Richard Dolan

Rick began his career in 1993 as a Forest Ranger in the Perry District. He was promoted to Senior Forest Ranger at Goethe State Forest in 1996, with primary job duties being Prescribed Fire and Forest Management. In 1999, Rick became the first Forest Area Supervisor for the newly created Wildfire Mitigation Team located in Bunnell, Florida. These teams were created after the catastrophic wildfires of 1998. In 2000, he transferred to a traditional Forest Area Supervisor position covering Alachua and Gilchrist Counties. He served in that role until 2010, when he was promoted to the Forestry Operations Administrator position in Gainesville, Florida. Rick also held the Waccasassa Forestry Center Manager position from 2014 until 2023. In March 2023, he was appointed to the Florida Forest Service Director position.

Rick served on the Florida Red Incident Management Team for 21 years, working his way up from Division Supervisor trainee to Incident Commander Type 1. He has led the team nationally on wildfires in Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and numerous in-state assignments including hurricanes. He is very active on a national level, serving on the National Association of State Foresters Fire and Awards Committees. Rick also has served on the Complex Incident Management Course (CIMC) cadre since 2009, was on the Steering Committee from 2014 until 2020 and then served as course coordinator and Steering Committee Chair from 2020 until 2023. This national course that provides intense incident management training to team members. Rick is also a Certified Public Manager through Florida State University.