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Outspoken ranger loses job
By BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune staff writer
After 24 years patrolling the remote Thoroughfare region of Yellowstone Park, Ranger Bob Jackson has not been rehired this season.
The move has stirred the ire of a U.S. senator and a whistleblower advocacy group that has backed "Action" Jackson through a series of run-ins with the Park Service.
"The Park Service's excuses for not rehiring Ranger Jackson after his quarter century of service are bogus," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote in a letter Thursday to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella. "The Park Service and Ranger Jackson's supervisors at Yellowstone have exhibited a clear pattern of retaliation and hostility toward Ranger Jackson in the last several years."
Jackson is a backcountry ranger with a high profile in poaching arrests. He is the park's longest-serving seasonal ranger.
A whistleblower complaint was filed Wednesday by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), alleging that Jackson was singled out for staff cutbacks. The watchdog group, which supports state and federal employees, claims Jackson was not rehired because of his well-publicized criticism of enforcement of wilderness rules in the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest -- in particular, his pursuit of outfitters who use salt to lure trophy elk out of the park.
"Yellowstone Park is putting out a big Bob-Jackson-Is-Not-Welcome mat," commented PEER General Counsel Dan Meyer.
Meyer said that despite an 8 percent budget increase this fiscal year, Yellowstone Park officials are slashing the law enforcement program, reducing the number of seasonal rangers from 48 to 10. Meyers also alleges that patrols in the backcountry, except for search and rescue operations, will cease, eliminating law enforcement where Jackson says poaching is an active and persistent problem.
Park spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said she could not comment on personnel matters. She did say that as of Thursday, enough money has been found to hire 36 seasonal rangers for the upcoming summer season, and that the park had 46 seasonal rangers last year. That's up from the earlier figure of 10 cited by PEER.
She blamed the law enforcement cutbacks on higher energy costs, a pay raise and money sent to regional headquarters for emergencies.
Matthews said Brad Ross, a backcountry supervisor, has been assigned for the entire season to the Thoroughfare station. But Jackson says supervisors have little backcountry experience because they have so many responsibilities where the tourists congregate.
Complaint
In a whistleblower complaint filed with the federal Office of Special Counsel (OSC), PEER is asking for an expedited review of Jackson's complaint, asking that Jackson be restored as seasonal ranger in Yellowstone's Thoroughfare area (Lake Country sub-district) for June 2 through October 31.
In the document sent to OSC, PEER says the only reason Jackson was given for his deletion from the list of accepted rangers was that Yellowstone is consolidating all law enforcement operations around its permanent employees in order to meet reform requirements implemented at Sen. Grassley's request.
Grassley noted in his letter to Mainella that park superintendents have a history of subordinating law enforcement to other priorities. He cited the Interior Department's own Inspector General report in January 2002, which noted "chronic frustration on the part of Departmental law enforcement officers and a disquieting state of disorder in the structure and operations of law enforcement throughout the Department."
Responding to a claim by Chief Ranger Rick Obernesser that a reduced budget has forced the park to hire fewer full- and part-time rangers, Grassley told Mainella that he wants to "make sure that the appropriate monies are being devoted to law enforcement, and that any alleged budget constraints are not misused to justify preventing an outspoken but valuable ranger from working."
PEER's Meyer linked Jackson's treatment to his recent disclosures that the U.S. Forest Service has been ignoring reports of salt-baiting in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and that grizzly bears protected under the Endangered Species Act are being killed or put at needless risk by the salt-baiting practice.
In addition, Meyer said that Jackson is a central figure in a soon-to-be-released book about the outfitter culture and abuses in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Authored by Gary Ferguson, "Hawk's Nest" will be released in May by National Geographic Adventure Publications.
Why go back?
Reached at his 1,000-acre bison ranch in Iowa, Jackson said he wants to go back to the Thoroughfare for several reasons. "I can do the job better than anyone else," he said. The problems in the Thoroughfare country are so daunting and complex, only someone with extensive experience is qualified to deal with it, he said.
"The way it was explained to me when I first came on board, a backcountry ranger is regarded as successful if he survives the first year," said Jackson, much less accomplish lots of real work.
"Another reason is that a lot of people have been supporting me," Jackson said, and he doesn't want to let them down. His battle last year with the Park Service over a gag order actually produced good results for many people, he said. "Biologists throughout the Northwest are free to speak their minds, now," he said.
Finally, Jackson said he doesn't want to see the outfitters succeed in shutting him up, as they've silenced other rangers, game wardens and biologists in the past.
Al Jaeger, communications director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said, "Park rangers are the eyes and ears of the American public in protecting our national treasures. We hope that the Park Service is making every effort to staff and protect the Thoroughfare and all of the park's wildlife."
