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Mike Oliver
Mike Oliver retired from USDA/NRCS in July 2024 and now resides in Young Harris, Georgia. He most recently served as the NRCS State Forester for Tennessee, following his tenure as the NRCS National Liaison to the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). Over the course of his career, Mike played a central role in forestry technical assistance, forest management planning, farm bill program delivery, and partner engagement. Prior to his work in Tennessee, Mike was the NRCS State Forester for Texas from 2014 to 2020. He also served nearly nine years in Mississippi as an NRCS area forester and Wetland Reserve Program Implementation Team leader. Before joining NRCS, he spent six years as a regional biologist with Ducks Unlimited, specializing in reforestation of former agricultural lands and wetland restoration in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Mike was instrumental in the development of the Texas Shortleaf Pine Initiative in 2018 and previously led the Open Pine Working Group for the Northeast Texas Conservation Delivery Network. His efforts were recognized with a conservation award from the Shortleaf Pine Initiative in 2019 and later with the Longleaf Alliance’s True Champion Award and NWTF’s Making Tracks Award in 2024. He holds a B.S. in Forestry (Wildlife Option) from Mississippi State University and completed graduate work at the University of Memphis focused on bottomland hardwood ecology. He has co-authored multiple forestry publications, including a chapter in Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests (2005). Mike is a Texas Accredited Forester, a member of the Texas Forestry Association, and currently serves as Interim Director of the Shortleaf Pine Initiative and a member of NRCS’s Forest Soil Health Teaching Cadre. |
