Oregon Hikers

Volunteers needed to clear the Oregon Timber Trail
Those who are certified in the use of a chain saw are crucial for trail maintenance

http://www.bendbulletin.com/outdoors/61 ... mber-trail

"The U.S. Forest Service is removing seasonal positions of certified sawyers and shifting the impetus for trail clearing to volunteer organizations such as the OTTA and, locally, the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA)."

"As the spring trail season draws near in Central Oregon and across the state, the need for trail volunteers who are certified sawyers is clear. To operate a chain saw legally on national forest land, volunteers must be certified. The OTTA and the Forest Service are hosting a sawyer certification course at Suttle Lodge near Sisters next month for those interested in volunteer trail work involving the use of a chain saw."

justpeachy wrote: "The U.S. Forest Service is removing seasonal positions of certified sawyers and shifting the impetus for trail clearing to volunteer organizations such as the OTTA and, locally, the Central Oregon Trail Alliance (COTA)."

Thanks for bringing up yet another example of the USFS shifting their budgetary priorities away from trails and letting NGOs take up the slack. So if they've replaced paid seasonal sawyers with volunteers, do they have any paid trailwork positions left? Or did all routine trail maintenance get formally axed from their budget?

Just another example of why many of us have lost respect for the FS. If they were doing the jobs they should have been doing they wouldn't have lost the respect of most of us and wouldn't need volunteers. If they would actually build some trails rather than decommission them and "abandon" old roads they might, just might, gain some respect and get some support but that will never happen with the current "leadership". I'm not even going to go into how badly they have "managed" the forests for the past 100+ years. Sad, just so sad. Time for a total re-boot of the entire system, replacing the drones with people who actually know something about the forests and the hiking community.

I suppose that there are some folks who work for the FS who actually are competent and I may have met a few but most I have come in contact with were arrogant, condescending and oblivious about the area in which they were supposed to be in charge of. In my discussions with some of my friends this view is not uncommon. dn

The intent of the post was to get the word out to anyone who might want to help out, but yes, the FS could use a major reset/reorganization. This recent article about Forest Service employee morale is worth a read.

"Gone are the personnel officers, computer specialists, and clerks whose work once supported the employees of a national forest or ranger district." Employees are "struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing administrative burden while trying to find time for their real jobs."

good article Cheryl

"Third: lack of trust. Federal employees of all stripes are often characterized as drones with cushy benefits. They are blamed for actions and circumstances over which they have no control. When President Reagan declared himself a sagebrush rebel, he set the scene for decades of attacks against the agencies that were simply trying to do their jobs as required by law. The office bombings have dropped off since the '90s, but the ominous atmosphere continues. It is an atmosphere that allows a group of armed thugs to take over a wildlife refuge, expel employees, destroy government property and cause general mayhem, and then be acquitted of all wrongdoing. It is an atmosphere that makes employees wary of one another.

Fourth: Up and down budgets..."

Good article. The USFS is suffering the same fate as many of us working in the private sector.....do more with less. For the same pay, of course

justpeachy wrote: "To operate a chain saw legally on national forest land, volunteers must be certified. The OTTA and the Forest Service are hosting a sawyer certification course."

The course costs $425. I'm sure they'll get lots of volunteers.

This post isn't intended to be critical of the USFS. I think by and large they're doing what they can with the funds they have available. I'm just sayin...