An article from Marketplace, which produces a business-oriented program for NPR.
The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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An article from Marketplace, which produces a business-oriented program for NPR.
Lots of crazytown stuff is about to happen. Some of it will be horrifying and some of it will simply be annoying. Sadly, it will most likely be the annoying stuff that turns 2026 midterms.
We need to generate a list for the Government Efficiency group.
Don’t campground fees pay for this? Seems fishy. I’ve seen the aftermath of closed toilets. It’s not pretty.
Look under the hood and you’ll find that campground fees may well be paying for cleaning these toilets. In its most recent Form 990, the non-profit Friends of the Bridger-Teton reports total revenue of $688k, of which $388k is “government grants.”
What prevents the B-T from avoiding the middleman and hiring the same contractor to pump toilets that the Friends group hired? Answer that question, and you’ll have solved the riddle.
I expect the Trump administration’s and the 119th & 120th Congresses’ agenda will be to privatize management of all developed recreation sites, initially with G-T permits but quickly followed by codifying new authorities drafted by, and more favorable for, large corporate entities. “Concessioners” will be able to set user charges and expansive fee offsets rules will effectively eliminate fees paid to the government. “Mom-and-Pop” concessioners will be replaced by large corporations like Viad Corp, AMC, POWDR, and subsidiaries of Vail Resorts. New legislation and regulations will facilitate integration of commercial management of developed recreation sites with outfitter permits and businesses. No more $20/night campsites and get ready for “entrance fees” at trailheads.
We voted the little buggers in and we can vote them out.
Pumping toilets is cheap.
Our problem was finding a sewage plant that would accept pumped outhouses sewage. They don’t want the stuff people toss into vault toilets.
I read the Project 2025 document on the Forest Service. They knew the Forest Service had something to do with wildland fires.
That’s it.
There is an opportunity for the Forest Service to define itself with the new Administration.
At the same time, the new Administration wants nothing to do with DEI. The last time I looked, DEI was very popular in the Forest Service. Coupled with the links to multiple Consent Decrees and we might be seeing the demise of the Forest Service. Republicans want more State control over those vast acreages. They don’t want to pay the bills for massive firestorms, so they will keep the Federal firefighters in place.
Much of Project 2025 seems dependent on many legal victories. I don’t think that the new Congress is capable of writing new legislation that will survive the courts. Courts will be tied up for at least 2 years, then all bets are off in a new election. Remember, Trump’s first term began the same way.
Remember, too, that Trump said he’s never read Project 2025, but he did probably have someone ‘condense’ it for him. His most loyal followers claim that Project 2025 IS the new agenda, despite being unpopular with the public. Trump publicly claimed he doesn’t support it, though. Despite not reading it.
In response to the states that covet our federal lands, I have stepped up my donations to various NGOs that work towards conservation and preservation. sadly, Utah, Idaho, and a few other states are out to upend federal lands.
And then again, two years from now we may be in a better place! The majority of voters decided to try a different race horse, and that’s where we are currently. Heaven knows the FS, along with many civilian jobs in other Departments, need to be reined in. I’ll stick with that and leave the other major issues in the States alone for now.
I second Sharon’s response; let’s develop a list of things needed for improvement. My number one, would be of course dissolve ASC and put those bodies (positions) back in the communities they supposed to serve. Remember how “collateral duties” used to be part of “other duties as assigned”, and actually contributed to making the FS family a real thing!
My correspondence with our Senators and Congressmen is good, but it is too piecemeal….