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A former U.S. Forest Service official has sued the federal government, saying it discriminated against him and wrongfully fired him after he came forward with allegations of pesticide misuse in forests across the Southwest.

Doug Parker, who worked as the pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry health for the agency's Southwestern region, filed his lawsuit in federal court last month. Parker said on Aug. 8 that the case has been assigned to a federal magistrate.

He told the Associated Press that he wants a jury to hear his story — and his job back.

"I have a fierce resolve to see this through, to correct what they did to me," said Parker, who worked for the agency for nearly four decades before being fired in September 2005.

Art Morrison, a spokesman for the Forest Service in Albuquerque, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture's office of general counsel has not yet received a copy of Parker's lawsuit. He couldn't comment further.

According to the lawsuit, Parker became the subject of hostile treatment by his supervisors after complaining about what he called a "systemic problem" when it came to proper pesticide use across several forests in New Mexico and Arizona.

Parker had accused some managers of not preparing environmental risk assessments and failing to get approval from agency officials who had the authority to make decisions about pesticides.

He was concerned that not following agency policies or laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act — which serves as the basis for federal management of public lands — could have consequences for public safety and the environment.

"Responsible management officials knew and were aware that Mr. Parker considered the manner in which pesticide coordination was being carried out by others to be ethically, legally and environmentally unsound," the lawsuit reads.

While forest officials have remained mum on Parker's case, they have maintained that all projects involving pesticides and herbicides undergo a process to ensure the public is involved and that requirements spelled out by federal law are met.

In addition to seeking a jury trial, Parker's lawsuit asks the court to reverse a decision reached in June by the federal government's Merit Systems Protection Board upholding his firing.

The lawsuit claims the board's decision was "an abuse of discretion, contrary to law and unsupported by substantial evidence."