Arguments once dismissed as unrealistic nonsense by the veterans of the timber staff are now advanced across the table in staff meetings by environmental professionals wearing the same uniform. Veterans are either retiring early, or adapting to new prevailing attitudes. Some women staff found they were able to break through to reach veteran male managers by treating them as fathers. Far from the common media picture of valiant environmentalists saving the ancient forests from Forest Service abuse, my first warning of impending problems came from the newer, younger Forest Service field staff shocked by what they found. It is this newer, younger staff that persuaded older, veteran staff to begin resisting the pressure from the Washington Office to continue producing allowable cuts.
Most institutions exist to service a central bureaucracy.
The bank branch exist to funnel loans to a central processing bureaucracy. Insurance agents exist to funnel premiums to a central investing bureaucracy and settle claims in the field. In an age of decentralization, the Forest Service was created to be decentralized. The Forest Service field staff is closer to its constituents than Congress or the Washington Office. Every time Congress or the Washington Office forgets that, the Agency runs into trouble.