BLM Names Horsewoman as Chief of Wild Horse and Burro Program

Horseback Magazine

August 1, 2011

BLM Director Bob Abbey Announces Selection of Joan Guilfoyle,    

WASHINGTON, (BLM) – 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 on

August 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, Minnesota; Acting Executive Director of the Southern Nevada

Agency Partnership, Service First offices in Las Vegas and Boulder City,

Nevada; 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, Minnesota; and Deputy District Public

Affairs Officer and Supervisory Park Ranger for the U.S. Army Corps of

Engineers in St. Paul, Minnesota, and St. Louis, Missouri.

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.     Read MORE....