Alva Review-Courier -

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — After a career spent battling wildland fires across the West, U.S. Forest Service interim Chief Vicki Christiansen must now confront another sort of crisis: the harassment and bullying of women that's persisted in the agency's male-dominated culture despite numerous efforts at reform.

Christiansen's ascension to the top of the 35,000-employee agency follows the ignominious downfall this week of its former chief, Tony Tooke, amid allegations of relationships with subordinates.

Such misconduct appears to run deep in the agency's ranks, according to employee accounts,...