The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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The Forest Service isn’t quite the worst place to work in the federal government, but it’s steadily moving in that direction. According to the latest “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” employee survey, the Forest Service’s ranking has dropped in every category; from leadership to pay to work/life balance, the Forest Service is … Read more
As I’ve been reviewing the EADM workshop summaries, I’ve noticed that one commonality of most of the regional workshops is what you might call “team management”. Things like people leaving, balls being dropped, lengthy efforts that change direction with new additions to the team, even retirements, pose a problem to getting projects accomplished. Yesterday a … Read more
Folks, this is from an op-ed by Andy Geissler, a forester who works for the American Forest Resource Council in Eugene, Oregon. He is writing about a previous op-ed on the recent expansion of a national monument in SW Oregon. The Jan. 12 guest viewpoint headlined “Expanded monument could benefit economy” offers a strange and disturbing … Read more
Here is a link to a Denver Post story on new Colorado rules..the reason I’m posting it (other than I suspect oil and gas is not covered well in other places) is to “catch people doing something right.” It seems like a great environmental step forward, so I would like to give a shout-out to … Read more
The following article, written by Claudine LoMonaco, appeared in the Santa Fe Reporter recently. The article provides a number of details about a series of alleged lies, deceits and questionable business practices concerning Pioneer Forest Products, described as an “under-the-radar company from Montana” that “lied about its work history in its proposal to the federal … Read more
Remember a few years ago when there were many stories in the news about BLM employee morale and the HQ move to Grand Junction. I think it would be useful for one or more journalists to do an update… how many HQ employees have actually been moved back to DC since the Biden Administration came … Read more
Assiduous readers will recall that Forest Service employees generally think poorly of their agency, according to the annual “Best Places to Work” polling. Dissatisfaction with the Forest Service cuts across the demographic spectrum — young, old, black, white, male, female. With one exception. If you are fortunate enough to be one of the Forest Service’s … Read more
Less than a week ago, I noticed that the Forest Service’s employee search engine had lost its email addresses. Employee phone numbers were still available to the public, but not their email addresses. Lacking any email addresses to find out what was going on, I picked up my 20th century phone and started dialing. Found … Read more
Today the annual “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government” report issued. The Forest Service, which perennially ranks near the bottom, out-did itself this year with an “index score” of 49, lowest in a decade (and perhaps ever). Leading the charge was the agency’s “leadership” (sic) who scored an all-time low with “senior” leaders … Read more
I think everyone should take a look at this report submitted by Congressman Grijalva. Especially those of us who were involved in different things decried therein. Running through it briefly, I noticed this.. NPS Employee Morale Near All-Time Low A poll of NPS employees conducted by the Campaign to Protect America’s Lands and the Coalition … Read more