The Baraboo-based Democrat has served as the committee’s vice chair since he joined the Assembly in January, and will replace the current chairman, 74th district Rep. Gary Sherman, D-Port Wing, who was recently appointed to serve as a judge in the state’s District IV Court of Appeals.

"Rep. Fred Clark is uniquely qualified to serve as chair of the Assembly Committee on Forestry, as he has worked as a forester for more than 20 years and is currently vice-chair of the group," Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, said. "I know that Rep. Clark will continue his dedicated work to preserve Wisconsin’s natural resources and their many environmental and economic benefits in his new position of leadership."

Clark, who also serves on the natural resources committee, said he thought the position would be "a very good fit," and provide an opportunity to align with the heads of related committees.

A former Nature Conservancy ecologist and DNR forester, Clark said he was "honored and excited" to be taking on the chairmanship, which he said would be "a new challenge" for his freshman term in the Assembly.

"It doesn’t happen often with freshmen," he said. "I appreciate the trust that my colleagues have put in me."

While, as the owner of Clark Forestry, he has business ties to the industry, he said he was careful in avoiding conflicts of interest. The business is focused on consultation with private landowners and, he said, he no longer contracted with the state of Wisconsin.

"That would be the kind of clear thing I would avoid," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, he thought his work in the industry was valuable experience which he brought to the table as a legislator.

"The work I do as a consultant with private landowners really helps give me a perspective that’s helpful in this role as a committee chair," he said.

Clark said the committee was an important voice in both environmental and economic issues for Wisconsin, particularly given the state’s prominence in the paper industry, the high proportion of forested acreage, and the more than $20 billion forestry generates annually.

"It’s an important part of the economy and you need to absolutely pay attention to that," Clark said. "Overall, it’s our job to ensure we find the right balance between forest as a big part of our state economy, and protecting forests for the clean air and clean water and wildlife and all the other environmental concerns."

Clark said the five-member committee was hoping to focus on the state’s managed forestry law this year, and was requesting study by the legislative council of whether the law effectively encouraged sustainable forestry on private land.

"There’s a wide variety of programs and incentives in place that we always need to be looking to improve," Clark said. "This would be an opportunity to look broadly at that program, think forward to the next 20 years and consider what kinds of policies and incentives are going to help keep that 10 million acres of private forest land intact and productive and healthy."

In addition, he said, the committee could play a role in generating new jobs as part of Wisconsin’s economic recovery. He is already involved in an effort to restore the Wisconsin Conservation Corps, which was discontinued in June of 2003, and said there could be more opportunities for job creation in the trees.

"We’ve got a number of opportunities and we need to make sure we’re doing our best to take advantage of those," he said.