[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17135]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO BRAD EXTON

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Brad Exton, 
an individual with a long and outstanding record as member of the U.S. 
Forest Service. Over the course of his 29 years in the Forest Service, 
Mr. Exton has held many demanding posts, including deputy forest 
supervisor and acting forest supervisor of the Black Hills National 
Forest, BHNF, in South Dakota. He has also been instrumental in helping 
the Forest Service improve relations with Native American tribes, and 
helped to create a closer relationship between the Forest Service, 
National Park Service, and the State park system.
  Before his tenure in South Dakota, Mr. Exton served in several States 
and numerous positions within the Forest Service. He was a graduate 
forester in Oregon; a river ranger in the Frank Church River of No 
Return Wilderness in Idaho; a district ranger in Caribou-Targhee 
National Forest, encompassing 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana, 
Wyoming, and Utah; and a recreation staff officer in the Ashley 
National Forest in Utah. He brought this wealth of experience with him 
to BHNF in April of 2003.
  As deputy forest supervisor and acting forest supervisor at BHNF, Mr. 
Exton took a leadership role in confronting some of the most difficult 
challenges facing the organization. For example, Mr. Exton was a BHNF 
spokesman and negotiator on issues of concern to Indian tribes. The 
Black Hills area is sacred land to 22 tribes, including the Lakota 
people, and there has often been tension with the Forest Service over 
the role of the tribes in land management and usage. Through meetings 
and the formation of an advisory group, Mr. Exton has partnered with 
tribal members to seek a more active role for the tribes in maintaining 
healthy forests and creating an atmosphere of respect for indigenous 
cultures and knowledge. His commitment was reflected in 2005, when he 
was awarded a Regional Forester Honor Award for his work with the 
Rosebud Sioux Tribe in developing a program of fuel reduction.
  While it is unfortunate for BHNF to lose a valuable public servant 
such as Mr. Exton, I am confident he will thrive in his new position as 
manager of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. I 
wish to congratulate Mr. Exton on this exciting new opportunity, and 
wish him all the best. The cooperation and respect Mr. Exton has 
fostered in South Dakota will remain as a worthy legacy.

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