I noted this article in an Oregon newspaper, “Siuslaw National Forest supervisor moving on”. States that “The longtime head of the Siuslaw National Forest is leaving next month to take a promotion, the U.S. Forest Service announced on Thursday.
Long-time?
Jerry Ingersoll, who has been forest supervisor on the Siuslaw since March 2010, has been tapped to become the deputy regional forester for the agency’s Alaska Region.
Eight years doesn’t seem like a long time, but for the USFS maybe it is.
I think it varies from 3 or 4 and then move on, to 7 or 8 or longer. Depends on whether the person wants to move up, the opportunities to do so, and whether higher ups see the need to move the supe elsewhere for a variety of reasons (somewhere else needs that particular set of skills? employees have started a campaign of backtalk against them that reaches the ears of higher-ups (and the higher-ups don’t give them a chance to tell their side) ? they didn’t do something they should have personnel wise? and so on…)
“Depends on whether the person wants to move up, the opportunities to do so, and whether higher ups see the need to move the supe elsewhere..”
Sharon,
Well in this case, the “supe”, wasn’t the supe, she was the dupe, (that be, the RO forester Beth Pendleton.) She is/was in charge of the new supe (Earl Stewart, of 4FRI collaborative infamy) who replaced the old supe, Forrest Cole, because this all came down on his and her watches.
Lest I leave out other highly placed exits, we also just watched the former district ranger (Jason Anderson) get rewarded for his unmeritorious conduct in the Petersburg Ranger Distruct executing the pilot Integrated Resource Timber Contract called the Tonka Timber Sale. As I pointed out, in the last post on this matter, when asked, supe Earl claimed he didn’t know anything about the gory details of this little matter. (uh-huh…) Plausible deniability while stepping into a saddle that just dumped the last rider doesn’t square with the replacement procedures implemented by “higher ups” as Sharon notes.
There’s more notable exits in the PRD but I bet they’d rather not be mentioned. But you get the point here. And if rats leaving a sinking ship comes to mind, banish such thoughts! This ship is sink proof, besides being fully insured, floated, and refloated by the taxpayer, including comfy retirement checks. It doesn’t really matter how it happened, or who was at the helm, or how much damage occurred, because no one, no matter how obscene their dereliction to duty, personal integrity and ethics, has anything to worry about– just following orders, from “the higher ups”. (except of course, whistleblowers).
This is one of many brilliant beauties of “meritocracy” in patriarchal hierarchy. Anyone who sticks around past retirement, like former meritorious personages such as Chief Tooke, and Abigail Kimbell for instance, are highly valuable assets to patriarchy. (And we thought this was just “MeToo”? Nope, MeToo’s just one of many symptoms of patriarchy.)
There seems to be a high correlation between the magnitude of an expose’ (in this case, of criminal wrongdoing on two R10 ranger districts exposed by the Washington Office and reported by PEER), and the number of coincident promotions and retirements. In this case, practically the entire R-10 upper food chain, including the Deputy Forester in the RO, who coincidentally also announced her imminent exit down to district and mid-level SO line officers.
Exiting Forester Pendleton was careful to assure everyone she’s leaving of her own accord, inferring this has nothing to do with the Washington Office Review findings and her transparent attempts at covering them up …. (uh-huh…)
In case you forgot to read the news story covering the “mistake” I just referred to in, “If a tree falls…”, I would’ve suddenly announced retirement too, regardless of whether I was ready for retirement before, I sure as hell would be ready after being forced as RO into issuing a coverup the reporter graciously if not credulously dignified as fact, instead of just another agency Brothers Grimm fairytale. According to the PEER FOIA, Pendleton first issued a directive this could all be explained as a “mistake” in the haul cost calculation, never mentioning nor even being asked by the reporter, about that being relevant to the worst of the WO Investigation findings. About two weeks later, Pendleton rescinded that directive, and added a new term to her re-directive parlance: “alleged.”
So, just who is this R-10 go-to guy the “higher ups see the need…” to take the helm?
First, I’ll pause for questions. Does anybody else think R-10 has a tiny credibility problem?
(Somehow, I guessed there would be no questions.)
Hat tip, and profuse thanks to the following history compiled by Larry Edwards. The full Appeal Documentation can be provided upon request.
So here’s what happened just before Ranger Jerry Ingersoll got promoted to a DC position as national Off-Highway Vehicle Program coordinator after he singlehandedly blew up an entire timber sale, wasting many millions of dollars of taxpayer money.
The new R-10 Big Cheese did this by coyly and openly admitting subversion of public process of NEPA by intentional deceit found in the planning record (SEACC is Southeast Alaska Conservation Council):
The 2001 Emerald Bay ROD and 2002 Appeal
In 2001 USFS issued a ROD for the Emerald Bay Timber Sale, signed by Forest Supervisor Cole.
December 31, 2001 — SEACC appealed the Emerald Bay Timber Sale ROD. Six other organizations filed “interested party” letters on January 14, 2002. Under appeal rules extant then, such parties had two weeks to file such letters (and need not have standing to appeal) after another party files an appeal.
SEACC’s appeal had this section:
IV. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR THIS PROJECT IS UNREASONABLE.
B. Internal Agency Communication Reveals Real Purpose And Need
Contrary to the purpose of NEPA to inform the public and decisionmakers about the rationale for and effects of the Emerald Bay Timber Sale proposed action, the Forest Service designed and carried out this project planning process to fly this project under the radar screen and avoid public controversy.
A memo from then District Ranger Jerry Ingersoll to Forrest Cole (R-10) on 2/17/00 states the following:
“To give you a brief preview, Emerald Bay began as a somewhat experimental project to get our foot in the door on the Cleveland Peninsula prior to the much bigger Port Stewart EIS. We looked at this small VCU which was more or less isolated by topography and old growth reserves and conceived an experiment of seeing how far we could go with a helicopter to barge operation. … during scoping we gave the public and other agencies the clear impression that no roads would be involved and this was the key to getting little opposition to the project.”
Here’s what recently retired “supe” Forrest Cole had to say about Jerry’s promotion:
“We hate to see Jerry go,” said Tongass National Forest Supervisor Forrest Cole. “He’s done a great job in Ketchikan, but has an extremely important task ahead in D.C. The Chief of the Forest Service has identified unmanaged recreation, especially impacts from off-highway vehicles, as one of the key threats facing the agency today.”
Off-highway vehicle use is one of the fastest growing recreation uses on National Forest System lands, increasing from an estimated 5 million total users in the 1972 to more than 36 million users in 2002.”
This memo to Cole by Ingersoll clearly indicates the Forest Service had much larger plans for the Cleveland Peninsula in the foreseeable future and that the Emerald Bay project is the opening to this desired development. Further, the memo demonstrates the trickery and deceit the agency is willing to go to get their “foot in the door” on the Cleveland peninsula.
Epilogue
I have to give credit to the administrative functionaries of this blog who respond to literally mountains of evidence such as this as well as in the daily news, and historical archives, with stalwart denial, obfuscation, and equivocation that the “Forest Family” (USFS) is still somehow, nothing to be ashamed of.
(Hey Steve, thanks for posting my comment. I was wondering after 4 hours if this would be posted at all.)
I think R-10 has suffered from a “clearcut OG at all costs” mentality; certainly more notable 15-20 years ago than at present. I hardly know where to begin (or stop), but Jerry Ingersoll will have a ripe opportunity on his return to AK to hasten the urgently needed transition to a second-growth platform for timber supply. Heroin junkies can beat their addiction, but it requires taking the needle out of the arm.