(1) We still don’t have a of the USDA AARP; it would be interesting to get Interior’s as well, at least the parts that refer to the FS and BLM. We could FOIA them, and will if we can’t get it. But we are still waiting on FOIAs from last year, so.. Here’s a link to what’s supposed to be in them. Below is an excerpt.
- II. Principles to Inform ARRPs
ARRPs should seek to achieve the following:
1. Better service for the American people;2
2. Increased productivity;
3. A significant reduction in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions by
eliminating positions that are not required;
4. A reduced real property footprint; and
5. Reduced budget topline.
Pursuant to the President’s direction, agencies should focus on the maximum elimination
of functions that are not statutorily mandated while driving the highest-quality, most efficient
delivery of their statutorily-required functions.
Agencies should also seek to consolidate areas of the agency organization chart that are
duplicative; consolidate management layers where unnecessary layers exist; seek reductions in
components and positions that are non-critical; implement technological solutions that automate
routine tasks while enabling staff to focus on higher-value activities; close and/or consolidate
regional field offices to the extent consistent with efficient service delivery; and maximally reduce
the use of outside consultants and contractors. When taking these actions, agencies should align
closures and/or relocation of bureaus and offices with agency return-to-office actions to avoid
multiple relocation benefit costs for individual employees.
Agencies should review their statutory authority and ensure that their plans and actions are
consistent with such authority.
(2) The Hotshot Wakeup had a podcast out yesterday on the Oklahoma fires, more resignations, and some discussions he had with people at the Forest Service Now, we don’t know that that what those folks said is the the case, because he heard from some “sources not allowed to speak on record.” At the same time, many traditional outlets use the same kind of sources including our main other outlet, E&E News. A brief summary: RF’s taking deferred resignation, there were plans floated to get rid of Regions before new Admin due to budget crisis, 9 Regions brought down to 3, budget saving, budget is in so much trouble- how dire it was. When THW asked about where the bucks went, a source said that BIL and IRA given billions give the bucks to NGOs, they were asked to get the money out ASAP, slush fund recycled into political campaigns, organizations friendly to those in power at the time. Negligence or on purpose, the source’s opinion was that it was on purpose, and the new Admin ” inherited a budgetary nightmare”.
How could we know what the truth is? Someone from relatively high in the food chain would have to tell us, and they are unlikely to do so; either they’re still working or signing agreements about what not to talk about. Certainly there was an unusual cone of silence about the Keystone Agreements that Dave Mertz and I could not penetrate completely. We did not receive answers from the folks administering the program, and many of my usual sources stopped talking to me entirely when I brought up the subject. At the same time, giving funding to your friends is part of being in an Admin.. but it’s the recycling to political campaigns that seems unlikely or unusual. At the same time, people delving into the National Baptist/Coconino project wondered about some of the organizations skimming bucks in the name of equity (check out the comments and links to organizations). We only heard about the NBC grant via a whistleblower who was concerned about the religious connection; how many more of these (non- Keystones) are out there? How could we even find out where these apparently extra layers of overhead would ultimately go?
(3). Instead of an all-employees meeting for Forest Service employees, Chief Schultz had a “Chat with the Chief” video, in which he answered questions from specific employees. I think they missed the historical boat on this video by not mentioning Chief Silcox, but it didn’t affect the main point, that the Chief was new to the agency and that that is unusual. I don’t think the format works, as the length makes it superficial for anything worth diving into. Plus, I’m sure that the District Ranger is worth getting to know, but the time constraints mean that any hints of interestingness tend to get squeezed out. On the other hand, everyone (non-employees) can watch it, so that part is good. On the third hand, before current technologies we employees never had ‘all employees’ meetings” and we never missed them, so there’s that. Rumor has it that the Chief wanted to do a deeper dive, but “everyone has a boss.”
(4) We’ve all heard about grants being held up (but some are not, this seems confusing) but this E&E story was about a grant to the FS that the FS decided not to take. The title of the E&E News story was:
Forest Service halts grant for cleaning up illegal Calif. cannabis operations
The $989,400 grant was intended for the removal of waste and of infrastructure illegally diverting water in 10 counties in Northern California. It also was intended to include “development of a training program to formalize reclamation protocols to meet USFS and BLM safety standards” in order to increase the number of nonprofit groups around the state qualified to remove trespass grows from public lands.
CDFW told POLITICO that none of the activities outlined in the project plan had yet been conducted by the USFS, and the funds will be reallocated to other grant programs.
In the subcommittee hearing last week, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Larry Lopez told lawmakers that illegal pesticides like carbofuran smuggled in for use on unlicensed cannabis grows were having a terrible impact on California’s public lands.
“This poses a severe public health threat and contributes to the environment degradation,”
I don’t know, but it sounds like it might be dangerous. Carbofuran is really bad stuff… and maybe the growers would return while non-profit groups are attempting to remediate trespass grows? Sounds scary.
The move comes in the wake of the Trump administration’s layoffs at federal agencies — including USDA (which oversees the USFS) and the Department of the Interior (which oversees BLM) — and frozen federal grant projects. It also comes as Congress considers legislation that would increase federal funding to do cleanup of illicit cannabis grows on federal lands around the country. The bill had a hearing in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Federal Lands last week.
Sadly, both those links go to Politico Pro instead of the hearing or legislation, so I had to try to find it..
It might be this bill (from 2023)..
This bill will:
- Authorize $250 million over five years for the Forest Service to use Superfund toxic waste remediation authorities to address environmental damages caused by the release of banned pesticides on federal lands for cannabis cultivation; and
- Raise the criminal penalties for using banned pesticides in illegal cannabis cultivation to a maximum of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in criminal fines to establish parity with the criminal penalties for smuggling banned pesticides into the U.S. The U.S. Sentencing Commission would then be required to review and update its sentencing guidelines for these crimes.
The idea for the bill came from a series of investigative stories by San Diego journalist J.W. August published in the Times of San Diego.
In 2019, the San Diego-based Border Pesticide Initiative was formed with members of the Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the City Attorney’s Office. In 2021, the group announced it had prosecuted over 50 defendants and seized over 1,000 containers of illegal pesticides.
Reps. Peters and LaMalfa first introduced this bill in October 2022.
It made me wonder how much of a problem this is outside of California. I remember there were issues in Colorado as well.
There’s a lot to unpack here and great job gathering this all up! Of course I’m interested in where all the money went with Keystone and other grants and agreements, etc. Interesting that there is now some direction to “maximally reduce the use of outside consultants and contractors.” Does this mean the end of Keystone and such like that? Normally, with all the money that was in play, it seems like it would be a real target for OIG to look into. What is the status of the USDA OIG? Wasn’t the IG fired? Have they hired a new one? Wouldn’t the current administration have an interest in looking into what went on under the Biden Administration? How about DOGE? It just looks very shady from the outside looking in. My guess would be that the FS got dumped with a lot of money and they needed ways to spend it. Someone high in the food chain said “Make it Happen”, so people did. The NGO’s were not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I am sure there were good people along the way who wondered if what happened was the right thing, or even legal, but now everyone is clamming up.