Growing up on the Mescalero Apache Indian reservation in New Mexico, Arthur "Butch" Blazer hunted and fished and spent all his time outdoors. He translated that love of the outdoors into a career, as a natural resources manager with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, then as the first Native American appointed state forester for New Mexico, and now as the Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment for the U.S. Department of Agriculture - where he oversees the U.S. Forest Service.
Blazer is in Missoula this week, to meet with local land managers and to speak to tomorrow's meeting of the Montana Society of American Foresters.
He also sat down with News Director Sally Mauk at the forest service fire sciences lab to talk about changes in forest management and policy.
