A misguided whitewash, at best
With eyes wide open, the American people watch Donald Trump and Elon Musk pillage the “American Dream” in real time. Under the guise of saving taxpayer money, the Trump-Musk Administration’s attack on our public lands is misguided whitewash at best. I believe that their ultimate goal is to eliminate federal public lands. This gift, that we call public lands, was given to us and future generations by our predecessors and we have a duty to protect it.
In their rush to gut agencies, slash budgets, and villainize federal workers, Trump and Musk are destroying the ability to recruit and retain institutional knowledge and skills that must be passed on to the next generation if our national parks and national forests are to be managed effectively. At this rate, we’re going to lose an entire generation of talent, passion and knowledge. The mass firings of federal workers, the freezing of federal grants, and the attack on our institutions put at risk the stability and safety of the American people, and indeed, the world.
I believe this is all being done by design to intimidate, bully and strike fear in the hearts of the people. We cannot let them succeed.
The ad-hoc firing of good people doing good work hits close to home. As news broke of mass firings to the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service, I heard the names of some of the good people I have worked with in the backcountry of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. These are hardworking, dedicated professionals. You may even know some of them as friends, neighbors, and family or community members. These people have dedicated their lives to public service and care deeply about our public lands, and their reward is to have their lives and livelihoods pulled out from under them for no good reason. It’s nothing less than shameful.
I used to be one of these people. My involvement with the USFS and NPS spans more than 50 years. I started working for the Forest Service in the 1970s, as a wildlands firefighter, both helitack and hotshot crews. Later, I did trail maintenance, hazard tree reduction around campgrounds and administrative sites, and in Glacier’s backcountry, worked on historic patrol cabin restoration, and assisted the mule packers who hauled building materials and supplies to our work sites. These are skills I still use today.
I’ve been packing in and around the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex for 35 years, and for the past 20 years, I’ve used these skills to help the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation (BMWF), a not-for-profit organization that uses federal grants and volunteer labor to care for one of the largest wilderness areas in the United States. The BMWF hires and trains seasonal crew leaders for volunteer work projects, and interns to assist Forest Service personnel in backcountry management, which includes backcountry rangers, river rangers and research projects. The BMWF also partners with the Forest Service on volunteer projects that include, but aren’t limited to, trail clearing, maintenance and restoration, control of noxious weeds, and educational programs for youths and adults in wilderness stewardship. We also run a packer apprenticeship program so future generations can follow in our footsteps and continue this legacy of care.
BMWF is not a replacement for Forest Service professionals, but are able to complete conservation-related project that would otherwise not happen because of their perennial budget constraints and limited personnel at the Forest Service. The work that BMWF does is a cost-effective way to get things done, but it is not free. With a freeze on federal grants, the BMWF won’t be able to help the forest Service as they have in the past, another casualty of the reckless attack on the administrative state.
Today, I worry about the future of our public lands and the young people who want to carry on the legacy of care by building a career with the USFS, NPS or another federal agency. I had the opportunity to get my education and hands-on experience from the committed professionals who mentored me. Those experiences shaped my life. It would be a shame to eliminate the very people who would be mentoring the next generation. This is what we stand to lose.
Frank Vitale
Columbia Falls