More than 170 field-level scientists from 30 national forests last month sent U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck a letter "urging him to reverse spending cuts at field offices and strengthen protection of fish and wildlife across the agency's 192 million acres," reports the Associated Press.
The scientists wrote that morale within the agency is "languishing" amid budget cuts and that the USFS's ability to accomplish its conservation mission "is being seriously compromised." Since 1994, annual spending on agency timber programs has increased from $248 million to $251 million, while spending on conservation programs has dropped from $121 million to $85 million. Meanwhile, some local budgets have been cut as much as 75 percent since 1994, the scientists claim.
Dombeck, a fish biologist, said he welcomed the input, pointing out that his priorities for the USFS include conserving and restoring ecosystems.
The 173 scientists who signed the April 8 letter "represent only a fraction of the agency's 30,000-member workforce nationwide." But Jeff DeBonis, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Ethics, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, "said their appeal could have an important impact on agency leaders."
The letter is similar to one sent by USFS staff in 1990 to then-chief Dale Robertson. Several USFS supervisors who signed the 1990 letter were forced out of their jobs, but DeBonis said this one would be "better received" (Scott Sonner, AP/Anchorage Daily News, 5/18).
NEXT STORY: Budget Bills Dominate Congress