Oral history interview with Tom Kovalicky

Collection

Identifier: SR 2724

Staff Only

Transcript, digitized audio recording, and photograph

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Scope and Contents

Audio recording and transcript of an oral history interview with Tom Kovalicky that was conducted by Clark Hansen on October 21, 1999, at the Motel 8 in Grangeville, Idaho, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Accompanying the recording and transcript is a color photograph of Kovalicky and his dog, taken by Hansen at the time of the interview. At Kovalicky's request, portions of the interview on Tape 1, Side 2, and Tape 3, Side 2, are restricted. The corresponding portions of the interview have been redacted from the transcript and a digitized version of the audio recording available online in OHS Digital Collections.

In this interview, Kovalicky discusses his family background and early life in Passaic and Clifton, New Jersey, and describes how his experience being hospitalized with polio led him to pursue a career as a forester. He speaks about his college experience studying forestry at the University of Montana in Missoula, and how Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” about the environmental effects of pollution, changed how he viewed the role of foresters. Kovalicky then discusses his career with the U.S. Forest Service from 1962 to 1991. He talks about serving as a ranger in the Pinedale Forest in Wyoming, and describes why he was transferred to the Stanley Forest in Idaho in 1970. He talks about how he became supervisor of the Nez Perce Forest in Idaho for the final nine years of his career, from 1982 to 1991, and speaks extensively about his work managing that forest, including how forest management and logging in national forests relates to fish and wildlife habitat conservation. He discusses legislation and other political factors that affected the work of the Forest Service, including the policies of President Bill Clinton’s administration at the time of the interview. He speaks extensively about his leadership style as forest supervisor and about implementing his philosophy of ecosystem management. He shares his reasons for retiring in 1991, and also discusses a letter signed by 14 forest supervisors in U.S. Forest Service Region One, including himself. He closes the interview by talking about his freelance work and retirement activities.

Dates

Creation: 1999 October 21

Creator

Kovalicky, Thomas J. (Interviewee, Person)
Hansen, Clark (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

At the request of the interviewee, portions of the interview are restricted. Researcher access to Tape 1, Side 2, and Tape 3, Side 2, is restricted. The corresponding portions of the interview have been redacted from the transcript and a digitized version of the audio recording available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Thomas John Kovalicky was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1935, and he grew up in Clifton, New Jersey. After a brief stint in the U.S. Army, he earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry from the University of Montana in Missoula in 1961. The next year, he began working for the U.S. Forest Service. He married Gayle Crane in 1962; after they divorced in 1970, he was transferred from the Pinedale Forest in Wyoming to the Stanley Forest in Idaho. In 1982, he became supervisor for the Nez Perce Forest, and served in that role until he retired in 1991. In addition to his career in the Forest Service, Kovalicky was involved with multiple organizations. He served on the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Licensing Board, as a national officer of the Society of American Foresters, as a board member for the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation, as director of National Smokejumpers Association, and as director of Idaho Rivers United. He also wrote 30 articles concerning resource management and employee motivation.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Kovalicky in his interview; “The emphasis is on what’s best for the land,” by Steve Thompson, High Country News, May 8, 2000.

Historical note

In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver formed the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) to promote research, education, and public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The center operated for more than 20 years. Among its work was the Columbia River Basin Project (CRBP), an umbrella project supported by a 1997 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CRBP included online exhibits, oral histories, and high school curricula about the history of the region's land, wildlife, and people.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

The Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series culminated in 59 interviews (approximately 184 recorded hours) conducted between 1998 and 2001. Interviewees included Native people, activists, farmers, conservationists, fishers, and others who contributed to the shaping of policies that have had, and continue to have, significant impacts on the Columbia River Basin in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. The interviewees opposed policies by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and advocated for alternative visions of management and use of the Columbia River.

Sources: “Voices of the Columbia,” by Bryan White, PSU Magazine, Fall 1998, Page 17; Center for Columbia River History brochure, undated (circa 2000); Center for Columbia River History website (accessed July 10, 2025), https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (4 audiocassettes (3 hr., 51 min., 35 sec.) + transcript (107 pages) + 1 photograph (color))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Tom Kovalicky, conducted by Clark Hansen on October 21, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Kovalicky discusses his career with the U.S. Forest Service from 1962 to 1991, particularly his work as supervisor of the Nez Perce Forest in Idaho.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio, transcript, and photograph are available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Related Materials

A collection of Tom Kovalicky's papers, designated MG 478, is held at the Special Collections & Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.

General

Forms part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series.

Processing Information

This interview was previously cataloged as part of SR 2700.1, the Center for Columbia River History Oral Histories. SR 2700.1 included oral histories gathered for two separate projects: those conducted by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library for the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, and those collected by the Center for Columbia River History for its Columbia Communities Project. In 2024-2025, as part of digitization of the Dissenters interviews, the collection was reprocessed to separate the two sets of interviews for improved access. Each of the 59 Columbia River Dissenters interviews was cataloged individually under the name of the interviewee. The interviews for the Communities project were kept together as a single collection that was redesignated as SRC 1, Columbia Communities Project oral histories.