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I know there has been a lot of understandably passionate discussion on this topic across HT the past few days. Please keep those opinions to the existing threads. I hope that despite any differences in opinion we may have between us, we are also able to empathize with the personal impacts these layoffs are having on individuals around us. Many of them have dedicated their careers to the public lands and wildlife that we all love.
On Sunday night a good friend of mine, Rosalee Reese, was laid off from her job as a USFS native fish biologist near Monte Vista, Colorado. She worked as the Rio Grande National Forest’s fisheries biologist for the past two years, managing fisheries and wildlife habitat, helping restore watershed health, and working on wildfire resiliency projects. Her probationary status was up in July. The kicker is that she is 7 months pregnant, so not only did she lose her salary and job to come back to, but she also lost her health care and maternity leave.
Rosalee Reese works with Connor Born to move “nuisance” beavers from the San Luis Valley floor to the Rio Grande National Forest in August as part of the Beaver Translocation Program. Credit: Owen Woods
Rosalee and her husband Kirk are both career public servants, who have dedicated their lives to public lands and wildlife. Kirk was mentioned as "K" in my mountain goat hunt recap that some of you may have read this year. Kirk is currently a CPW hydrologist and is an avid hunter. I have known them both since 2014, when we were all seasonal employees doing endangered fish work in the Colorado River Basin. They have worked extremely hard for the past 15 years to build their resumes to a point where they both had stable jobs, were finally able to buy a house last year, and decided to have their first kid.
You can read more about Rosalee in this article that came out today in the Alamosa Citizen.
Some friends started this GoFundMe with a goal simply to provide Rosalee and Kirk with some semblance of financial stability as they welcome their son into their lives in April. Thank you in advance to anyone who can chip in even a little bit. The amount of money raised so far by their immediate network is a testament to their excellence as human beings.
Huge thank you to @winmag and @Bluffgruff who already donated and can confirm that Kirk is not, in fact, a Nigerian prince.
Thank you,
Tom
Click here to donate now
I know there has been a lot of understandably passionate discussion on this topic across HT the past few days. Please keep those opinions to the existing threads. I hope that despite any differences in opinion we may have between us, we are also able to empathize with the personal impacts these layoffs are having on individuals around us. Many of them have dedicated their careers to the public lands and wildlife that we all love.
On Sunday night a good friend of mine, Rosalee Reese, was laid off from her job as a USFS native fish biologist near Monte Vista, Colorado. She worked as the Rio Grande National Forest’s fisheries biologist for the past two years, managing fisheries and wildlife habitat, helping restore watershed health, and working on wildfire resiliency projects. Her probationary status was up in July. The kicker is that she is 7 months pregnant, so not only did she lose her salary and job to come back to, but she also lost her health care and maternity leave.
Rosalee Reese works with Connor Born to move “nuisance” beavers from the San Luis Valley floor to the Rio Grande National Forest in August as part of the Beaver Translocation Program. Credit: Owen Woods
Rosalee and her husband Kirk are both career public servants, who have dedicated their lives to public lands and wildlife. Kirk was mentioned as "K" in my mountain goat hunt recap that some of you may have read this year. Kirk is currently a CPW hydrologist and is an avid hunter. I have known them both since 2014, when we were all seasonal employees doing endangered fish work in the Colorado River Basin. They have worked extremely hard for the past 15 years to build their resumes to a point where they both had stable jobs, were finally able to buy a house last year, and decided to have their first kid.
You can read more about Rosalee in this article that came out today in the Alamosa Citizen.
Some friends started this GoFundMe with a goal simply to provide Rosalee and Kirk with some semblance of financial stability as they welcome their son into their lives in April. Thank you in advance to anyone who can chip in even a little bit. The amount of money raised so far by their immediate network is a testament to their excellence as human beings.
Huge thank you to @winmag and @Bluffgruff who already donated and can confirm that Kirk is not, in fact, a Nigerian prince.
Thank you,
Tom
