U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell on Thursday expressed her support for an ongoing analysis of energy development in the Wyoming Range despite claims that the process is tainted by politics and inappropriate influence from industry.

Kimbell made the remarks near the parking lot on Teton Pass while visiting Boy Scouts from the Order of the Arrow. The Scouts are scheduled to finish construction of roughly 11 miles of trails on Teton Pass and complete fence-removal projects in the Gros Ventre drainage today.

Kimbell, who assumed her current position in February 2007, also spoke about a proposed plan for a new forest supervisor’s office in Jackson Hole, funding for trail maintenance in Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the effect wildfires have had on the Forest Service budget.

With regard to proposed energy development on 44,700 acres of the Wyoming Range, Kimbell said she has a “tremendous amount of faith” in the National Environmental Policy Act analysis process and said that analysis would take into consideration “all elements of the environment,” as well as social and economic issues.

Further, she said she trusts Bridger-Teton Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton will make the appropriate decision on whether to allow energy development in the Wyoming Range.

Earlier this year, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal castigated Bridger-Teton officials for allowing Stanley Energy inappropriate access to Forest Service personnel and outside contractors who were working on an environmental analysis of drilling on 44,700 acres in the Wyoming Range. Hamilton subsequently made the decision to do the analysis using Forest Service personnel but has refused to start the analysis over as requested by Freudenthal and numerous environmental groups.

When asked about plans for a new forest supervisor’s office, Kimbell said it would be appropriate for the Forest Service to sell a portion of the current 15-acre administrative site in downtown Jackson to fund the new building.

“Budgets are very tight,” she said, explaining that Forest Service officials have the authority to sell administrative land, not Forest Service system land, for such expenditures. She said the Forest Service would not hesitate to use that authority whenever it is appropriate for necessary infrastructure improvements.

Kimbell called the Boy Scouts’ work on Bridger-Teton a “tremendous contribution” to the Forest Service and to the people who use the forest. She said Bridger-Teton would rely on volunteer help to maintain the roughly 11 new miles of trials the Boy Scouts built this week.

“We count on partners being able to help with things like trail maintenance,” she said. “We count on that, and the American people count on that.”

Responding to a question about the toll wildfires have taken on Forest Service budgets, Kimbell said, “With climate change, we’re seeing fires that start earlier and last longer. We’re seeing fire behavior that our fire managers have never seen before. Yes, I am concerned that the cost of fire suppression goes up and up and up.”

Kimbell said the Forest Service is trying to cut costs of fire management across the country by using models that try to predict fire behavior.