[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13] [Senate] [Page 17135] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]TRIBUTE TO BRAD EXTON Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Brad Exton, an individual with a long and outstanding record as member of the U.S. Forest Service. Over the course of his 29 years in the Forest Service, Mr. Exton has held many demanding posts, including deputy forest supervisor and acting forest supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest, BHNF, in South Dakota. He has also been instrumental in helping the Forest Service improve relations with Native American tribes, and helped to create a closer relationship between the Forest Service, National Park Service, and the State park system. Before his tenure in South Dakota, Mr. Exton served in several States and numerous positions within the Forest Service. He was a graduate forester in Oregon; a river ranger in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho; a district ranger in Caribou-Targhee National Forest, encompassing 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah; and a recreation staff officer in the Ashley National Forest in Utah. He brought this wealth of experience with him to BHNF in April of 2003. As deputy forest supervisor and acting forest supervisor at BHNF, Mr. Exton took a leadership role in confronting some of the most difficult challenges facing the organization. For example, Mr. Exton was a BHNF spokesman and negotiator on issues of concern to Indian tribes. The Black Hills area is sacred land to 22 tribes, including the Lakota people, and there has often been tension with the Forest Service over the role of the tribes in land management and usage. Through meetings and the formation of an advisory group, Mr. Exton has partnered with tribal members to seek a more active role for the tribes in maintaining healthy forests and creating an atmosphere of respect for indigenous cultures and knowledge. His commitment was reflected in 2005, when he was awarded a Regional Forester Honor Award for his work with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in developing a program of fuel reduction. While it is unfortunate for BHNF to lose a valuable public servant such as Mr. Exton, I am confident he will thrive in his new position as manager of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. I wish to congratulate Mr. Exton on this exciting new opportunity, and wish him all the best. The cooperation and respect Mr. Exton has fostered in South Dakota will remain as a worthy legacy. ____________________