Methownet BB

Picture Smokey's famous visage next to the new normal:

ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES
SERIOUSLY. WE'VE BEEN DEFUNDED.
IT'S JUST YOU NOW.

The U.S. Forest Service is firing around 3,400 recent hires while the National Park Service is terminating about 1,000 under Musk's DOGE push to cut federal spending.

The moves, which target employees who are in their probationary period, affects stewards of sites such as the Appalachian Trail, Yellowstone, the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Sequoia National Forest.

Reportedly, The Forest Service is excluding firefighters, law enforcement and certain meteorologists from firings—but the National Park Service will "exempt" 5,000 seasonal positions under its hiring freeze and fire 1,000 employees, according to advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association.

Locally, this has to be a big deal. The Methow Valley is literally surrounded by National Park and Forest Service lands and much of its economy depends on the health and well being of them. I guess we'll see how our local fire season shapes up. Will it be just us now?

Are there any firefighting courses for the homeowner? I know the firefigthers want us to get out of the way but if there are none or not enough...then it is up to us.

Join the local fire department as a volunteer, and you’ll get lots of training!

I'm kind of old, but if they would have me...I wouldn't be able to carry all that poundage. And the time commitment.
Need to know when to run and when to stay. Guess I may have to learn real quick.

Thank you, Jim, for bringing a bit of twisted humor to our new upside down world. These cuts are going to hurt in so many ways, we cannot even imagine what's coming. We are lucky to have a community that looks out for our own in many ways. But the federal cuts are on a different level.

M Firth

Hey there, M Firth. Great to hear from you. Just clarifying my favorite bumper sticker is actually real. I wish I could post an image but would be happy to pass on the link to anyone interested.

The hit our federal lands and the people who care for them are facing is also real. My heart goes out to those impacted—and anyone who takes time away from their spreadsheets and youtubes or puts their nail belts down to enjoy the landscape and the great outdoors.

The famous quote by Wallace Stegner will always ring true: “National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst”.

Bumper stickers:
Once upon a time, had this one "Freedom is freedom from the need to be free"
Lotsa quizzical looks from that one

Always thought this one, had I made it, would've been eternal fat royalties - "If ignorance is bliss, then why aren't you happy?"

That utterance came from a very specific long ago road trip... person middle of road parked atop a hilltop taking a Kodak moment of the sun setting, their car hidden in that bright burst of light, saw'em barely in time, clipped their bumper before swerving into other lane just as another car was topping in opposite lane, down the thankfully itty bitty dirt embankment I went, other car squealing to a stop then getting off the road as well before their getting rear-ended... and the guy with his camera still around his neck screaming at me "you coulda killed me!" The gall of main character syndrome was yet in such full blossom as now... as these times have very much exacerbated the ever growing lack of situational awareness, critical thinking and ability to follow the ripple of the bigger picture.

Golly, wildramble that sounded like a heck of a ride!
How about "hope free"? Doesn't mean things are hopeless, but it's kind of like the freedom sticker you had.