Southwestern Region

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REGIONAL FORESTERS: William D. Hurst

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William D. Hurst
1966 – 1976

William D. Hurst was third generation Forest Service. It started in 1905 when William Hurst (William D’s grandfather) was appointed assistant ranger on the Dixie Forest Reserve. Three months later, he became a forest supervisor. Gifford Pinchot sent him two full pages of instructions, the most specific being, “As soon as you can get to it, please look up desirable rooms for an office. A full set of blank forms, office equipment, and furniture have been requested to be sent you.” Supervisor Hurst made a formal reply, “I will endeavor to magnify the trust reposed in me and shall discharge the duties imposed upon me in a dignified manner without fear or favor.” This was William Hurst’s rule until he resigned in 1913 as supervisor of the Beaver and Fillmore National Forests to accept the position of surveyor of Beaver County. He was an engineer by training and filled this position until his death in 1935.

In the meantime, the supervisor’s boy, William M. Hurst, found the ranger examination to be a pushover in 1909, and started as assistant ranger at Panguitch, Utah on the Sevier in 1910. He was a District Forest Ranger when William D. was born in 1915.

William D. Hurst grew up in Utah. He graduated from Utah State University with a B.S. in Forestry in 1938. He began his Forest Service career in 1937 as an Administrative Guard on the Wasatch National Forest in Utah. In 1942, he became the District Ranger of the Manila Ranger District on the Ashley National Forest. After a stint in the Army from 1945 to 1946, serving in Japan, he became the Staff Officer of the Cache National Forest in Utah. He served as Forest Supervisor on the Ashley National Forest from 1950 to 1955, before going to the Washington Office as one of the Assistant Chiefs in Range Management. Hurst then served as Chief of Range & Wildlife Management of the Intermountain Region from 1957 to 1962. He was the Deputy Regional Forest for the Intermountain Region as well. In 1966, Hurst was appointed Regional Forester for the Southwestern Region, where he remained until he retired in 1976.

During his appointment as Regional Forester of the Southwestern Region, Hurst brought not only a keen mind and almost 30 years’ experience, but also a pride in the history and traditions of the Forest Service and a genuine concern for the well-being of the people and the forests.

The 1960s were a tumultuous time for the Southwestern Region (see Timeless Heritage: A History of the Forest Service in the Southwest, Chapter 9). During all of the turmoil, confrontation, and litigation, Regional Forester Bill Hurst sought to maintain the region on an even keel and keep the morale of the foresters high. He urged supervisors, rangers, and guards to become active citizens in the communities where they lived and to get to know the local citizens and their problems. Although it was a “bureaucratic” agency, the Forest Service was fortunate to have “on-the-ground salesmen” who could create a favor- able, positive image of the Forest Service. He suggested that foresters do more with newspaper items and television and radio appearances to accent the many desirable and favorable things that come from the Forest Service and play down the negatives and the no’s that they had to hand out on occasion. Hurst stressed “traditional values” of the Forest Service, such as professionalism, pride in the Forest Service, its history and traditions, high standards of integrity, honesty, and hard work by all employees, a deep concern for the individual people who were dependent on the national forests, and a strong bond of “family” among the Forest Service members for each other. He also stressed the important role the Spanish-Americans had played in the management and development of the Forest Service in the Southwest, both as members of the organization and as users of the resources of the National Forests. In 1972, Region 3 adopted the Northern New Mexico Policy with directives that the uniqueness and value of Spanish-American and Indian cultures must be recognized and preserved

• Northern New Mexico Policy (PDF, 155kb)

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U.S. Forest Service - Southwestern Region
Last Modified: Friday, 22 February 2008 at 11:00:23 EST