I feel it important to state that I support the US Forest Service (USFS) and specifically, the Seeley Lake Ranger District and its District Ranger.
Briefly, my background: From 1975 to 1985 I was a wildland firefighter and conducted industrial fire inspections, all on the Lolo National Forest (USFS), on three different Ranger Districts. I was a Federal Wildlife Officer on several National Wildlife Refuges (US Fish and Wildlife Service). And I was a law enforcement ranger for the National Park Service in Yellowstone NP and bear management specialist in Glacier NP.
Yes, I was a “Fed” and I loved my work. To me and all my co-workers at my various duty stations, we looked at our work as being in service both to the public and to the resource.
Now as a government contractor I work nation-wide with state, federal and tribal wildlife agencies. So I still think of my work as being in service, again to the public and to the resource.
With my experience working for and now with government agencies, I know for a fact that government is NOT a business and should never be run as a business. Business is concerned with their bottom line, which is as it should be. Government is of, by and for us, the people...all the people.
With our land management agencies, the concern is not for the bottom line and never should be, but for maintaining the resource: federal lands. Those lands are wildlife habitat. Those lands are watersheds. And yes on multiple use lands, they do provide timber. Some federal land management is based on “preservation”, such as our national parks. The USFS mandate is multiple use and rather than “preservation” like with national parks, it is “conservation”, being able to provide and maintain a SUSTAINABLE resource.
Our land management agencies are being hammered. I blame extremes on both sides: the far left who often takes the USFS to court when they attempt any needed forest work (which ends up costing the USFS many millions of dollars in attorney and court costs), and the far right in Congress who does not appropriate enough funds to our land management agencies.
Last summer was difficult for all of us due to the Rice Ridge fire which started July 24. The Lolo NF already had two other fires that had drained limited resources: the Lolo Peak Fire which started July 15 and the Sunrise Fire near Superior which started July 16. The Lolo Peak Fire and Sunrise Fire were already serious threats to homes and other developed areas and had priority of the limited resources.
Issues with all our land management agencies are now extremely complex and getting more so each year. Please understand the constraints that the USFS, which includes the Seeley Lake Ranger District, is working under. They are understaffed and under-funded. They are doing the best they can with their limited resources.
Carleen Gonder
Seeley Lake, Mont.
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