Blog -Workin’ It

Presentation on NCFP Blog at the Society of American Foresters Convention

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Here is a link to my powerpoint. Note that this was my first presentation as a retiree, so I now realize could have spent more time developing templates, cartoons and photos. Jay O’Laughlin’s presentation, in particular, gave me something to strive for..

Most of this regular readers are familiar with.  I’d like to discuss in particular slides 8 and 9

—The FS doesn’t tell its’ own story- why not?
—Need for vetting by Administration
—Cultural factors about responding to criticism
—“Telling our story” vs. “sounding defensive”
—Why is this a problem?
—It’s demoralizing for employees to hear untrue statements and not be able to respond
—The public does not get to hear the whole story about their own public lands
—

and

What about the Media

  • —Quote from a colleague:    —“After working on “project Methusaleh” I will never again believe anything I read in the paper”.
  • —The business of journalism is falling apart around our ears and being replaced by hyper-partisanized sources of information.
  • —Therefore someone needs to step up, if we want the public to have good information.
  • —But not clear that anyone will fund this.

 

I often have post-presentation regrets, and, in this case, one is that I didn’t mean to criticize in any way, shape or form, the current people working in public affairs in the Forest Service. My experience with them has been that they are dedicated and professional public servants who do excellent work. Unfortunately, they have not been allowed, in some cases, to do their work.

Many administrations are pretty tight with control at the beginning and then loosen up through time. This one, though, seems to have always been tightly controlled. I certainly can understand not wanting to make embarrassing mistakes.  Still the natural consequences of this behavior is that the public isn’t hearing the whole story and we are paying civil servants to not quite do their job. IMHO.

In the presentation, I used an analogy of a parent with two warring siblings. If Tiffany says Emelia hit her, and the parent never asks Emelia for her side of the story,  Tiffany might get more and more, shall we say, imaginative in her description of what goes on through time, knowing that Emelia would never be given her chance to speak. Emelia is counting the days til she can get out of the house, or bearing what she knows to be fundamental injustice with possibly some emotional or mental injury (or poor morale?).

It would be great if some of the media folks who read this blog could comment on my observations.

Any other comments or questions would also be appreciated.  As I’ve noted before, there was a great deal of support for the blog and what it does. Thanks to you all.

And a special thanks to Martin Nie, Jim Burchfield, and the University of Montana for being willing to step out into the unknown when we started this blog.

You can generate a host of worrisome possibilities that might occur if you take action in attempting to make the world a better place, or you can step out and trust in the people and our mutual ability to adapt to unknown futures. Knowing the difference- in your mind, in your heart, and in your gut- is the wisdom of real leadership. IMHO.

 

 

 

Ideas Wanted for SAF Presentation

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I’m giving a presentation about this blog at the Society of American Foresters Convention in Spokane, Washington in a couple of weeks.

Here’s what I wrote for the program, as a tickler or possibly provocation ..

The “New Century of Forest Planning” blog was established to support discussion and learning about the Forest Service planning rule, with a mix of practitioners and academics. With time and the interests of contributors, it has expanded into discussions of a broad variety of forest policy topics. The original idea was to try out blogging as an approach to traditional Extension in the policy arena. The first conundrum is that bloggers are born not made, and therefore a blog seems to be intrinsically organic and unmanageable. The second conundrum is that people who work everyday don’t really have time to post and contribute, and in some cases there is a tension between speaking for their organization and speaking for themselves, yet they are the ones with the greatest knowledge that needs to be tapped into. One contribution of the blog has been to explore controversies that are too complex to be handled by traditional media. The second is been to step outside the framing of an issue that is espoused by a certain group and point out that framing is a choice open to all. The third, as intended, is to talk between those who make policy and those who experience it working on the ground. The fourth is to provide a place for comparing FS policies across regions and units. Some of the controversies include the role of litigation in FS projects, the good and bad of collaboration, and bark beetles and fire, and of course forest planning.

What do you think is the value (if any) of the blog? What does it do for you that other venues don’t?
What could/should we do that we don’t do (or talk about)?
What do we spend time on that you think is less useful?

I did get some excellent feedback earlier this year, and have been trying some things (including with retirement, I plan to explore some more “internal” topics) and I would like to hear what you currently think, and if you agree or disagree with the points I made above in my summary.

Also, I ‘d like to thank everyone for your contributions through the last few years and for being part of this unique community.

Char Miller on the “Park Service= More Bucks” Question

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National Park Service photo

We have discussed this topic on the blog before. Thanks to Char for putting the questions out there in a well-written and researched piece here called “The San Gabriels: A National Forest? A National Park? Does it Matter?”. Thanks for setting our sights on the big strategic question.

There was so much good stuff that it was hard to pick an excerpt, so I just pulled the last few paragraphs.

