A top Agriculture Department official overseeing the Forest Service has left the agency amid bureaucratic shuffles shaping the Trump administration’s agenda on national forests.
Kristin Sleeper, the former deputy agriculture undersecretary for natural resources and environment, will start as Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s policy director on Jan. 5, the Republican governor’s office said.
Sleeper’s departure from USDA adds to a leadership vacuum. The Senate-confirmed undersecretary for natural resources and environment, Michael Boren, hasn’t stepped into the position and remains on temporary assignment at the Interior Department as principal deputy assistant secretary for policy, management and budget.
In a statement, USDA said Sleeper was “critically important” to the department’s mission, including “putting logs on trucks, instituting common sense reforms” and delivering one of the strongest fire season performances in a decade.
