Letter from the Director

In 1970, the School of Forestry at the University of Montana shifted the future course of national forest management. Unprecedented conflict surrounded the national forests in the preceding years and Congress was unsure of how to respond to the national controversy. At the request of Montana Senator Lee Metcalf, Forestry Dean, Arnold Bolle, assembled a team of experts to investigate conflicts regarding the management of the Bitterroot National Forest. The group’s congressional publication, which became nationally known as the “Bolle Report,” paved the way for the rewriting of national forest law.  

Twenty years after the Center was established, I was honored to become its new Director in January, 2015. The Center has evolved in many productive ways over the years and I am excited about this new transition. My goal is to take the spirit, values and approach of Dean Bolle and apply them to today’s most challenging conservation issues in the American West. The Bolle Center is ideally positioned to inform and shape conservation policy, with a particular focus on our public lands. 

The Center provides the public and decision makers with smart, credible, and relevant analysis of important policy problems and what can be done about them. Instead of a large in-house staff, the Center draws upon a national pool of talent and experience, bringing in experts and practitioners on a project-by-project basis. This allows the Center to be focused, nimble and efficient. 

In addition to my role as Director, I am a Professor of Natural Resources Policy in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. I have researched and written extensively about federal lands and wildlife policy and some of my more recent and selected work can be found on my faculty web page.

Thank you for your interest in the Bolle Center for People and Forests.

Martin Nie, Director

Martin Nie


Dr. Nie is Professor of Natural Resource Policy in the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation.