeframe he also performed in detail assignments for both the Lassen and Los Padres National Forests. George was the Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Six Rivers National Forest (2011-2014) and began his Forest Service career in 2008 as the Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, Tribal Relations Program Manager.

Prior to joining the Forest Service, George spent 15 years working in various positions with Tribal Governments. George is an enrolled member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and spent four years serving on their Tribal Council as Vice Chairman (1995-1997) and as the Tribal Chairman (1997-1999).  During his time working with tribes, he also served as the Executive Director for the California Indian Forest & Fire Management Council (2001-2008) and as Director of the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish and Water Commission (2000-2008).  George began his professional career as a Watershed Planner for the Hoopa Valley Tribe (1993-1995).

George is a graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American studies (1997). 

Robert Sanchez

Deputy Regional Forester

Robert Sanchez joined the Pacific Northwest Region as Deputy Regional Forester in April 2023. Prior to that position, Sanchez served as the Forest Supervisor on the Siuslaw National Forest.

Sanchez began his Forest Service career surveying streams and roads on a hydrology crew as a seasonal employee with the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. He has since worked as a hydrologist on the Helena, Clearwater, and Mendocino National Forests and as a District Ranger on both the Colville National Forest and the Uinta Wasatch Cache National Forest. Sanchez served as the Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Coconino National Forest and then as the Forest Supervisor on the Siuslaw National Forest before accepting the Deputy Regional Forester position.

Sanchez is originally from Texas and earned a bachelor’s degree in forest resources and watershed management from the University of Idaho.

Laura Schweitzer

Deputy Regional Forester

The Deputy Regional Foresters are responsible for working alongside the Regional Forester to assist with the management and protection of more than 24 million acres across 17 National Forests and one National Grassland in the Pacific Northwest.  Laura Schweitzer joined the Pacific Northwest Region as Deputy Regional Forester in April 2023.

Schweitzer is new to the Forest Service and most recently served as Executive Director of the Council of Western State Foresters and Western Forestry Leadership Coalition in Denver. She has also held positions as the Assistant State Forester, Cooperative Forestry for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, Policy and Communications Director for the Northeast Midwest State Foresters Alliance, Agricultural Specialist for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service in Rome, Italy, Forestry Expert for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy, Forest Policy Director for American Forests, and as a Forestry Technician for Blodgett Forest Research Station.

Schweitzer earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in environmental sciences and policy from the Johns Hopkins University.