Region 6 Regional Forester Retiring
This morning US Forest Service Region 6 (Pacific Northwest) Regional Forester Linda Goodman announced her retirement at the end of March. The following statement accompanied her announcement:
This morning, I sent the following message out to all Region 6 employees and had a conference call with our Regional Leadership Team telling them I am retiring the end of March. I wanted you all to hear from me personally of my plans and to tell you how much I have enjoyed working with you. The message below applies to all of you, too! Thank you for all that you have done for me. I feel very blessed with good friends and colleagues!
Dear R-6 Employees:
When I think about my almost 34 years with the Forest Service, I know how lucky I have been. I have had the opportunity to work with dedicated professionals who love the land and are committed to America’s forests and grasslands and our youth for today and future generations. Whatever the area our employees work from administration to Job Corps to natural resources to cooperative programs, I know they are providing service to America and can be proud of what they accomplish every day. I also know that we have leaders in place that I have great confidence in leading us to even a higher level. Our Chief has the vision, dedication, and the compassion to make tough choices each and every day.
This week is my official fifth year (plus another six months as acting!) as your Regional Forester. I have been honored to serve in that position and feel good about where the region is and where we are heading. Together we have made the region a good investment and are focused on the land. We have an outstanding leadership team and one that will continue to focus on our priorities of landscape resiliency, infrastructure and public service, and organizational leadership. I have every confidence in their ability. I also have enjoyed working with our many partners and know that they will continue to be engaged in national forest management; we can’t do it alone.
Because of all of that, I am comfortable announcing my retirement effective the end of March. It is not easy leaving the people I care so much about but I have made friendships that will last a lifetime and I will always care about our employees and the Forest Service. Thank you for all that you have done for me; I can’t begin to tell you how much you all mean to me.
And remember what Teddy Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Our work is worth doing. Please take care of yourself and your coworkers - everyone goes home every night.
Linda
by bear bait
Weegee Bobblehead for RF!!!
Makes good sense. Would be a big improvement.
So Goodman ends with the admonition to USFS employees to take care of yourself and your co-workers. Nothing has changed. The USFS is still about social engineering. If there is a benefit on the land, then yippee skippy, we have had a good day.
I wonder what the ouija board of job placement has in store for R6. There has to be some cultural, ethnic, gender based combination that will be the basis for choice of a new RF. A bobble head doll would be as effective as what the agency supports for management at most levels.
Landscape resiliency? and some bureaucratic organizational goal of agency personnel management is her legacy? Lucky us.
How about continuation of NGO-driven bankrupt resource management policy? “Let ‘er burn”, barred owl shooting, reduced recreational opportunity, collapse of the road system, a worthless fuels reduction program, no support of counties and rural infrastructure. That is the legacy I see. And I suppose it is resilient in that nothing seems to be able to change it. The landscape is only as resilient as fire, weathering, and erosion permit. The vegetation is expendable by policy. And the critters have to flee or burn. So much for saving slugs and snails, and the lichens in tree tops, until they burn to oblivion.