David Groeschl appointed as Idaho Department of Lands acting director

The State Board of Land Commissioners (Land Board) voted Tuesday to appoint State Forester David Groeschl as acting director of the Idaho Department of Lands (IDL).

The appointment follows the departure of former Director Tom Schultz, who left IDL to become vice president of Government Affairs and Community Outreach for Idaho Forest Group.

Groeschl has been Idaho State Forester since 2011 and IDL Deputy Director since 2016. He came to Idaho in 2008 from Montana where he led the Forest Management Bureau at the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Groeschl earned a bachelor’s degree in forest management from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and a master’s degree in Forestry from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Groeschl’s broad and extensive forestry experience over nearly 30 years includes work in the private, industrial and public forestry sectors, as well as in three different geographic regions of the country – the South, the Great Lakes area and the Intermountain West.

“I appreciate the Land Board’s confidence in me and the opportunity to continue to serve Idahoans as IDL acting director,” Groeschl said.

The Land Board also directed IDL to open the process of soliciting applications for the director position.