In my nearly 30 years as a part-time forestry/wildlife instructor at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon, one of the most valuable and interesting experiences was over the 15 years or so that our Natural Resources Technology program hosted young students from the Central American Students for Scholarship (CASS) and Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED) programs, both funded by USAID. Each year about two dozen students from Central America, including Mexico and the Caribbean (Haiti, Puerto Rico), attended MHCC to earn degrees, t hen take their knowledge back to their countries and communities, and use them to solve real-world problems. These were young folks from rural areas. I remember one student who had never seen concrete until he went to the airport for the flight to the US. And another who asked about why flooding had in recent years damaged his family’s small farm fields — it was over-harvesting of timber in the mountains upstream and the lack of reforestation or any other work to keep soil from streams. The young man eventually started a tree seedling nursery and a planting program. Imagine going to a college in a foreign country when you speak little, if any, of the native language. That’s what these students did. They were warm, smart, and engaging young men and women, and I think I and MHCC’s Oregon students learned as much from them as they did from us.
Sad to see USAID dismantled.
As a victim of Caldor fire, and the USFS flippant concern over human safety and property, in favor of suspending firefighting efforts, according the CBS 60 Minutes, congressional investigations, and other news networks, where USFS sent fire fighters home claiming jurisdiction trespass. Funding these institutions like yours or colleges that teach this preservation at the cost of human life and property, it is good to see this go! USAID has been robbing taxpayers without any oversight. To consider oversight wrong is insanity.
One thing I’ve noticed in following some of the grants (not the Keystones) is that many agencies appear to fund the same things outside the US.. like USFWS funds international conservation, USDA funds international agriculture as does USAID… I hope that one thing that comes out of DOGE is a look at overlapping and duplicative programs. This was part of the National Performance Review, but not sure that much came of that aspect.
STEVE:
Thanks for your comment about USAID. I worked with them for about 5 months. First class organization and we did so much good. Again, so short sighted from those who really do not have any idea about the purpose and scope of USAID and other agencies they are eliminating or reducing below a workable crew. I am just very sad about this idiotic direction. I can only hope that the real deciders get the courage and step up, come to their senses, and halt this foolishness before it is too late. If I sound afraid, it’s because I am. This is really poor behavior without any accountability and untold consequences. A former Chief one said, “…what I worry about most in making choices is that I may not know what I don’t know.” That’s what is happening now. It is one thing to make a decision, but the basic norm is that you do it with some basic knowledge of the outcome and impacts. Set your ego aside and seek guidance, especially where lives and land are at risk. And, when you really do not care about the outcome of the decision, that is the real horror that we see playing out. If you do not care, stand down. Give way to superior expertise. I never thought the American people would enable this behavior to ever take place.
Very respectfully,
Not sure who this guy is, but he needs to do some research as to the bulk of the USAID outlays, while this may be a good program most were not, and the good worthwhile programs will come back from other agencies, while I’m sure some good is thrown out with the bad, USAID is mostly a huge waste of taxpayer money.
I have no doubt that some USAID programs were wasteful, inefficient, or unnecessary, but the CASS/SEED program I mentioned realized gains far beyond the funding spent. Hundreds of young folks from the Central America region came to the US, earned a degree in natural resources management, helped them address important issues in their countries, learned about US culture (etc.), and made lifelong friends in the US and amongst themselves. Funds well spent, IMHO.
Mr. Drebert:
Michael here. I am just a substitute school teacher for Pennsylvania. As your note suggests, I am just a guy, nobody really. I did work for USAID during my SES developmental assignment for about 5 months and I was fortunate to see a wide cross section of USAID’s work. In my experiences, most of what they did helped people, saved many lives, and were pretty efficient. Your conclusion sounds like you must have worked with or for USAID as well. My experiences were different than yours. While I did not “research” all of their work, I sure witnessed lots of actions. I am going to stay with my conclusion: USAID is/was a really good organization who made a real positive difference. Thanks for sharing your experiences with USAID. Very respectfully,
Michael Rains has assumed, “Your conclusion sounds like you must have worked with or for USAID as well.” We shouldn’t have to assume. I tend to discount comments (and commenters) that don’t provide any basis for statements that sound like naked opinions, like “most were not” (good programs).
Yep, Steve! That’s among the many rewards of teaching!
It’s OK to think “there are good programs at AID as well as ones I don’t support” It’s also OK to think “there are also ag and forest programs that don’t seem very different from ones the FS funds, maybe there’s some duplication there.”
It reminds me of managed fire.. tends to devolve to two positions, “everything is fine” or “don’t do it”, when there’s much space in the middle to be explored. IMHO.