Sharon Crosses Over and Goes Toward the Light.. Errr.. Retires

At my retirement party, lovely photo by Jeff Burch.

My last day at the Forest Service August 3 and I am now formally a retiree. Blogwise, this is most important because no more can anyone blame the Forest Service for my misdeeds, mis-thoughts and mis-writings. FS folks have been very patient (some more than others..) about the idea of doing this blog in my spare time, and touching upon topics that could tick people off, either internally or externally. I expect that a result of my retirement is that I will ask questions that might tick people off, and perhaps also say (more?) things that will tick people off.

Attached here is the retirement speech for me written by the ever-popular and gifted writer DeAnn Zwight. It cracked me up, and hopefully the humor is not too inside.. All I can tell you is that it’s all true.

For those who like the photo, here is a link to Jeff Burch’s website.

18 thoughts on “Sharon Crosses Over and Goes Toward the Light.. Errr.. Retires”

    • PS Jeff Burch is a Great Photographer! I especially like his work with named peaks — that’s about as detailed as a map can get. I haven’t checked to see if he’s done the Cascades yet, but if not I hope it’s on his future projects list.

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      • Bob, I like those photos, too. He gave us one of the front range for our office. I think that there is a section on Jeff’s website where you can recommend future projects..

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    • No, in fact, I plan to spend more time on the blog.. including thoughtful posts instead of “5 minutes before work” posts. More on that later…

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  1. Sharon, I am a new comer to your blog, but have really appreciated it and look forward to you continuining. I hope you join retiree organizations,especially the National Association of Forest Service Retires (NAFSR) and add your voice and support to the efforts to focus the Forest Service on its primary mission as well as complimentary national objectives that we have opportunities to make contributions. Best wishes to you and Paul in your retirement and keep up the good work. Zane Smith, Third Generation Retiree with a 4th gen. a Field Mgr. for BLM.

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    • Zane,
      It’s a small world– when my wife Laurie was working in the Region Five regional office, her desk was the one that Zane G. Smith used to use when he was there. I’m curious, how would you describe the “primary mission” of the Forest Service? There doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on what that is.

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      • Did Laurie once run a recreation-based Enterprise out of Placerville? I know that name sounds very familiar.

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      • I think Laurie used to work in 4SW in the Yates Building when I worked in RPA.. It is a small world, indeed. My greetings to her..

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        • She’s now happily retired and spends as little time as possible thinking about the Forest Service! She does send you her congratulations though.

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        • The Forest Service mission is tied to the various statutes establishing and govening the FS. It is a broad mission allowing plenty of room to respond to the changing times, but the core values of stewardship and service to citizens remain the same. Stewardship seems, to many of us, to have been compromised in preference to some national social goals. Focus on stewardship has always presented us with opportunities to further the Nation’s social goals as evidenced by the CCC, Job Corps, Public Works programs, outreach, minority recruting and development and the list could go on. But they have always helped us achieve our Mission, not denying resouces to adequately meet our stewardship goal. In fact, just the opposite has been our history. By the way, that desk in San Francisco was used by folks more famous than me – Charlie Connaughton, Jack Deinema, Doug Leiz to name a few.

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          • I agree that there is great leeway in defining the agency mission. What I see lacking is a clearly articulated strategic vision for the national forests with shared agreement (shared by employees and the public) on goals and objectives. I believe that a focus on restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems is something that most people could get behind, is the only way to meet societal goals “for the greatest number in the long run”, and requires active management which will produce many outputs for society. Once there is a shared vision for the national forests, we might then work on a vision that is also shared by FS Research and State and Private. I’ll probably not live that long though!

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            • You have certainy accurately described the route to a strategic and shared mission. Lets hope we see it in the near future – before the National Forests are destroyed.

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  2. Loving that big smile, Sharon! This timbermarker cherishes your respect of those wielding the paintgun. I hope you get to go to new places and do all the things you didn’t have time for!

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