Tracy Tophooven

Tracy J. Tophooven is the Assistant Director for Recreation, Lands, and Minerals for the Washington Office of the US Forest Service.  In this role, she provides leadership, oversight, and direction for national recreation programs including trail and travel management, dispersed recreation, partnerships & outdoor ethics, recreation planning, tourism and interpretation, special uses, and winter sports and ski area management for 193 million acres on 155 national forests and 20 grassland.

Tracy has over 30 years of public land management experience working for the USDA Forest Service.  She began her career as a college student hired through the Cooperative Education program as a wildlife biologist. She has served in a variety of positions including Wildlife Biologist (1991-1996), Assistant Forest Planner (1996-1998), and Public Affairs Officer (1999-2002) on the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan; District Ranger on the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan (2002-2005); District Ranger on the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont (2005-2008); Branch Chief for the Budget Presentations on the Strategic Planning, Budget and Accountability staff in Washington, D.C (2008-2011), and staff assistant to the Deputy Chief for the National Forest System in the Washington Office (2011 – 2012).  She moved to the Pacific Northwest as the Deputy Forest Supervisor on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Medford Oregon in 2012, then served as the special assistant to Regional Forester in the Pacific Northwest Region (R6) in May 2014. Tracy most recently served as the Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service, which includes Washington and Oregon from 2016 – 2020.

Tracy grew up near Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has earned degrees in Wildlife Management and Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  Tracy enjoys many outdoor hobbies including fishing, hiking, and kayaking. Her passion for public service and public lands was cultivated by her father, a firefighter of 30+years, who taught her how to fish.