[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 28 (Friday, February 11, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMEMORATING THE RETIREMENT OF JULIE THOMAS FROM THE U.S. FOREST 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 11, 2022

  Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, along with my colleagues, Senator Mike 
Crapo and Senator James E. Risch, I rise to call attention to 
retirement of Julie Thomas from the U.S. Forest Service.
  Like many Forest Service employees, Julie started her career in 1980 
as a seasonal employee. She was hired as a Seasonal Recreation 
Technician/Fire Technician on the Twin Falls Ranger District in 
Sawtooth Forest. Julie worked in a seasonal capacity on the District 
until August 1990, when she was offered the Resource Assistant position 
on the Twin Falls District.
  In October of 1994, while still a Forest Service employee, Julie 
became the Mid-Snake Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) 
Coordinator. She was one of only two Forest Service employees shared 
with the Natural Resource Conservation Service in the position of RC&D 
Coordinator. As coordinator, she worked and developed relationships 
with many local community leaders and initiated projects to help south 
central Idaho. During her tenure as coordinator, she accomplished many 
worthwhile projects, including spearheading a $2.5 million request for 
a congressional funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives 
Program, which helped producers in Minidoka County address closing 
antiquated drain wells and partnering with the Shoshone District Bureau 
of Land Management, Idaho Power, South Central Idaho Tourism and 
Recreation Development Association, and the College of Southern Idaho 
to update the Mid-Snake Recreation Study.
  Julie worked as the RC&D Coordinator until November of 2009, when she 
accepted the position as Public Affairs Officer on the Sawtooth 
National Forest. In this role, she worked with Incident Management 
Teams throughout the country, grew and maintained the South-Central 
Idaho Resource Advisory Committee, built relationships between the 
Forest Service and the Idaho Congressional Delegation, was a leader in 
Forest Civil Rights, and was recognized in the Forest Service 
Intermountain Region as leader in employee deployment and engagement. 
Above all, Julie was a friend to all in the Forest Service. On December 
31, 2021, Julie retired from the Forest Service after a 41-year career.
  We thank Julie for her loyal service to the Forest Service and south-
central Idaho. We have enjoyed working with her. We hope she enjoys her 
well-deserved retirement.

                          ____________________