Today John T. Shannon, the State Forester and head of the Arkansas Forestry Commission, told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee that he was resigning, effective at the end of the day.
An audit by the Committee found that the Forestry Commission had improperly used federal grant money for ongoing expenses and overstated the amount of federal money it had available, contributing to a $4 million shortfall at the agency. Last month 34 employees at the agency were laid off but 15 wildland firefighter jobs were restored on Wednesday when the Governor moved $550,000 into the Commission’s budget.
In January Mr. Shannon asked the legislature for nearly $4 million so the Commission could pay back grant money to the federal government that had been used improperly. He has served as the State Forester since 1994.
