Boots on the Ground John Rupe

Recently I've heard a number of Forest Service leaders comment on a trend that they find disturbing - that when they visit district offices, they aren't finding employees spending as much time in the forest as they used to.  They would prefer employees to get their "boots on the ground" to increase visibility with the public, increase our awareness of what's going on, and generally do what we assume Forest Service employees are paid to do.  When pressed to explain why Forest Service field employees aren't in the field, the usual excuses are mentioned - too much paperwork, not enough technical support, too many meetings, etc.   

Much attention has recently focused on the trend in the Forest Service for employees to do their own administrative work on the computer - timesheets, travel reservations, training scheduling, budgeting. etc.  There are stories of employees taking an hour to make a travel reservation when they were told it should only take five minutes. 

Other employees cite planning processes as a culprit - that employees take too much time planning things and not enough time doing things. Taken to an extreme, this attitude may lead to a philosophy of shooting before we aim, but the point is that the execution of a plan needs a greater focus than its original development.

One can also wonder if what we're seeing is a reflection of a Forest Service organization that is in decline, where the biggest cuts are occurring at the field level.

I expect we'll be hearing more about this perceived problem in the future.  It will be important to ask the question why we want a greater field presence, because we certainly don't need employees just driving around looking at the scenery.  If all we want is to survey what's going on, we could always think about technological solutions (how about a camera along the main roads entering a forest?)   But if the Forest Service really wants a customer-focus, the field-presence of its employees is probably an area that needs attention.