Text of Memorial Day Email From (Acting) Associate Chief French

Thanks to Bob Z.! Any formatting issues are mine.
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Good Afternoon,

I hear a lot from Forest Service friends and colleagues that there needs to be more communication from agency leadership, especially right now. Frankly, I have always done better communicating through one-on-one or group conversations than through posts or all employee emails. Through this and future emails, I am hoping to give you some insight into what we are hearing, doing, and thinking. My intent is to keep these focused and to the point. I have learned that my words can mean different things to different folks and sometimes we try so hard to get it right – what we write just misses the mark. So I ask for some grace (especially my writing style, grammar etc) and my hope is this is helpful even if it doesn’t meet everyone’s needs.

1.  Future Organization and staff losses – it’s on everyone’s mind. We have said goodbye to a lot of our Forest Service family and many folks are worried for their future work and jobs. We are expecting an announcement from USDA in the next weeks but those dates may change given ongoing legal challenges. I hear from many of you – just tell us what to expect so we can make choices. We will when we can. I also realize that with the current DRP losses that we need to adapt the agency either way. To that end as we await the Secretary’s direction-

   a. We have been asked for input and, working with folks at all levels of the agency, we have provided insight to the department to inform that decision.

b. We are meeting the first week of June with the NLC, Regional Foresters, Station Directors, forest sup and research station representatives to help us navigate this. With our current staffing, I know our work must align with the agency we currently are and for the organization we will shift to. We must also solve fundamental systems, communication, policies, and decision making so that our agency works better.

c. We have committed to regularly meet with District Rangers, Forest Sups, Station Leaders, and Bus Ops leaders so that information is flowing up and down more directly. The Chief will continue to travel throughout the agency so you can get to know him and he you. The trips thus far have been critical for him to see the depth of what this agency is and how we serve.
d. I want to honor all of those that have left the agency for what they leave behind – decades of professional dedication and commitment to the agency and forests. We are better from their work, their friendships, and their legacy.
e. We are doing our best, within the current hiring rules, to fill gaps and capacity in our field based staff. We have had multiple outreaches and have been making voluntary lateral re-assignments primarily in forest and district based positions.

2.Fire season and preparedness. It’s our highest priority. We have been working to fix stuff – like having adequate purchase cards for our response needs. We also know that we have many red carded employees who have taken DRP and are on admin leave but want to help and take fire assignments. To that end, we are developing a process to support these employees. It will include a timekeeping process, a centralized method for travel reimbursement and a process transitioning to and from administrative leave. We just had a good briefing with Sect.’s Rollins and Burgum and we shared the outlook for the current season, which as you know, is higher than normal in many parts of the west. Our team knocked it out of the park. You will hear this a lot this year – but for all of our employees – supporting a safe and responsive wildfire response – is the highest priority for every employee and supervisor. All other work, unless it involves critical safety, will come second.

3. Budgets, Contracts, Agreements, Grants, Travel, Purchases, New obligations – its all slowed down right now and there is tons of confusion in the system. We are working on this and I know how frustrating it is. There is extensive guidance coming from Bus Ops, but in short –
a.All payments on existing contracts, grants and agreement invoices can be made regardless of funding source unless the funding instrument has been terminated. There are no Stop Work Orders in effect. Vendors, grantees, and cooperators can submit invoices accordingly. No further approvals are needed. No obligated grants, agreements or contracts are paused.

b.New obligations go through a department review except for excepted actions for wildland and emergency responses, disaster response, and law enforcement. We have been getting approvals to open critical new contracts that you are needing – this has included things such as toilet pumping and forest seedling transportation – but we know that it is impacting our field and research operations.

c.With the added reviews and fewer people to process your asks – please prioritize what is most important. Also recognize, things seem to change daily, and folks between you and WO often are unsure of what they can or cannot do. We are establishing strike teams to accelerate priorities and different ways to share info to help with this. More than anything – remember the person you are working with is doing their best to work in this rapidly changing situation and – like you, they have less people.

Finally, I know many of you ask – is leadership listening? and where is our focus on all the other areas of our work that is part of our agency/mission? Yes we are listening. And I don’t have all the answers – but know we are trying and our central focus is honoring the people and the work of this agency. And yes – we are prioritizing our work based on the administrations direction, as we always do and we recognize the full suite of work we do – our partnerships, our help for private landowners, our recreation service delivery, our natural and cultural resource work, our tribal relationships, our research, and our 1000+ other important programs/things we do to conserve forests and grasslands. It’s all incredibly important and I thank you.

Enjoy the holiday.

Chris