During the six years I worked on the Orleans Ranger District there were four District Rangers that came and went. The first one transferred out within the first year after I came there in 1971. All I remember of him was his last name, Bunnel, I think? The next ranger transferred in from the Lassen National Forest and his name was Rob Roy McGregor and he was a likeable guy that could relate to us ground pounding technicians. He was only there about a year when his wife had a mental breakdown. Rumors were that she had a hard time adjusting to the culture of the community, which was basically hunting, fishing, growing marijuana and drinking beer. Many of us called Orleans the cultural center of the Northwest. To have any real culture or sense of civilization you had to drive two hours to Arcata or Eureka. The third ranger was a guy with the nickname "Moose" who had been the resource officer on the District and was promoted to acting ranger for a few months until the fourth ranger transferred in from the Mt. Hood National Forest in Oregon. His name was Paul and he was all business. The ranger's house was just across the main entrance into the ranger station. Paul would come to work each morning with his hard hat on and his pants tucked into his boots, even on days he spent in the office. It was 1975 when Ranger Paul showed up and I was a timber sale administrator by then, and Ranger Paul was the official Forest Service representative under the timber sale contract. Whenever he was driving around on the District he would stop and talk to logging supervisors and agree to things that I was the last one to know about. I would come along later and notice loggers doing something I had not agreed to or approved of. After asking why they did this or that, they replied that Paul agreed to it. What could I say, he was the boss.
A collection of stories from the life of Michael Burke. He worked for the Forest Service in Alaska, California, and Oregon. He lives in Oakland, OR. His wonderful wife, Celia, passed in May of 2021
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FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY
It is four years today when Celia left this word, something I think about every day. It is not all sorrow as I think back on her humor, w...
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It is four years today when Celia left this word, something I think about every day. It is not all sorrow as I think back on her humor, w...
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In my early days with the Forest Service we were called upon to fight fires with little choice in the matter, especially on our days off or ...
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One of my most memorable Thanksgivings was when I lived in Eugene from 1991 to 2000. My two children were with me on Thanksgiving of 1992...
Mike, were the district rangers introverts or extroverts? Sounds like they mostly had your back and were generally liked, or at least respected. Did you prefer working with the people managers, task managers or the ones who were a little of both, depending on the situation?
ReplyDeleteThey all had their own management style and for the most part dealt more directly with their immediate staff assistants--fire management, timber management, silvicutlure, engineer, resources, recreation, etc. When and if they got involved with other employees it was either for discipline or outstanding performance actives. Yearly performance ratings were done by staff for their department employees and the ranger rated his staff. In the early days getting the cut out was a big performance item and reflected from upper management down to the grunt on the ground. Heaven forbid if we did not get the cut or ASQ out for the year. So to answer your question they were all the above. The ranger was always under the scrutiny of the Forest Supervisor and his staff.
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