Losses at the Forest Service

[BigHornRam]

As someone that generally would like to see the number of people employed by the federal government greatly decreased, this is not where I want to see it in.

In fact, I would actually support the opposite. And I think it would go nicely with the make America healthy again movement. infrastructure is crumbling, trails need maintained, bridges replaced, etc. We need a conservation corps style program for young people to have an opportunity to learn useful skills and how to work. Cutting trail, packing mules, hauling supplies to fire camp, while getting paid is a great job for 18-21 year old.

Like this? An old neighbor was a counselor here.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/bitterroot/workingtogether/partnerships/?cid=stelprdb5388791

Sure hope we can claw back this 20 billion, and put it towards forest service, national parks, and other useful programs.

Biden's EPA issued $20 billion in green grants. Now Trump's administration wants that money back

In a major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency says he'll try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects.

apnews.com

 

[RemingtonRules]

Like this? An old neighbor was a counselor here.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/bitterroot/workingtogether/partnerships/?cid=stelprdb5388791

Sure hope we can claw back this 20 billion, and put it towards forest service, national parks, and other useful programs.

Biden's EPA issued $20 billion in green grants. Now Trump's administration wants that money back

In a major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency says he'll try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects.

apnews.com

initiatives, worth $14 billion and $6 billion respectively, are intended to offer competitive grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects with a focus on disadvantaged communities.

There is a key phrase in there. I heard this money was moved in the final months to try and keep the new administration away from it. Kind of like the earlier post about Lehman Brothers.

 

[BigHornRam]

initiatives, worth $14 billion and $6 billion respectively, are intended to offer competitive grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects with a focus on disadvantaged communities.

There is a key phrase in there. I heard this money was moved in the final months to try and keep the new administration away from it. Kind of like the earlier post about Lehman Brothers.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1889840040622321778

 

[BourbonSnowCone]

initiatives, worth $14 billion and $6 billion respectively, are intended to offer competitive grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects with a focus on disadvantaged communities.

There is a key phrase in there. I heard this money was moved in the final months to try and keep the new administration away from it. Kind of like the earlier post about Lehman Brothers.

You heard? If you give us three guesses I expect we could guess where you “heard” that. I’ll give you this, you certainly argue like every other true believer I know.

 

[Carnage2011]

Just back from a run to the ER a few minutes before..

And your first thought was to hop on Hunttalk just to make sure the thread wasn’t locked so you could provide a “gotcha” moment? Any chance you get to argue with a Trump supporter is a good one apparently. You should really get some rest, your TDS is likely weighing on your mental health.

 

[elkantlers]

Am I the only one or are there others that click on a thread and see that a particular person has posted and thought STFU without even reading what they said?

It's happening a lot lately. Lol

 

[longbow51]

I feel really sorry for the Forest Service workers; again, not so much for Energy folks as they were likely going to build solar/wind farms.

The real problem is that there has been no oversight of government spending for decades, it really took off after Covid, and we're $37T in debt. Congress (think Rand Paul and Thomas Massie) demand data from agencies and never get it, or, if they do, they just pass the next omnibus bill anyway in a never-ending game of brinksmanship. And this is not a D vs R thing. Rs had the House and Johnson (and his predecessor) allowed the omnibus to go through anyway.

If you haven't read THE RIGHT STUFF, remedy that ASAP. There's a section called "The Lab Rats Revolt"; the astronauts had finally had enough of useless testing and wanted more control of the program. In the film, the confrontation took the form of "astronaut pilot" instead of "capsule occupant", steering options (which proved vital), and so on.

What DOGE is exposing is a similar stimulus, the lab rats are the taxpayers, and they're P*SSED. Throwing billions around (or, as the EPA guy said, throwing gold bars off the Titanic) while they're ever watchful of your $601 Venmo account.

And the juicy part is yet to come; how do people making $200K have net worths of $80+ million?

I think there are lots of voices for public lands and things will be OK in the medium run. For one thing, there's a big push to clean up the forests to limit fires; remember the .gov video about selective thinning and judicious use of fire?

