Guilfoyle named BLM wild horse chief

RBC I Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey announced today the selection of Joan Guilfoyle to be the new chief of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Division. Guilfoyle, who is currently Service First national coordinator for the BLM and three other federal agencies, succeeds Don Glenn, who retired in December 2010. Guilfoyle will report to her new position Aug. 15.
Abbey said Guilfoyle “brings a diverse set of skills, experience and expertise that will enable her to meet the formidable challenges facing the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. Joan has demonstrated a commitment to accountability, transparency and partnering with stakeholders in her work and she will advance our agency’s effort to create what I have called a ‘new normal’ for doing business in wild horse and burro management.”
Guilfoyle said, “I am pleased to have been selected for this critical BLM position in a program that is under the bright light of public scrutiny. I will implement the ongoing reforms of the Wild Horse and Burro Program in the most effective manner possible so that we can put this program on a sustainable track.”
In her current position in Washington, D.C., as Service First national coordinator for the BLM, USDA Forest Service, National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Guilfoyle has provided leadership on streamlining and integrating agency processes to improve customer service, enhance natural and cultural resource management and increase efficiency within and between agencies. Guilfoyle previously served in several key federal positions, including supervisory National Park Service Ranger for the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn.; acting executive director of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership, Service First offices in Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nev.; information and education specialist/outreach coordinator and deputy assistant regional director for public affairs for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Twin Cities, Minn.; and deputy district public affairs officer and supervisory park ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul, Minn., and St. Louis, Mo.
Guilfoyle earned her bachelor’s degree in zoology/ecology from Southern Illinois University in 1979 and her master’s degree in environmental learning and leadership from the University of Minnesota in 2002. An avid outdoorswoman, Guilfoyle enjoys hiking, kayaking and horseback riding, among other activities. Guilfoyle volunteers with horse care and exercise duties at the National Park Service’s mounted park police program based in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C., and is involved in a wounded warrior program known as “Ride Well,” which offers equestrian-based rehabilitative services for returning servicemen and women through area veterans’ hospitals.