BOOK REVIEW
By Don Amador
March 16, 2025
With the Forest Service being in the news on a daily basis because of the recent layoffs of agency seasonal and probationary ground staff and/or new leadership at USDA, this book will help resource and recreation professionals and their partners to better understand the agency you work for or with.
As a recreation
consultant who often works with federal and state land management agencies, I
want to share my thoughts on one of the most eye-opening works of
agency-related literature that I have read in my 35-year career.
Written by Christopher Burchfield, The Tinder Box,
chronicles how the Forest Service (with a special focus on Region 5) became
host to one of the largest court-ordered social experiments in modern times.
The Tinder Box at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/The-Tinder-Box-Politically-Destroyed/dp/098277348X
The book details the 1970s era ramp up to the July 1,
1981 Consent Decree. The Order by
Nixon-appointee Judge Samuel Conti directed the Forest Service to implement an
unprecedented gender parity hiring program.
The purpose of this review is not to champion or assail
the merits of the Decree, but to note how the historic Gifford Pinchot-inspired
agency mission of forest and resource management was shifted to creation of a
Decree-specific bureaucracy.
The Tinder Box describes how this process evolved in
early 1970s and continues on to this day with either overt, covert, and/or
tacit support from Congress and over 6 presidential administrations.
Although I take umbrage with the author’s occasional
disparaging comments about OHV recreation, his research does seem to
substantiate what I have heard from agency employees over the last 35 years on
how the Decree has contributed to agency dysfunction and lack of morale.
There are many characters in the book some of which I
have worked with or talked to. Just a
few folks mentioned are Max Peterson, Ann Veneman, Dale Robertson, Jack Troyer,
Matt Mathes, Jack Blackwell, Jim Lyons, Mike Espy, Wally Herger, Dave Meurer,
Jeff Applegate, Lynn Sprague, Corky Lazzarno, Ken Wolstenhom, Mary Coloumbe,
Dan Chisholm, John Mica, Ron Stewart, Bob Grate, Robert Tyrell, Doug Leisz,
Jack Ward Thomas, and Mike Dombeck.
You will also become familiar with the 1964 Civil Rights
Act, Maupin White Paper, Bernardi Consent Decree, Male Class Complaint,
Thirtymile Fire, the 43%, and the Blue Book.
Given the impact of almost 50 years’ worth of
Decree-inspired litigation and policies combined with an endless avalanche of
environmental lawsuits, it is amazing that agency staff today are even able to
sign a recreation event permit, complete a travel plan, construct a trail, or
produce a map.
This is a must read for Forest Service employees (new
hires, current, or retired) private sector recreation and resource
professionals, congressional staff, grassroots leaders, cooperators, non-profit
partners and sister agency employees.
After reading this book, you will have a clearer
understanding of the Forest Service and a better appreciation for the men and
women who continue their efforts – despite the challenges - to serve the public
and care for the land.
PS - Set aside a good block of time, since you won't want to stop reading it.
# # #
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.
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