Or maybe I'm just being optimistic; we'll see.

 

[Addicting]

Am I the only one or are there others that click on a thread and see that a particular person has posted and thought STFU without even reading what they said?

My thought is this whole thread after page 2 has turned into a hormonal 13 year old girl. Who just watched her beloved crush get roses from her favorite enemy on Valentine’s Day.

 

[Bonasababy]

And your first thought was to hop on Hunttalk just to make sure the thread wasn’t locked so you could provide a “gotcha” moment? Any chance you get to argue with a Trump supporter is a good one apparently. You should really get some rest, your TDS is likely weighing on your mental health.

Nice when folks show who they really are in their posts. FWIW my first thought was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep for a while after our trip to the ER. So you don't feel too special I checked out a number of sites until I was less wired and could sleep

 

[Bigjay73]

Am I the only one or are there others that click on a thread and see that a particular person has posted and thought STFU without even reading what they said?

It's happening a lot lately. Lol

Best post of the whole thread

 

[Bigjay73]

My thought is this whole thread after page 2 has turned into a hormonal 13 year old girl. Who just watched her beloved crush get roses from her favorite enemy on Valentine’s Day.

Sounds like personal experience

 

[El Jason]

Or maybe I'm just being optimistic; we'll see.

I truly am trying to to be, but I really struggle when King Elon lies about sending $50 million to Gaza for condoms, or JD Vance says the judicial branch has no authority over the executive branch.

What else is Elon lying about? Look at his business practices in China. It’s concerning. I would walk before I’d buy support his business. Nothing in his “efficiency audit” is efficient. It’s shock and awe political hay IMO.

When I look at the big picture I see all the warning signs of us careening towards an autocratic government run by billionaires.

 

[Bonasababy]

I feel really sorry for the Forest Service workers; again, not so much for Energy folks as they were likely going to build solar/wind farms.

The real problem is that there has been no oversight of government spending for decades, it really took off after Covid, and we're $37T in debt. Congress (think Rand Paul and Thomas Massie) demand data from agencies and never get it, or, if they do, they just pass the next omnibus bill anyway in a never-ending game of brinksmanship. And this is not a D vs R thing. Rs had the House and Johnson (and his predecessor) allowed the omnibus to go through anyway.

If you haven't read THE RIGHT STUFF, remedy that ASAP. There's a section called "The Lab Rat's Revolt"; the astronauts had finally had enough of useless testing and wanted more control of the program. In the film, the confrontation took the form of "astronaut pilot" instead of "capsule occupant", steering options (which proved vital), and so on.

What DOGE is exposing is a similar stimulus, the lab rats are the taxpayers, and they're P*SSED. Throwing billions around (or, as the EPA guy said, throwing gold bars off the Titanic) while they're ever watchful of your $601 Venmo account.

And the juicy part is yet to come; how do people making $200K have net worths of $80+ million?

I think there are lots of voices for public lands and things will be OK in the medium run. For one thing, there's a big push to clean up the forests to limit fires; remember the .gov video about selective thinning and judicious use of fire?

Or maybe I'm just being optimistic; we'll see.

Doge is doing NOTHING to ID waste or fraud...they are indiscriminately laying people off and cutting programs with zero attempt to see what's important, or what the impacts are.

Why would they do that? To cut taxes even more. They cannot equate what they are doing in dollars to the dollars lost...and the increase in the national debt...that will come with further cuts in taxes. They will lie about it to justify it though!


The template and the impacts are clear. Look to what Jim Justice did in WV as a cue to what's coming nationally..

Jim Justice says he turned West Virginia's budget from cow dung to gold. Gov. Morrisey disagrees

When he ended his term as governor to head to the U.S. Senate, Jim Justice assured West Virginians he was leaving the state in glowing financial condition. New Gov.

apnews.com

 

[westbranch]

Nice try. This was the start of our convo. Keep the receipts.

Got it. You were only talking about large private companies that get audits. Not the private companies that don't get audits. I am following now.

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

I think there are lots of voices for public lands and things will be OK in the medium run. For one thing, there's a big push to clean up the forests to limit fires; remember the .gov video about selective thinning and judicious use of fire?

