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| Lyle Laverty |
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne today praised the U.S. Senate’s confirmation last night of Lyle Laverty as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
“Lyle Laverty has vast experience in park and natural resource management that will enable him to do an outstanding job as assistant secretary overseeing the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” Kempthorne said.
“As both Director of Colorado Parks and a longtime manager with the U.S. Forest Service, Laverty understands the importance of working together with states, tribes, local communities and private landowners to address the many challenges of conserving our national parks and our wildlife and its habitat while managing for recreation and other uses of the land,” Kempthorne said.
Laverty has served as Director of Colorado Parks since 2001, leading a strategic planning effort to improve stewardship of state parks. Colorado opened two new state parks during his tenure and began planning two others. He implemented a $40 million cost-share project with the Army Corps of Engineers that rehabilitated three state parks. He also played a key role in establishing the Front Range Trail, a 700-mile trail extending through Colorado from Wyoming to New Mexico.
Prior to this position, Laverty had a long career as a Forest Service manager, rising to the level of Regional Forester of the Rocky Mountain Region and then Associate Deputy Chief of the agency. In these roles, he provided leadership of resource programs including timber management, fire and fuel reduction efforts, and watershed, range, wildlife, and recreation programs.
As a Regional Forester, he oversaw the management and stewardship of more than 24 million acres of National Forests and National Grasslands in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska.
Laverty has a bachelor of science degree in Forest Management from Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif. (June 1965); a master’s degree in Public Administration from George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. (May 1981); and is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (August 1997).
He has served on the Board of Directors of numerous organizations, including the National Association of State Park Directors; National Society of Park Resources; Colorado Fourteeners’ Initiative; Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado; and Denver Metro Advisory Board for The Salvation Army.
Laverty is professionally accredited as a California Registered Professional Forester and a Certified Forester, Society of American Foresters. He is a member of the Society of American Foresters and the National Recreation and Parks Association.
As Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, Laverty will oversee policy for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service, which have a combined annual budget of about $3.6 billion, and a combined workforce of about 30,000 employees.