Paul
Outspoken ranger loses job
By BRODIE FARQUHAR Star-Tribune staff writer
After 24 years patrolling the remote Thoroughfare region of Yellowstone Park, Ranger Bob Jackson has not been rehired this season.
The move has stirred the ire of a U.S. senator and a whistleblower advocacy group that has backed "Action" Jackson through a series of run-ins with the Park Service.
"The Park Service's excuses for not rehiring Ranger Jackson after his quarter century of service are bogus," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote in a letter Thursday to National Park Service Director Fran Mainella. "The Park Service and Ranger Jackson's supervisors at Yellowstone have exhibited a clear pattern of retaliation and hostility toward Ranger Jackson in the last several years."
Jackson is a backcountry ranger with a high profile in poaching arrests. He is the park's longest-serving seasonal ranger.
A whistleblower complaint was filed Wednesday by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), alleging that Jackson was singled out for staff cutbacks. The watchdog group, which supports state and federal employees, claims Jackson was not rehired because of his well-publicized criticism of enforcement of wilderness rules in the nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest -- in particular, his pursuit of outfitters who use salt to lure trophy elk out of the park.
"Yellowstone Park is putting out a big Bob-Jackson-Is-Not-Welcome mat," commented PEER General Counsel Dan Meyer.
Meyer said that despite an 8 percent budget increase this fiscal year, Yellowstone Park officials are slashing the law enforcement program, reducing the number of seasonal rangers from 48 to 10. Meyers also alleges that patrols in the backcountry, except for search and rescue operations, will cease, eliminating law enforcement where Jackson says poaching is an active and persistent problem.
Park spokeswoman Cheryl Matthews said she could not comment on personnel matters. She did say that as of Thursday, enough money has been found to hire 36 seasonal rangers for the upcoming summer season, and that the park had 46 seasonal rangers last year. That's up from the earlier figure of 10 cited by PEER.
She blamed the law enforcement cutbacks on higher energy costs, a pay raise and money sent to regional headquarters for emergencies.
Matthews said Brad Ross, a backcountry supervisor, has been assigned for the entire season to the Thoroughfare station. But Jackson says supervisors have little backcountry experience because they have so many responsibilities where the tourists congregate.
Complaint
In a whistleblower complaint filed with the federal Office of Special Counsel (OSC), PEER is asking for an expedited review of Jackson's complaint, asking that Jackson be restored as seasonal ranger in Yellowstone's Thoroughfare area (Lake Country sub-district) for June 2 through October 31.
In the document sent to OSC, PEER says the only reason Jackson was given for his deletion from the list of accepted rangers was that Yellowstone is consolidating all law enforcement operations around its permanent employees in order to meet reform requirements implemented at Sen. Grassley's request.
Grassley noted in his letter to Mainella that park superintendents have a history of subordinating law enforcement to other priorities. He cited the Interior Department's own Inspector General report in January 2002, which noted "chronic frustration on the part of Departmental law enforcement officers and a disquieting state of disorder in the structure and operations of law enforcement throughout the Department."
Responding to a claim by Chief Ranger Rick Obernesser that a reduced budget has forced the park to hire fewer full- and part-time rangers, Grassley told Mainella that he wants to "make sure that the appropriate monies are being devoted to law enforcement, and that any alleged budget constraints are not misused to justify preventing an outspoken but valuable ranger from working."
PEER's Meyer linked Jackson's treatment to his recent disclosures that the U.S. Forest Service has been ignoring reports of salt-baiting in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and that grizzly bears protected under the Endangered Species Act are being killed or put at needless risk by the salt-baiting practice.
In addition, Meyer said that Jackson is a central figure in a soon-to-be-released book about the outfitter culture and abuses in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Authored by Gary Ferguson, "Hawk's Nest" will be released in May by National Geographic Adventure Publications.
Why go back?
Reached at his 1,000-acre bison ranch in Iowa, Jackson said he wants to go back to the Thoroughfare for several reasons. "I can do the job better than anyone else," he said. The problems in the Thoroughfare country are so daunting and complex, only someone with extensive experience is qualified to deal with it, he said.
"The way it was explained to me when I first came on board, a backcountry ranger is regarded as successful if he survives the first year," said Jackson, much less accomplish lots of real work.
"Another reason is that a lot of people have been supporting me," Jackson said, and he doesn't want to let them down. His battle last year with the Park Service over a gag order actually produced good results for many people, he said. "Biologists throughout the Northwest are free to speak their minds, now," he said.
Finally, Jackson said he doesn't want to see the outfitters succeed in shutting him up, as they've silenced other rangers, game wardens and biologists in the past.
Al Jaeger, communications director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said, "Park rangers are the eyes and ears of the American public in protecting our national treasures. We hope that the Park Service is making every effort to staff and protect the Thoroughfare and all of the park's wildlife."