Or maybe I'm just being optimistic; we'll see.

The policy is that they can only hire 1 person for every 4 people that are removed/ retired.

There isn't going to be any fixing America's forests.

 

[noharleyyet]

I truly am trying to to be, but I really struggle when King Elon lies about sending $50 million to Gaza for condoms, or JD Vance says the judicial branch has no authority over the executive branch.

What else is Elon lying about? Look at his business practices in China. It’s concerning. I would walk before I’d buy support his business. Nothing in his “efficiency audit” is efficient. It’s shock and awe political hay IMO.

When I look at the big picture I see all the warning signs of us careening towards an autocratic government run by billionaires.

Not disagreeing but when hasn't dough ran the show? And when threatened, money flexes. It didn't take long for Bezos and Zuckerberg to bend the knee.

 

[Bigjay73]

Doge is doing NOTHING to ID waste or fraud...they are indiscriminately laying people off and cutting programs with zero attempt to see what's important, or what the impacts are.

Why would they do that? To cut taxes even more. They cannot equate what they are doing in dollars to the dollars lost...and the increase in the national debt...that will come with further cuts in taxes. They will lie about it to justify it though!


The template and the impacts are clear. Look to what Jim Justice did in WV as a cue to what's coming nationally..

Jim Justice says he turned West Virginia's budget from cow dung to gold. Gov. Morrisey disagrees

When he ended his term as governor to head to the U.S. Senate, Jim Justice assured West Virginians he was leaving the state in glowing financial condition. New Gov.

apnews.com

Is that what MSNBC is telling you? It is way too early to say how cuts will affect the country 1,3,5 years down the road. For now it's just liberals crying and conservatives gloating. I didn't vote for Trump, but I'm pulling for these policies to work for the betterment of the country, I wish more people cared about that vs worrying that the other side may actually do some good.

 

[Trial153]

Oh don’t worry we will fix the NF! We will flip them to states ie private holding, line our pockets with side deals, tout how much revenue we brought to the table and our then future projected expenditures savings! The Fix is in. Watch the amount of Politicians that flip to the idea! Platform baby!!

 

[Laszlo Cravensworth]

Is that what MSNBC is telling you? It is way too early to say how cuts will affect the country 1,3,5 years down the road. For now it's just liberals crying and conservatives gloating. I didn't vote for Trump, but I'm pulling for these policies to work for the betterment of the country, I wish more people cared about that vs worrying that the other side may actually do some good.

If we cut 100% of discretionary spending (including defense) and extend the 2017 tax cuts, and assume receipts remain the same (which they won't) we could almost balance the budget.

There is no budget cutting our way out of this.

 

[texwest44]

I’m not kidding myself. Look at the governments cost to send stuff to orbit vs. SpaceX. Innovation can bring down prices significantly to the point it often makes sense to contract work out. Sure maybe trail building is a bad example but that’s probably a very small % of the work being done by the USFS.

This might not be a great example because NASA sending a rocket and shuttle into space has a lot of involved costs other than rockets and fuel, and that's for a myriad of reasons. SpaceX isn't a public-focused scientific endeavor and doesn't have the background processes going on that NASA has with their launches. If SpaceX loaded up their rockets with astronauts and research equipment, and then had a giant support team on the ground to work on research and exploration subjects with technologies and astronauts, you'd see their costs skyrocket (pun intended).

It brings up a lot of questions in my head. We used to build houses with hammers and nails. Now we use cordless nail guns and even pre fabricated walls. Production/man hour goes up with innovation. Same with self checkout at the grocery store. I’d imagine you reach a saturation of trails/acre at some point and that turns into more of a maintenance/sustainability effort.

USFS' work has always been a maintenance/sustainability effort from day one. Their purview is managing forested land for timber harvest - that is an economically-driven goal. Maintenance and sustainability are the name of the game.

No one is arguing that certain industrial practices and technologies can't be beneficial to public land agencies in their pursuit of better management(drones for fire detection, etc). We're arguing about thoughtless implementation of management policy (firing entire designations of employees for no defensible reason).