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FWP online licensing not working?
Just curious is anyone else is having trouble signing in to FWP's online licensing portal. I'm getting various errors at various stages of the sign in process. This includes "Internal Server Error" and "An unknown error occurred: handleAcceptStatement Error - 4 500 error. Please contact FWP... -
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Land management agency impact stories...
And let contracting spend their time writing contracts for things that actually need contracts? New bridges, building, road reconstruction... Ya better not split purchase an immediate fix needed $3k facility repair. Send it to contracting so someone can come out 6 months later when the cost to...- sapperJ24
- Post #188
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
Another group of folks who do important work on the land. https://www.kpax.com/news/western-montana-news/forest-products-industry-faces-uncertainty-amid-federal-funding-freeze- sapperJ24
- Post #163
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
Pretty much. Seemed like MSPB agreed that you can't blanket fire probationers with a form letter citing performance issues. From the order, "OSC submits that a 45-day stay will “minimize the adverse consequences of the apparent prohibited personnel practice” while it further investigates these...- sapperJ24
- Post #154
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
I think there are other cases working for other agencies their way through the courts/appeals board, but I'm not certain.- sapperJ24
- Post #152
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
That is correct, no Dept of Interior (DOI) employees (Park Service, Fish and Wildlife, BLM) were included in this ruling. The MSPB order comes from an appeal that was brought by a USDA employee. The order from last week can be found here (13 page pdf): MSPB Order edit: updated link to order- sapperJ24
- Post #146
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
The USDA (including Forest service, NRCS) has recognized the court order and announced that probationary employees are reinstated. Employees were notified yesterday, however USDA does not have a plan yet for brining them back to work. WASHINGTON, March 11, 2025 – The U.S. Department of...- sapperJ24
- Post #143
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Fire up the saws!
Might be worth adding a few other comments regarding what the workforce currently looks like. The timber crewmembers are the ones out there painting the trees. Maybe the crew lead was past the probation period, but they now have no crew unless they've been reinstated. There's been an ongoing...- sapperJ24
- Post #21
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Thin the herd!
“I just want to say before I get jumped in the parking lot outside of this hearing, we are absolutely 100% as outfitters, guides and residents in support of great data … that leads to really good decisions when it comes to the future development of bills,” said Will Israel, executive director of... -
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Fire up the saws!
The answer may vary based on the specifics of the forest or region, so this will be a bit general. Foresters are generally not on probation as they have usually worked their way up. However, timber crews are entry level and were mostly or completely made up of probationary employees (recent...- sapperJ24
- Post #19
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
@rjthehunter One more time for you, the probationary employees from land management agencies that were fired were the field going folks. These are mostly gs4 and gs5s that work 6 to 9 months of the year. There's a few gs7s in there too. The vast majority of these people are public facing...- sapperJ24
- Post #105
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Land management agency impact stories...
For folks not reading the articles posted, this excerpt should be concerning, even if you aren't worried about the trails and rivers. "Bobby Oshaben, a former forestry technician, called the mass terminations reckless and said the Trump administration’s assertion that cuts would improve...- sapperJ24
- Post #26
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Let’s Get Businesslike With Federal Lands
Only replying here as this is the most recent comment on the topic of quantification. https://headwaterseconomics.org/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation-in-new-mexicos-cibola-and-mckinley-counties/ From the Headwater Economics' analysis, they modeled the following estimates from 110,000...- sapperJ24
- Post #28
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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GoFundMe for USFS Native Fish Biologist - Laid off 7 months pregnant
30 years of permanent service (no temporary seasonal work count toward retirement) and age of 57 is needed to qualify for retirement (for non fire or LEO positions) for those born after 1970. There's a whole lot more that goes into calculating the actual annuity but that's for another thread...- sapperJ24
- Post #83
- Forum: Fireside (A Place for Friends)
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GoFundMe for USFS Native Fish Biologist - Laid off 7 months pregnant
Seems like an actual question, not a hypothetical, so I'll give it a shot keeping in mind the request to keep this non-political. I can try to go into details on specific points if needed. - This is the career these employees have worked toward for years (school and years of temporary seasonal...- sapperJ24
- Post #77
- Forum: Fireside (A Place for Friends)
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#Winning = more public land poop
To be clear, these are Congressional issues not agency workforce problems. Only Congress can change the law. Agencies including the Forest Service are hamstring by outdated laws that only Congress can change. Among these are significant hurdles and inefficiencies in procurement and contracting...- sapperJ24
- Post #18
- Forum: Public Land Issues
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Montana 2025 Legislative Session
https://montanafreepress.org/2025/02/17/chaos-reigns-montana-divided-republican-senate/ -
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Losses at the Forest Service
Another local article. It doesn't have a forest total, but based on what I've gathered so far, the Flathead NF lost close to 50 employees over the weekend...- sapperJ24
- Post #470
- Forum: Sportsmen Issues
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Losses at the Forest Service
Correct. All of these 16 employees had multiple years (3-15) as temporary seasonal (1039) employees before being offered the chance to apply as a permanent season (13/13) with benefits and retain their position. There were twice as many 1039's as perm positions available, so the district already...- sapperJ24
- Post #253
- Forum: Sportsmen Issues
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Losses at the Forest Service
I realize that many of you don't care and many are cheering this on, but for those that are concerned or interested, here's where things are on my local district. 16 probationary employees were fired yesterday with more expected today. All 16 of these employees were dedicated, hardworking, and...- sapperJ24
- Post #241
- Forum: Sportsmen Issues