It remains an open question, then, whether an NPS-managed recreation area would be an improvement over the current national forest. Neither agency currently has the requisite funds to sustain the forests, meadows, rivers, and beaches, trails, cabins, and lodges it stewards across the country. Like the heavily used Angeles National Forest, the Park Service’s major urban recreation areas, including the Santa Monica Mountains, Golden Gate, Delaware Water Gap, Lake Mead, and Gateway, are showing a lot of wear and tear, direct consequences of years of declining budgets, staff reductions, and deferred maintenance; the same situation is bedeviling the management of our wildlife refuges, conservation preserves, and iconic parks. We may proclaim that the public lands are national treasures, but we treat them like dirt.

Nothing will alter this situation unless we mount a serious national discussion about these lands’ real value, human and environmental. Our debate over the future of the San Gabriels and the Angeles National Forest could stimulate this much-needed larger conversation. But only if we ditch the hyperbolic rhetoric, confront the harsh budgetary climate, and admit that political tradeoffs will compromise whatever choice we make.

If we stay the ax and start telling the truth, we’ll be in a better position to make decent public policy.

FS Retirees’ Rendezvous

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This week I’m at the Forest Service Retiree Rendezvous in Vail. While I am meeting some folks who read the blog, asking others to write pieces, and reflecting myself, I will not be posting and sometimes not able to approve posts (no cell signal in various places). So this might be a good time to post something you had been thinking about…

Sharon Crosses Over and Goes Toward the Light.. Errr.. Retires

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At my retirement party, lovely photo by Jeff Burch.

My last day at the Forest Service August 3 and I am now formally a retiree. Blogwise, this is most important because no more can anyone blame the Forest Service for my misdeeds, mis-thoughts and mis-writings. FS folks have been very patient (some more than others..) about the idea of doing this blog in my spare time, and touching upon topics that could tick people off, either internally or externally. I expect that a result of my retirement is that I will ask questions that might tick people off, and perhaps also say (more?) things that will tick people off.

Attached here is the retirement speech for me written by the ever-popular and gifted writer DeAnn Zwight. It cracked me up, and hopefully the humor is not too inside.. All I can tell you is that it’s all true.

For those who like the photo, here is a link to Jeff Burch’s website.

Feedback Wanted on Blog Moderation

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The Question of Moderation

Sometimes people on this blog are civil. Sometimes they say negative things about each other. I recognize that moderating this has been uneven. That is for at least two reasons: 1) it is hard to be consistent over time, especially when one is in a hurry due to other obligations and 2) several people have the authority to moderate comments and we probably don’t have the same worldview of acceptability because we are all dealing individually with 1), in addition to our own differences.

I myself have been accused of being unethical, a consort of the Sith Lord, etc., but while it doesn’t bother me (sticks and stones and all that), I think by it does pollute, albeit perhaps subtly, the atmosphere of the blog. We have plenty of great policy questions to debate without accusing others of bad intentions or self-interest or whatever.

I think we have erred in the direction of quickness, so the dialogue is real time, and generally probably been too easygoing about the effects on the atmosphere, which is not necessarily a good thing. Hence, this discussion.

So I have exhorted people not to do it. And they don’t, for a while. And then someone starts.

The alternative would be for me (and possibly the other volunteers if they agreed) to spend a lot more time editing comments, or to not approve them and email people to tell them why, or not approving and having people figure out on their own as to why. None of these seem like desirable alternatives (to me) because they displace the responsibility from the writer to the volunteer blog administrators.

Even though I plan to spend more time on the blog in the future when I retire, I’m not sure that micro-editing snarky statements would be the best use of my time. It would be much better for people to police themselves.

But in reality that does not seem to work. So here are a couple of other ideas.

1. Others on the blog could step up, perhaps, and say… so and so, you are over the line. Now this tends to happen only across philosophical lines, perhaps each group could form a team and police their own?

2. Maybe we could find a charity that funds civility and get a grant for a “civilizta” to patrol the site.

I’m interested in what others think:

Do you think moderation is a problem?
If so, What are your ideas for a solution?

Chore-Induced Delay in Responses

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Some people have contacted me on emails and here on various topics, including my moderation or lack thereof … I will respond tomorrow afternoon. My helpers here at my house are leaving tomorrow AM and we have a serious list of chores to complete.

PS Please be nice to each other (and me) in the interim. Gaia bless you all.

Blog Break

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Many of you have noticed that I have not been blogging with my usual intensity and enthusiasm for the last couple of months. It has been because my beloved husband, Paul Imse, had been diagnosed with late stage cancer and so I have been focused on his struggle. Yesterday he passed on to a new and better life, according to our beliefs.

Paul was always a great supporter of my blogging, even though it seems silly and a waste of time to so many other people. I couldn’t have asked for a better or more supportive husband.

So I will be taking a blog bereavement break from now until May 27th. I will continue to post other’s posts and approve comments. If you have ever wanted to start a topic on this blog, or have something you’ve always wanted to say, this might be a good opportunity.

Just sent it to me at [email protected].
See you in a few!

Sharon