OPINION
By Don Amador
February 17, 2025
DOGE SHOULD SUPPORT ON-THE-GROUND PUBLIC
SERVICES
As somebody who has worked with federal land agencies
over the course of my 35-year trail stewardship, recreation, and multiple-use
management advocacy career, I have seen both DEM and GOP Administrations issue
new executive orders, policy directives, and reform proposals that could be
viewed as disruptive to the status quo.
I have found a prudent course for those in my profession
is to study the proposals for intended and unintended consequences, consult
with trusted colleagues, develop action items and solutions, and then share
that info with decision-makers and key stakeholders.
First, let me share that on a personal basis, I am
concerned and acutely aware about the fiscal and emotional impacts the DOGE
cuts will have on recent Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and
National Park Service hires including the affect it could or will have on
recreation programs and resource management projects. I also know that many in my career agency
network are deeply troubled and discouraged and that reality weighs on me 24/7.
However, I also know that the current regulatory
industrial complex that started in the mid 1970s with the creation of numerous
environmental agencies, related congressional actions, and the Equal Access to
Justice Act (EAJA) that was created to allow veterans and others to challenge
adverse government actions and recoup legal fees, a well-intentioned cause for
sure. Unfortunately, it became an abused
method for special interest activist groups to fund an endless parade of
lawsuits against federal land management agencies.
I have seen first-hand how recreation and forest health
projects have been stalled due to lack of funding since those EAJA awards are
deducted from an agency’s individual budgets.
It’s tough to pay for a trail crew, repair a blown out road, replace
toilet paper in an SST, or purchase gas for an agency vehicle to ferry staff to
a fuel project when the account balance is zero.
In 1990, when I started on my land-use journey, the
Forest Service annual budget was $921 million dollars. Today, the annual budget
is about $9.3 billion dollars that is largely gobbled up by high level career
siloed staff tasked with mitigating adverse impacts to the agency by the
regulatory and legal industrial complex that often leaves nothing but fiscal
crumbs to support recreation and resource management efforts.
Be assured that I will continue to advocate for budgetary
support of important staff work at the local level that provides important
on-the-ground public services including access to high quality recreation
opportunities, forest health projects, pre and post-wildfire mitigation, and
natural and cultural resource conservation practices.
# # #
Don Amador has been in the trail advocacy
and recreation management profession for 35 years. Don is President of Quiet Warrior Racing
LLC. Don is Past President/CEO and current board member of the Post Wildfire
OHV Recovery Alliance. Don is a
Co-Founder and Core-Team member on FireScape Mendocino, a forest health
collaborative that is part of the National Fire Learning Network. Don served as an AD Driver for the Forest
Service North Zone Fire Cache during the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Fire Seasons. Don
is a Pacific Northwest California native and writes from his home in
Cottonwood, CA.
